Infinity Crisis: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Disclaimer: No copyright or trademark infringement is intended for Neon Genesis Evangelion by Studio Gainax/Studio Khara or Marvel Comics. This is simply a story created just for fun.
Earth-95
Tokyo-3, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
The sun dawned upon the city of Tokyo-3. Most got up from their beds to start their day, whether it was school or work. The NERV scientist Ritsuko Akagi was no exception as she took a shower, ate breakfast (a typical Japanese meal), got dressed for her job in her usual lab coat and drove to NERV HQ for work. As usual in the post-Snap world, the day was rather different since half of NERV's staff (including Ryoji Kaji) and the world's population were gone and the survivors had to move on as best as they could. One of the places Ritsuko saw while driving was a center for Snap survivors to tell their stories, as its sign outside made it very clear. Ritsuko had attended a meeting with Snap survivors alongside Misato. Her subsequent thoughts during the drive were filled with the voices and memories of those with her in these meetings, including Misato, Maya and Makoto.
The next set of thoughts filling Ritsuko's mind while driving were the Avengers and the Human Instrumentality Project from yesterday's phone call. When Misato called her to inform her that she knew about Instrumentality, Ritsuko was left confused at how she could talk about it as its existence was kept confidential to only loyal members of SEELE and herself. At the same time, Ritsuko knew of the Avengers and figured that Misato got her information in Instrumentality from them. Ritsuko viewed the Avengers with curiosity when they made their first appearance on her world to fight Sahaquiel alongside the other Children apart from Shinji, though the revelation that they knew of Instrumentality made her slightly suspicious of them on how they could have obtained this information despite coming here recently. However, Ritsuko understood multiple versions of the Avengers existed throughout the Multiverse and guessed that these Avengers were one of them instead of mere spies. The fact that Misato used the word "we" in her phone call to describe her efforts to stop Instrumentality had Ritsuko infer that this effort included the Children alongside the Avengers, the former of which she had worked with for quite some time. She knew that her friend wanted to stop Instrumentality from happening and could hide this secret no longer so she decided to address this matter.
Ritsuko eventually arrived at the NERV HQ and exited her car to conduct business as usual for NERV.
NERV HQ, Tokyo-3
Ritsuko went through the halls of NERV HQ and entered a room where Maya and Makoto performed their work efficiently to her pleasure as she took notes. The public speakers inside made it clear that the apoptosis process on the three Evangelion units will begin as scheduled and Magi supercomputers would be reset. Ritsuko also offered a compliment to Maya.
"You're very fast, Maya. I'm amazed."
"I should be. I learned from the best, Senpai." Maya told Ritsuko.
"Hold on. An A-8 would be faster there. Let me drive." Ritsuko typed on one of the computers as quickly as possible impressing Maya, who held not just appreciation for her but a hidden crush.
"That's my Senpai."
Misato appeared from an elevation platform to ask Ritsuko a question.
"How's it coming? You done with the Magis' diagnostic testing?"
"Just about. As promised, they'll be ready before today's testing."
"That's my Ritsuko! Checking over three identical systems is a tall order!"
Ritsuko was pleased with Misato's own compliments for her. However, she knew that Misato learned of the Human Instrumentality Project from the Avengers and proceeded to provide her response.
"Misato."
"Yes, Ritsuko?"
"About yesterday? I want to talk about this later."
From the cryptic choice of words by Ritsuko, Misato knew what she was talking about: The phone call about Instrumentality and her as well as the Avengers and the Children's efforts to prevent it. To ensure the right people were trusted, Misato chose not to reveal the specifics of this call any further since many NERV members, including Maya and Makoto, were unaware of its existence.
For Ritsuko, she told Misato that her coffee was cold and realized that it was.
A beep from Balthasar-2 was heard and one of the announcers in the public speakers announced that all three Magi supercomputers entered self-diagnostic mode. Afterward, another announcer congratulated the remaining NERV staff and instructed them to get some rest until the testing officially began.
Ritsuko took a bathroom break to wash her face. She remarked that all systems were green and that her late mother, Naoko, was as healthy as ever while she got older each passing day. However, the most important thoughts filling her head were still Misato's newfound knowledge of the Human Instrumentality Project as she planned on stopping it alongside the Avengers and the Children, who were in another room. Ritsuko knew of this insidious project and was conflicted about how to proceed with it now that Misato, the Avengers and the Children knew of its existence as she had intimate relations with Gendo Ikari, a key figure in Instrumentality. Regardless, she intended to ask Misato about Instrumentality and what to do next.
The Children, consisting of Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Toji and Mari, stood inside a NERV clean room undressed as they were to be scrubbed and cleaned up for their autopilot system test. Asuka complained about this process and preferred to shower and change clothes instead. However, Ritsuko noted that technology is advancing and NERV needed new technology. She also made it clear that simply taking a shower and changing clothes wasn't enough. The procedure in the clean room was completed and Asuka provided her thoughts to Ritsuko about it.
"There! Here we are, exactly how you want us. Squaeky clean after 17 thorough scrubbing."
"Okay, I need the three of you to remain undressed." Ritsuko informed the Children, to their shock. She reassured them that the visual feed is off and that NERV would respect their privacy.
"That's not the point, and you know it! I'm seriously uncomfortably here," Asuka complained.
"The aim of this test is to gauge how well harmonics are picked up from your bodies without the aid of plug suits." Ritsuko informed her. "Asuka, that's an order."
"Oh, fine! But don't you dare peek!"
The Children were now seated in the entry plugs of the Evangelions with water without their clothes or standard plug suits. After the pilots got inside, Ritsuko told the rest of NERV staff to "Start test."
"Starting test. Now commencing autopilot recording." Ritsuko said. The simulation plugs were inserted into the imitation bodies of the Evangelion units and were secure thanks to the Magi. Inside one of the rooms were the Avengers in their armor and costumes watching. They came into the facility with Misato and the Children before Ritsuko and were here to show how some work was conducted at NERV HQ. The fact that the Children were naked surprised the Avengers, who didn't expect to see this and left some a bit uneasy, such as Captain America or the Wasp.
"This test is just strange. I would prefer that the Evangelion pilots do the simulation with their plug suits like before." Captain America asked Ritsuko after approaching her for a talk.
"Relax, this test is designed to ensure our pilots can be capable of using the Evangelions into battle." Ritsuko responded in English.
The Avengers, Misato and Ritsuko watched the rest of the simulation for three hours. When the water was drained from the simulation bodies, Ritsuko asked the Children, "How do you feel?"
"Something is different." Rei told Ritsuko.
"Yeah, it's not the same as usual." Shinji said.
"Uhhhh...My sense are all messed up." Asuka told the others. "I can feel my right army just fine, but everything else feels hazy."
Ritsuko ordered Rei to mentally picture her right arm moving. Rei complied and pulled a control lever to move the right arm of the simulation body. The rest of NERV's surviving staff brought important news to Ritsuko regarding the simulation.
"Data collection proceeding smoothly." Makoto informed Ritsuko.
"Everything seems to be fine. Return the Magi to normal mode."
One of the computers flashed the screen of the Magi supercomputers in conflict. The Wasp turned to Ritsuko to ask her about the Magi itself.
"So the Magi are flashing on the screens. What is it?"
"It is an inner conflict," Ritsuko told her, unaware that the Wasp already knew its existence and what it was. "It really shows the personality of the person who built it."
"What is this 'conflict?'"
"You don't seem to know much about the Magi, do you?". Ritsuko then explained to the Wasp about the origins of the Magi themselves. "I was the one who got the system up and running. The one who came up with the core theories and built it was my mother." Unbeknownst to her, the Wasp knew the origins of the Magi and simply played along with her to earn her trust as part of Captain America's plan to save Earth-95 from the Human Instrumentality Project.
As the test continued, one NERV staff member pointed to some strange and unidentifiable strains in one of the protein walls for Makoto, who was standing near him.
"This is a part we got in three days ago. This is the area that's deteriorating: Protein wall no. 86."
"Are we sure that this is a strain?" Makoto asked the NERV staff member.
"Under magnification, you can see what appear to be strains."
"Apparently, its a strain. Well, what kind of strain is it?"
"It must be corrosion. There are minute temperature and conductivity fluctuations. We've had plenty of cases of clean room deteoriation recently."
"If you recall, the construction schedule was shortened by 60 days or so." Makoto told the NERV staff member. "For all we know, it could be some air bubbles mixed up."
"Still, the construction in Wing B is rather slipshod and that wing was built after the Angels appeared on Earth."
The concerns of the NERV staff member were shared by Maya, who informed Ritsuko about this strain.
"There's a corrosion in the protein wall above us."
"Oh, terrific. Has it affected the test?" Ritsuko asked Maya.
"No so far, ma'am."
"Continue, then. We can't abort this test midway without good reason." Ritsuko informed Maya and the other NERV staff. "Commander Ikari would be very displeased."
"Roger." Maya said.
Conversely, the Wasp asked Ritsuko again regarding the apparent strain inside protein wall no. 86 and was concerned about what might happen next.
"Ritsuko."
"Yes, Jan-san."
"This strain is unidentifiable and came out of nowhere. I think we should stop this test until we can find out about the exact nature of the strain and what we must do next."
"No. As I made it clear to the rest of NERV staff, we will not abort this test until its complete so long as this strain doesn't affect its progress." Ritsuko bluntly told the Wasp.
The test continued as usual with the simulation plug connected to the Eva's primary body through the imitation body and projected the A.T. Field at the strength of 2 yoctos. However, the strain made its presence known to the rest of NERV triggering the alarm.
"What happened?" Ritsuko asked.
"Contamination alert, Sigma Unit, Floor A!"
"Protein wall no. 87 has degraded! Emitting heat!" A staff member of NERV informed the rest of his colleagues.
"The corrosion is expanding along the protein wall!" Maya told the others. "It's spreading like wildfire" as the strain spread more of the protein wall no. 86.
"Abort experiment! Emergency seal, tube no. 6."
"Yes, ma'am." Maya activated tube no. 6 while tubes no. 60, .38 and .39 were activated. However, the strain infected tube no. 6 in segment 46 and caused more problems for the rest of NERV staff.
For Ritsuko, she ordered them to "Start the polysomes." NERV brought the lasers set to maximum to destroy the strain but it spread even further to segment 58 of tube no. 6 as Maya announced to everyone in the room.
NERV and the Avengers heard a scream from Rei inside the imitation body, which moved because of the strain.
"Rei's imitation body is moving!" said Maya.
The now strain-controlled imitation body was attacking the pituitary system and turned to attack NERV and the Avengers. Misato reacted quickly by pulling the emergency lever to activate the shutdown and sever one of its arms. Concerned about Rei's well-being, Misato asked Maya and Ritsuko if she was okay.
"Rei's status?"
"Unharmed," Maya said.
"Emergency eject all plugs! Have those lasers ready!"
The lasers fired at the strain-infected imitation body but caused no harm to it.
"What...the hell?" Misato said.
"Analysis pattern, blue. No doubt about it...It's an Angel!" Ritsuko informed her.
Makoto took a phone to make a furious call at one of the NERV technicians.
"You let an Angel infiltrate NERV HQ!?"
"I'm sorry, Hyuga."
"Huh, just save me your excuses." As Makoto was about to hang up the phone, Commander Gendo Ikari appeared on an elevation platform holding his phone. As a man with unsavory secrets, the Avengers, Misato and the Children knew he was bad news and had to play their cards right to avoid getting caught by him and members of SEELE or creating negative publicity.
The Angel that infiltrated NERV was Ireul, an entity resembling a nano-scale virus with a unique A.T. Field of its own as noted in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Because of its unique nature, no one expected its presence apart from those who read the Scrolls.
As the Angel spread throughout more of the imitation body, Makoto ordered the staff to quarantine the Central Dogma from the Sigma Unit to contain the spread.
"Physically isolate Central Dogma! Quarantine it from the Sigma Unit!"
Misato heard Makoto's orders and called on everyone to evacuate the Box. Because of the flooding, she ran with Ritsuko and the Avengers to get to another room safely.
"C'mon let's get out of here before the Angel claims us!" The others followed their lead as an announcer informed them to leave all affected areas, such as Floor D. Gendo, meanwhile, held the phone and spoke with one of the announcers.
"Yes, I'm aware. I'll leave it to you."
"Turn off that alarm," Gendo informed NERV staff.
"D-Disbaling alarm."
Gendo instructed the staff on how to report this incident. "It was a false alarm due to a faulty sensor. This is what you will tell the Japanese government and the United Nations."
Gendo was then interrupted by the Wasp, who came into the room to get his attention at the behest of Misato and the Avengers. The NERV Commander got up from the elevation platform and turned around to speak with the yellow and black Avenger.
"Ah, one of the Avengers has come here amidst this situation." Gendo remarked.
"Yes, Commander Ikari." The Wasp said.
"What is it?"
"I'm aware of the alarm and the situation you speak of. We are united under one goal of protecting this world."
"Of course, this is what I saw of you when we first met. You are evidently strange to this world since you came from another world."
Still, we'll try to protect any world just like our own. I recommend that the world governments and UN know these internal problems so they can be fixed and respond better to the Angels."
"Hmmm...You might have a point." Though Gendo was aware of how strange the Avengers were and brought attention to the Earth-191208's Mightiest Heroes when he spoke with NERV, he wrongly assumed that they could be easily manipulated into joining him as he only based his knowledge of them on the movies starring the Avengers in his universe. In reality, the Wasp was simply playing Gendo to ensure he was caught and already knew of the Human Instrumentality Project alongside her teammates as did Misato and the Children. Moreover, she knew that Gendo and the people he knew were fictional characters in the Japanese media franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion and used her memory of the 26 episodes of the original series in her world as a blueprint to stop Instrumentality and save Earth-95.
A NERV staff member reported that the Angel was from the Pribnow Box to all of the Sigma Unit.
"Hyuga-san! The Angel is spreading into the entirety of the Sigma Unit from the Pribnow Box!"
"That is a very dangerous spot." Makoto told Gendo.
"It's too close to Adam."
"Adam." The Wasp muttered in concern as she knew what Adam was in this universe.
"Contain the spread to within the Sigma Unit!" Gendo told the NERV staff. "If need be, sacrifice the Geo-front to do it."
"What is the status of the Evas?"
"Standing by at Cage Seven. We can launch once the pilots are retrieved." Maya told Gendo.
"Don't bother waiting for the pilots. Launch them to the surface immediately. Unit-01 has top priority. Sacrifice the other two units to do so if necessary."
"But, sir, without the Evas, we can't physically destroy that Angel." Maya said.
"If the Evas are contaminated before then, all is lost. Do it!"
"Yes, sir!" Maya and another NERV staff member said.
The NERV staff complied with Gendo's commands and Unit-01 was launched to avoid its infection by the Angel. For the Wasp, it was wise to let him perform this deed to ensure the safety of herself, her teammates and the Children to preserve any future plans to save Earth-95.
"All areas of the Central Dogma below the Sigma Unit will be completely locked down in 60 seconds."
Elsewhere in the NERV HQ, Ritsuko, Misato and the Avengers were looking at a computer screen displaying Ireul spreading across the heavy water boundary, much to their concern.
"Look. This is the heavy water boundary. It's a high oxygen-area." Misato told
"I see." The Wasp said.
"It has a definitive presence." Maya told the others.
"The area where ozone is pumped in to maintain aespetic conditions is free of contamination for now." A NERV staff member informed Misato and her allies.
"Is it vulnerable to oxygen?" Misato asked.
"It appears so." Ritsuko told her.
NERV staff pumped in ozone to weaken Ireul and stop it's spread. Initially, this move seemed to work rather well.
"It's working!" said one NERV staff member.
However, the Wasp doubted this plan and knew Ireul would spread even further.
"The ozone pumping may stop this Angel for a while but it's not long-term solution as it will break out of it and spread even more." The Wasp said to Ritsuko.
"I'm not sure about your statement. For all we know, it could be the solution itself."
As the ozone increased, Zero-A and Zero-B were returning to normal levels and were seemingly on the path of recovery, as did the Tube area. Gendo then ordered more ozone to be pumped.
"All right, increase the ozone levels."
"What? It's spreading..." a NERV staff member said. It quickly became apparent to him and the others that Ireul was spreading rapidly and resisted the ozone if not outright digesting it.
"The ozone has lost all effect." Maya said. "The ozone is being digested by the Angel!"
"Halt the ozone flow!"
The computer screen flashed to show Ireul in a strange and unusual state. The Angel's metamorphosis state led Ritsuko to comment on it's undergoing a process of change.
"Interesting...Its evolving right before our eyes."
Suddenly, the computer's screen went blue and Misato reacted in absolute terror.
"What's wrong!?" Misato asked.
"Subcomputer is being hacked into! Intruder unknown." Maya said.
"Oh no! Crap, using Mode C as a countermeasure!"
"Lowering firewall Deploying decoy interface!"
"Decoy interface circumvented!"
"Eighteen seconds up to trace! Firewall up!"
"Trace successful! It's coming from inside this facility! Origin, beneath B Wing...It's the Pribnow Box!"
Ireul was changing ever more and the NERV computer screen detected it's optical patterns which were yellow-orange instead of red.
"The glowing lines are electrical circuits. That thing is a literal computer," said a NERV staff member.
"Deploying decoy interference."
"Failed! Attempt prevented!"
Ireul was evolving and spreading rapidly, to NERV's shock. Misato thought cutting the cable would do the trick and was about to tell NERV staff to do it, but the Wasp came in to propose another plan.
"Wait, Misato."
"What is it, now?"
"Listen, I got a plan that will stop this Angel from breaching NERV HQ any further. If you let me do this, we will stop it."
"Okay."
The Wasp spoke of her plans and what she saw to the rest of NERV, the Children and the Avengers. "Ladies and gentlemen, this hacking attempt is being done by the very Angel that infiltrated NERV HQ and is evolving in front of your eyes. Your countermeasures cannot simply stop this Angel. Instead, what I want to propose here is something that hasn't been tried before but can work if we cooperate efficiently: Hank and I will reverse-hack and implement a self-destruct acceleration program to kill this Angel by letting it evolve to its destruction."
Members of NERV reacted with skepticism and curiosity at Janet's plan and wondered if it would even work. Gendo also asked the Wasp about her plan unaware that she already knew how the events of this reality would go in her world.
"So Jan, you propose to reverse-hack into our computers to implement a self-destruct acceleration program to destroy this Angel? And how do you exactly propose to do this."
"Commander Ikari, what we propose is to set a 15-second interval to stop this Angel and then we reverse hack into your computers to install a self-destruct acceleration program and save the Magi. We are scientists skilled in the fields of super-science and advanced technology in our world and we know just the right methods."
Gendo was willing to give the benefit of the doubt for the Wasp's plan if only to see how these superheroes would do against an Angel as different and strange as Ireul and protecting not just the NERV HQ but the Magi.
"Very well then. We shall permit you to hack into the computers and implement this self-destruction program to destroy the Angel."
"Ritsuko, set the synch code to 15-second intervals. Our guests wish to reverse-hack the computers and use an acceleration program to rid ourselves of this Angel."
"Commander Ikari, I'm not sure if such a plan will work."
"I want this done, now." Gendo reminded Ritsuko.
"Yes."
The 15-second interval was set and prevented Ireul from spreading into the Magi supercomputers at least briefly. With the first piece of the plan set, the Wasp and Ant-Man were given access to the Magi supercomputers after it was opened up for them to look inside again alongside Ritsuko, Misato and Maya. Before the incident with Ireul, the Avengers already knew of the Magi when Misato explained the rooms and functions of NERV HQ to them. When Hank and Janet entered the Magi, they saw it covered with notes mentioning numerous hacking attempts in the past and knew of the Melchior, Balthasar and Casper.
For Maya, she held a computer in her hands ready for this task but saw pieces of paper across the Magi and thought why were they here.
"Senpai, what on Earth are those pieces of paper laying around inside the Magi." Maya asked Ritsuko.
"Notes left by the developer."
"Kore ha mahou no bakkudoa kodo desu."
"We've got some work to do here in saving NERV and the world from the Angels." Ant-Man told Ritsuko.
"This will let us knock that Angel in no time!"
"Ritsuko, tell me something about the Magi."
"It's a long story. The technology behind the Magi were developed by my mother and her personality is contained in them through the Personality Transplant OS."
Ant-Man and the Wasp got to Casper and started their plan with Ritsuko opening one of the hatches containing the supercomputer. The Wasp then used her stinger to open another, which contained brain-like material.
"Ritsuko, hand me one of your connection sticks." The Wasp asked her.
"Yes." Ritsuko handed a connection stick for the Wasp to connect to Casper. Just as the Wasp and Ant-Man made serious progress on their plan, Balthasar had been hacked by Ireul and was about to do the same with Casper itself.
"Balthasar has been taken over!" a staff member of NERV said. The alarms rung throughout the facility and all of NERV's AI voted to self-destruct automously.
"What? It's already started. We need to act quickly before the AIs self-destruct!"
"We're on it!" Hank and Janet said.
"Janet? This thing is about to blow and I hope you're here before this Angel causes us to get sick or this place blows up!" Iron Man yelled.
Ritsuko got hard at work in implementing the self-destruction program at the behest of Hank and Janet. Every second was crucial to her and the mission as Ireul was spreading like wildlife and the loss of the Magi supercomputers would not only leave NERV vulnerable but would be fatal for humanity and Earth. The Angel was now close to taking over Casper and everyone was close to a state of panic.
"Casper will be taken over in 18 seconds!" said a staff member of NERV.
"Self-destruct device will activate in 15 seconds." a female announcer informed everyone in the NERV HQ.
"Casper is close to being taken over. We must hurry!" Misato reminded her allies.
"Don't worry. We have almost a whole second to spare."
"What do you mean by 'a whole second!?'"
"It's not a net zero or negative. We still have time to stop this Angel."
"Okay, we're just about ready to implement the program. Ritsuko, right away!" Hank told the others.
"Now!"
Ritsuko and Maya hit the keyboard. Soon, the AIs chose not to autonomously self-destruct and the threat represented by Ireul was gone. Almost every NERV staff member and Avenger were in a celebratory mood with the stoic and composed Gendo as the exception. But most importantly, the plan by the Wasp and Ant-Man worked and some NERV members even began to idolize them just as they were in the movies as some surrounded the crimefighting couple asking questions or related things to her dismay.
"Look, can you please let us move so we can do our jobs."
"C'mon, can't you just tell me something?"
"Not right now! Get out of our way!" The Wasp and Ant-Man moved from the crowd of NERV members to speak to Gendo alongside Ritsuko, Maya and Misato.
"So, this plan of yours worked? I'm impressed."
"You see. You can count on us as much as your own crew."
"I still trust my crew for assignments such as this but you and your Avengers are effective nonetheless."
"You're lucky to have us help you and the rest of NERV." The Wasp said in a backhanded manner given her true feelings for him and Instrumentality.
"But there's one thing left: Your son and his friends are still in the test Evangelions. We must get them out and dressed no less."
"We will."
With Ireul defeated, NERV and the Avengers got to work in getting the Children out of their Evangelions by bringing them down. Once they were out, the Children learned of what happened, received proper clothing and waited elsewhere.
As for Ritsuko, she chose to stay in the room and speak with Misato. Misato herself held a NERV-issued coffee mug in her right hand for Ritsuko.
"Hey, nice job out there. As a reward, here is your coffee."
"No thanks."
"Uh...Okay"
"Before you go, I wanted to discuss a very important topic. It's related to our conversation yesterday."
Misato shook and recognized what Ritsuko said. "You mean..."
"Yes. I'm already aware of your knowledge on the Human Instrumentality Project and where you learned it from. It was the Avengers who told you all about this plan to turn all humans into a single dominant lifeform."
"Ritsuko, please don't get angry at me. I'm sorry I learned this without your permission."
"No, I'm not angry. I just wanted to express my thoughts after this conversation. When it came to this version of the Avengers from the multiverse, I knew that there was much to learn about them and they seemed to be like the ones on our screens. They came here to save our world by working with us. These Avengers are genuine about saving our world and I was glad to receive their help in stopping the Angel from hacking into the Magi."
"But the most important thing right now is that you are working with the Avengers to stop Instrumentality. I've known this plan by SEELE for quite some time while you were left in the dark until recently. Now, you and the Children know about this plan and are working with them to stop it. I cannot delay this any further: I will join you."
"Really?"
"Yes. We've known each other since college and I do not want to betray you. As such, I will join you, the Children and the Avengers in this plan to save the world."
"Thank you." Misato had finally gotten her friend Ritsuko to join in her mission to stop the Human Instrumentality Project and expose not just Gendo Ikari but SEELE to the entire world. There was now one more person to oppose Instrumentality and it was none other Misato's friend.
The Avengers' Apartment, Tokyo-3
Inside the temporary home of the Avengers, a phone rang and Captain America went over to pick it up to find out who called.
"Hello. Who am I speaking to?"
"This is Ritsuko Akagi and I'm here to talk about Instrumentality." Captain America and the other Avengers recognized what Ritsuko said but were initially uncertain about her allegiances since she might be in league with Gendo. Nonetheless, Captain America would speak with her further just to learn more about her allegiance.
"Ritsuko, you came in to speak with us on the Human Instrumentality Project?"
"Yes. I called in because I agreed with Misato to stop this from ever coming to fruition. From her words, the Avengers knew Ritsuko was on their side and were glad to see her turn against Gendo and SEELE.
Captain America handed the phone to the Wasp for her to speak with Ritsuko on the phone.
"It is great that you've joined us, Ms. Akagi. We will be working together as early as tomorrow."
"You're welcome. Goodbye." Ritsuko hung up the phone and the Avengers were ready for Ritsuko's participation in the plan to save Earth-95.
And that was the fifth chapter of Infinity Crisis: Neon Genesis Evangelion. As some of you know, this chapter was all about the Avengers, NERV and the Children fighting the Angel Ireul and Ritsuko joining them to stop Gendo Ikari and SEELE from initiating the Human Instrumentality Project—A more action-oriented chapter than the last one, of course.
For the original Neon Genesis Evangelion, while I haven't watched all of the series, I do look through the Eva Wiki websites and TV Tropes to know more about these characters and I have watched a couple of episodes in both English and Japanese respectively when they factor into the story itself. This chapter, in particular, is based on the episode "An Angel's Invasion," and some of the dialogue is taken verbatim from the original Japanese version.
Concerning the parts with the Children without clothes during a simulation, this bit is also taken from "An Angel's Invasion." Just to reassure everyone reading this including the people in charge, I, like so many others, strongly condemn child pornography and will not include sexual content involving minors. There are also no lemon/sexually explicit bits whatsoever in here or any other chapters of this story, including the episode this chapter is based on.
For Makoto's overall role, he takes the place of Kozo Fuyutsuki since he is dead for now after the Snap right down to some of his dialogue as well. In-universe, he's filling in for Fuyutsuki. Similarly, Maya fills in for Shigeru Aoba.
As for why the Angels show up in the same order as canon, the Dead Sea Scrolls in NGE explicitly describe the Angels themselves and SEELE derives it's knowledge of them from these texts. However, their appearances take much longer than in canon due to the effects of the Snap throughout the Multiverse.
And yes, Ritsuko has finally been convinced by Misato to join with the Avengers in stopping the Human Instrumentality Project. With the changes brought upon by the Snap, Ritsuko's role will be different as the story comes closer to it's eventual conclusion. But before the Avengers, Misato and Ritsuko confront Gendo, we have Mana Kirishima and her fate. Let's just say that this chapter will tie into the next one in what happens later.
