Chapter 12 "The blade master"
Part 3 The world in flames
Shinji and Asuka emerged from their entry pods the doctors and technicians rushed to the scene. By the looks of it seem sees that they have been through hell and worse. Nobody knew if angel died from the beem or from the Evas that were inside of it. It was truly a mystery.
But Misato was the one to touch the children after this event. She was hugging them so hard that they were much safer inside the angel.
"Misato could you please stop hugging us so hard, you are killing us." Said Shinji.
" No. I won't stop until I am sure you two are safe."
" We will be if you stop killing us right now." Retorted Asuka .
"Okay, okay I just wanted to make sure that you weren't missing any limb."
"You have a weird sense of humour Misato." Said Asuka.
Shinji ignored the conversation the two have and focused on where Rei was. He saw her adverting his glance and tried to walk away. But Shinji didn't let to go that far and grabbed her right arm.
"Explain yourself. What was that?"
"I had warned that if you continue to be together you will bring doom to this world. You two didn't listen so I decided to put you down for good but it seems that was the thing that trigger his coming."
"What do you mean by that? "
"Lilith tricked me to believe that the angel would have killed you but that was a trap. The angel was the gateway for him and two were it's vessel. It's only a matter of time until him comes. "
"Who is he dammit?"
"Shinji." Interrupt Asuka
"Not now Asuka."
"This is important Shinji. We need talk ."
"But.." As he was about to ask Rei about the truth he saw that she had vanished and was nowhere to be found.
Angel's trickery I guess. Thought Shinji.
"What is it?"
"Shinji I think it's time to address the elephant in the room. We can't continue like this."
"And so what? We will stop being together because of a false illusion the angel show."
"But what if it's true? What will happen if we get into a point when they are going to kill us or experiment on us because of our identity. What will happen then? I am not afraid of dying but I don't want to lose you because of me. I know you feel the same."
"Yeah but know that if we don't be true to our hearts, then we will never find happiness."
"Then maybe we don't deserve happiness after what we have done to ourselves and the others. After all how can we be true to our hearts when we ourselves don't love them."
"We can fix ourselves if we stick together."
"What we doing the past two months isn't fixing is escapism Shinji. I enjoy your company I really do but this has to stop. If we don't stop now then either one of us will get hurt or worse the whole world will."
"Asuka, please don't do this. Don't do this to us."
"I am sorry Shinji. I mean it. But we must break up for now at the very least. Maybe it's for the best and we come out better than before but for we should stay apart."
Shinji was devastated with what he heard and felt even worse when he realized the truth of her words. A part of him tried to deflect this as fake assumptions but the other part of him that said that she was right.
"I...I understand what you mean but I will always be there when you need me and won't let you fall like last time I promise."
"I appreciate that and so I will do the same for you. Alright?"
Shinji agreed on this and nodded.
"Alright."
And they both departed for the scene heartbroken.
"So what you think of this?" Asked Kōzo.
"This is a phenomenon we have seen before. When the expedition team of Katsuragi first found out Adam a similar light had emerged but it had wings unlike this one. Even death of an angel didn't have a similar light."
"What's the opinion of SEELE on this?"
"The old men said that the Dead Sea of Scrolls didn't predict any of this but I don't if I should believe them completely."
"Do you think they planned this."
"No. It doesn't seem like it. By their faces and voices they looked as shocked as I. But they tried to hide it because they are afraid that this might ruin their plans. Whoever doing this he is pulling strings bigger than the ones we pull."
"So a new opponent has entered the game?"
"So it seems."
"Do you think Rei might know something on this? Due to her nature."
Gendo raised an eyebrow on his former teacher.
"She might but we can't be completely sure."
"I have spotted her spying on your son and the second. Do you think she has her own plans or she is just jealous?"
"It doesn't look like it. She seems that was planning something. Hence why she fired them at the last minute."
"I thought it was a miss."
"Don't be ridiculous. Rei knows exactly what she is doing. The only thing that matters is that if what she is doing can progress our course."
"Hmm ... maybe then a scent of betrayal ?"
"No. She is still loyal. She has only have acted upon what she believes but there wasn't any signs of betrayal for the time being."
Kōzō sighted.
"Things will be messy from here on out."
It has been three weeks since that talk and Shinji felt like it has been years, because that's how dreadful he feels. It is impossible to sleep at night it's because of nightmares or the absence of someone . Sometimes he could hear her waking up from her nightmares. He tried to trespassing the invisible wall of Jeriko but she still insisted to still keeping a safe distance.
Even his cooking have gotten worse. How can he find the magic in cooking when he can't find the magic in his life. They repeating the same mistakes as before and he doesn't know how to stop them.
At least in school she has someone to talk to other than him. He has seen talking to other girls outside of Hikary but as much as she tried to hide her sadness, Shinji could still see her inner wounds.
" What's your problem Angel's bane having trouble with the Red wrath?" Said Kensuke .
"Red wrath? What are you talking about Kensuke ? "
"Asuka of course, you two are acting like you never know each other lately."
"And to think that the couple will broke up eventually." Said Toji as he entered the conversation.
"That's none of your business right now." Said Shinji angrily.
"Relax Shinji we want know what's happening to you, because we are worried about you and it seems like you losing your marbles lately."
"It's just..."
"What?"
" I don't know man , me and Asuka decided to separate for a little while because our relationship didn't where we hoping and I feel like worse than when I realized that."
"How come? If I remember correctly you skipped an entire week of school and I don't need to be a medium to guess what happened during that period." Said Kensuke with devils smile.
Shinji blushed upon hearing this.
"If you say something about this outside I will kill you myself."
"Don't worry bro our lips are sealed." Said Toji.
"Great."
"Into another subject, did you heard that are going to bring the new Eva unit here in about a week or so?"
"Really?" Said Shinji as he tried to looked surprised. The truth was that he didn't know what time it is going to arrive but since Bardiel is after Leliel it isn't surprising.
"How could you haven't know that? You are a pilot after all."
"They don't say all the information to us you know, besides that have you seen Rei ?"
"No, she hasn't appeared since the time you and the Red wrath stopped being an actual couple."
So she is hiding then? Shinji thought. Or she has her own plans to attend. I didn't saw her at Nerv either , they are as confused as I but the higher don't want to talk about it.
As Shinji was thinking the situation, something unexpected happened. He heard the beeping of his phone and saw the light which indicates that an angel is coming.
She has seen many angels before but nothing like this one. It's head was white and the rest of its body was covered in a similar white cape. The strangest part was that instead of attacking like any other angel this one just stood there and waiting for something.
They were called to Nerv due to the arrival of an angel but from what it looks neither the headquarters have an idea on this angel.
"So what's the deal with this?" Pointed out Shinji.
"We made some research to see what kind an angel this is and this is what we got." Ritsuko showed a video of some drones flying towards the angel and before they could even get a closer look at the behemoth they were cut with such a persistent that nobody could see the movement of its hands nor its body. Asuka was amazed when it saw that thing. Even with 15 years of training couldn't have gone that far.
"Why hasn't attack yet?" Asked again Shinji.
"This is what we trying to find out." Said Misato.
Asuka was eager by the angel's behaviour. It was a lot more different from what she usually was used to. The only angel who played differently it's cards was Tarbis. But she wasn't active at that time to confirm that. This time the angel doesn't seek neither Lilith nor the remains of Adam. It was waiting for something.
Time and Time again her mind traveled to the moment which the angel cut those drones with such a speed and persistence. She just couldn't forget something like that.
"Asuka. Asuka. ASUKA ." Said the doctor.
Asuka turn her to Ritsuko and saw the entire room was looking at her.
"Sorry was lost on my thoughts."
"Do you have to suggest anything on this?"
Asuka thought for a moment to find something to say but the only thing that came to mind was that scene. After playing that scene once again she realized what was happening. The angel wasn't looking for the same things as the others but instead it was looking for a fight. All this time it was waiting for a worthy opponent.
"I think it wants us to fight it."
" Can you elaborate better Asuka?" Said Ritsuko.
"The angel is waiting for someone to fight him. "
"Only that? Why hasn't attack the city then ?"
"It looks like it has code of honour , it wants battle 1v1."
"This is ridiculous, angels are nothing like humans." Said Kōzō from upstairs.
"Then they probably aren't so different as we might think." Said Asuka.
"Are you sure about this?" Whispered Shinji. "I don't trust them after what they did to you . "
"I know what you think but this one is different from the others. It's like it's calling me."
"So who is going the one to face it ?" Asked Ritsuko.
"I will." Said Asuka.
"Let me came with you. I am not going to let you fight this alone."
"I appreciate your help Shinji but I have to do this myself this time. You got to trust me ."
"I will, but don't forget you aren't alone on this one."
"I will always remember that Baka Shinji." Said with a smile.
In a way this made Shinji happy. Despite both of them still being in pain, it is good to know that they can have each other back from time to time.
Eva 02 was launched from the ground and enter the main city and then headed to where the angel was.
"Asuka, before you fight go to one of these buildings nearby there is something special waiting for you." Said Ritsuko through the vox.
"Roger that doctor."
She went in the place she was told and just like most of the buildings there was a weapon inside them. She opened the giant grade and saw a giant sword placed inside of it.
"What's this Ritsuko?"
"It's the weapon we were building the past two months. It's called a power sword. It has the combined strength of 6 prog knife together and more. We created so that it will cut the At field of the angels more easily than before." Answered Ritsuko.
She picked up the sword and saw that it much heavier than the others melee weapons Nerv had . She waved a little to see the utility of it. It felt like cutting through air .
This can truly much the angel. Thought Asuka.
She pressed the button which was in the weapon and a stray of lighting covered the sword.
"WOW, that is so cool, with 6 of this we can win the war in a day."
"I wished it was that simple but it takes a lot of time and effort needed to build this sword, so I suggest you to keep it intact."
"Ok doctor."
After picking up the sword Asuka headed out to face the angel. From the moment Asuka stepped close to it, the angel immediately step up and opened its eyes.
There were four red eyes all with a black iris inside them. Each eye was in a different angle from the other forming a big X on his face. The angel also revealed the rest of his body as he took out his massive white cloak which covered his body and revealed four slander white arms and an also slender body with to skinny legs and the core being covered by a X that was connected with his arms. He was also carrying with him four blades, each for every arm and there all were white as well.
Asuka was astounded by that, it seems that the angel had took a big inspiration from ancient Japanese traditions. The waiting, the whole challenge thing even his blades had a sense of katana into them. If it wasn't the fact that she is was riding a giant combination of flesh and machine she would have thought that was in a Japanese movie but that's not what is important because her opponent is asking for a fight and god dammit she will give him one.
Shinji couldn't be more worried about Asuka as he is now.
I should have gone instead of her. Shinji thought. Despite her longer experience on the battlefield she is in a huge disadvantage because the enemy knows probably a lot about us and we know nothing about him. His core is very exposed for an angel that fighting from close combat, but with what I have to guess it that angel has sacrificed defence over offence. This fight is going to be dangerous .
Shinji saw Asuka taking a position to attack but before she could do anything a sudden blur appeared in everyone's eyes.
"Ahhhhhh." Screamed Asuka.
Everyone took a moment to realize what happened a moment ago but before they could do that they were shocked to find out that one piece of armour from unit 02 was completely cut off and LCL was dripping from the Eva .
" Makoto play that clip again, now."
"Hai."
Even at slow motion the clip couldn't catch completely the angel, as he was moving with such a enormous speed. It had shown the angel dashing to the Eva and cut one of each left part . It's a miracle that Asuka manage to block a smile part of that hit Nothing that big should run this fast and yet this angel does it just like that.
"Pilot I suggest you wait for reinforcements, you can't fight this thing alone." Said Ritsuko.
"No . I can do this my own ."
"Asuka this not the time to act selfish wait for Shinji to back you up." Said Misato.
"Thanks Misato but I refuse. This isn't about selfishness this about being true to fight. If I break that and the angel will be much harder to kill."
"What do you mean by that Asuka?"
"It means that angel could have gone if even faster if he wanted to but he chose to fight a bit closer to my skill. If I didn't block that hit would have been in a worst place. You guys need to trust me,if you don't then at least Shinji will." And with that Asuka stopped the conversation and focus on the fight.
"Pilot of unit 01 assist the second child." Ordered Gendo.
"No." Said Shinji.
"What did you say? " Asked Gendo while eyeing him with daggers.
"I said no."
"Do you know what happens if you disobey orders boy?"
"I have a great idea. Asuka said that she doesn't want help now and I will respect that plus the fight only just started." Shinji hated the fact that he was in the sidelines once again but this time he is gut is telling him that Asuka can do this alone this time and so he will put all his faith in Asuka for the battle.
Gendo wanted to retorted at this but as he changed his view to the screen he saw that battle was now going on the second favour.
Asuka tried to take a great look of her opponent but the angel was too fast to be seen in the visible eye .
He was running from right to left and left to right back , confusing Asuka in the process.
In any minute he is going to attack again. Asuka thought. Mama I might need your help on this one.
The angel was going in an enormous speed and only leave a trail of distraction behind it. For a second the angel stopped and immediately dashed again to unit 02.
Asuka this time came more prepared, she put the Evangelion feet on the ground so hard that it created two giant holes. She took a stance with her sword and prepared to face the angel head on.
When the angel came close to her, she saw for a split second a glimpse of the angel.It felt as if the world was going in slow motion. The angel was going to struck but then Asuka with all her strength struck also the angel on his right foot.
In the next moments the enemy fell on ground but was able to reposition him self. The angel took a moment to realize where he was struck and showed a sense of surprise.
" I am not that easy as you might think." Said Asuka to the angel.
But the angel wasn't the only who was greatly hit, because the angel managed to cut other parts of her armour and had even managed to cut the plug which powered the Evangelion.
Asuka tried ger best to srug the pain but those cuts were like someone cutting parts of her flesh. Unit 02 was going to fell completely if it wasn't for the sword to keep Asuka in place.
"ASUKA YOU NEED TO RETREAT NOW YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IF KEEP FIGHTING." Screamed Misato over the vox.
"Asuka try to go in the city and take a power plug to keep on going." Suggest Ritsuko.
"I was the thinking the same thing but I now I realized what he was trying to do."
"What do mean?"
"The reason why he went all over the place wasn't just to distract me but to also cut all the buildings that could supply me with weapons."
Ritsuko was taken by surprise as she confirmed that the kid was saying the truth as she saw all the buildings which they had hide the supplies were cut with persistence.
"Impossible. How could he know that?"
"I am telling you, this angel is a lot smarter than we give credit for."
As she also reposition herself she saw the angel approaching her slowly this time. Asuka took a stance and prepared to strike her foe.
The angel strike fast with his right hands but not the same as before. It showed that the hit had slowed it a bit.
Asuka blocked the attack and manage to deflected , but the angel repeated the same attack with different pair of hands each time, striking faster and faster with each blow . As much as Asuka was deflecting the attacks the angel was gaining momentum with each movement it was like he wasn't slowed at all a moment ago.
Asuka had her back against the wall, she didn't know what to do or how to react. She was holding out well but for how long was the question. She needed to strike him again but he didn't give her any good opening to do it.
I must imrovise . Mama on my mark I have an idea. Even though the spirit of her mother wasn't as whole as the one of Shinji's. She could still feel her presence inside the core listening her.
Asuka deflected for the last time his left hands but gave the opening to strike first and using his right hands he cut the left hand of 02 .
"Ahhhhhh." She could feel the pain as strong as ever the more she synchronise with Eva the more painful it became. But she needed to synchronise as much as possible if she wanted to kill this angel.
The angel looked like it was to charge any moment , Asuka knew that this was the moment that she was waiting for.
"NOW." Her entire entry pod became dark red and more tight than before. The whole Eva started to become more slim and slender. It started to look more like the angel himself. Asuka felt like the Evangelion was her body.
Both fighters charge at each other with enormous speed which shook the ground completely.
When the two clashed at each other a flash of light appear that blinded everyone who were watching this.
When the outcome of the fight finally become visible everyone was terrified with what they saw.
Unit 02 armour was completely destroyed and it's right hand also decapitated.
"Asu.. Asuka lost the fight." Said Maya in terror.
"Watch closely." Said Gendo.
Everyone shift their focus to the spectrum and saw the decapitated arm of 02 pressed in the angel's core . After 2 minutes the angel blow up and emitted a giant light to the sky.
Asuka woke up with an annoying headache in the hospital bed. She looked outside the window to see the weather. From what it looked it seems that the sun had set an hour ago.
"I really slept that long huh?"
But then she heard a noise coming through the door.
"Shinji?"
She saw him carrying a bag of apples with him.
"You are finally awake Asuka." Said with a smile.
"As you can see the almighty Asuka Soryu is still alive and kicking third." Said with a her old attitude.
Shinji smile again and sat close to Asuka.He peeled an apple and gave it to Asuka.
"You know after I saw fighting that angel I realized something."
"What?"
"Maybe you were right back then, about us I mean. Maybe we don't fully need each other to progress in our lives, after all we might have hurt each other harder in the process if we had continued that."
" Yeah, I am glad that you saw this from my perspective. Us monsters are to danger even for each other. Who knows what would have happened if we had continued. Maybe we would have killed ourselves because out of self hate or one of us abandon the other because we are scared to move on. "
"Is this what couples say when they want break up ?"
" Never actually that way to be honest. What we did wasn't love it was more like living the moment and nothing else."
"Maybe or maybe not."
"Huh?"
"I mean there was at least some love in those past two months right?"
"I can't tell that there wasn't a little but must of the love had vanished the moment we realized how fucked up of our person we truly are."
"Yeah maybe you right on this one."
The door of the room opened again and Kaji appear.
"How it's going kids? I hope I didn't ruin the moment."
"No,no everything is alright I was going to leave any moment. " He said as he got up and headed to the door . "I will visit you tomorrow Asuka have a nice night."
After Shinji exited the room Kaji asked Asuka.
"You didn't break his heart did you?"
"He is fine Kaji both of us will be fine."
"The expression he projected hide some sadness into it. Did something happen between you two?"
"This is the business of the two us and no one else, including you Kaji."
"Hmm. It's a shame thought you two were a great pair even though you were going a bit to much sometimes."
Asuka blushed in shame.
" How ... how do you know that?"
"Me and Misato were in a relationship back then we spot somethings like that."
" And Misato too? Damm I wish I had more privacy in my life."
" This the price you have to pay sometimes when you are in a relationship, other people will become suspicious over you for all the good and bad reasons . Especially when you are Eva pilot on top of that."
As she heard that word Eva again something came to her mind. Her mind traveled all the way back to the beach when she and Shinji came out. When Shinji stopped choking her she saw a glimpse of someone who was slim and was in the last remains of a Lilith head. She tried to remember any other characteristics of that person but all she could remember was that his hair was pale white. White ... white, what does remind me? Wonder girl, no? She appeared right before Shinji saw me. Who else had white hair? But then a sudden idea came to mind and made her pale as never before.
"What happened Asuka you look like you saw a ghost?" Said Kaji.
The fifth child had white hair also and look like Rei. I remember when I saw him in the instrumentality. But his dead,at least his original consciousness of that world. So then who was that person? But then another thing came to mind.
"Adam."
"What?"
"Nothing."
If Lilith can project her self in to Rei what
stopping Adam of doing the same? Asuka got out of her bed and rushed towards where Shinji went. He had the right to know this.
"Wait Asuka. Where are you going?" Kaji tried to stop her but the girl was to fast for him.
Shinji was walking through the Nerv lost and confused.
Ok I get it why this had to happen but what hell should I do now? When I first came here I wanted answers and to find Asuka. But when I found Asuka I threw the other objectives out of the window and started living the moment, now that I stopped living the moment the only thing remain to do is focus on what is coming which I don't know what it is. Only Rei might know about this.
"Your Juliet was pretty lucky today, you know that?" Said voice behind him. He knew that voice she can't be none other than.
"Lilith."
She smiled wickedly and came out from the corner which she was hiding.
"Where you took Rei all this time?"
"She wanted to follow the light and see what was it ."
"And why you are the one to say that?"
"She tried to get closer look but she was eventually knocked back so try to the body in command ."
"Who was this angel that we fought? This is the first time I see him."
"He is name was Ashriel it second only to Adam in terms of power. Adam respected Ashriel for that."
"I thought you angels were stronger."
"Don't get your wrong idea Lilin he didn't even use half of his power in that fight."
"Why losing on purpose then?"
"Because after you reach perfection nothing has meaning anymore. Ashriel didn't come here to cause the third impact he just wanted someone to give him a good fight. You should thank him that she didn't kill her in a nanoseconds."
"So then what was that light?"
"It is..."
"Adam." Said Asuka from behind. "It was probably Adam."
A.N: And after so long the story is back bitchies . I was originally planning on having Shinji beat this angel but thought it would have been better if we saw an Asuka solo fight since we didn't have much of those in the og series ( outside of EoE).
That's it for now. See you on the next chapter.