Chapter 42: … No Hiding Place
It feels… strange, sitting in the Entry Plug of Unit-01 again. But somehow, it feels right. Like settling into well-worn clothes.
If I focus, then I can feel them there. Not just Mother, not just Rei, but millions upon millions of other souls. All attuned to me. All ready for something, anything to happen.
Am I ready? The question feels a little silly. Whether I'm ready or not, what's coming next will happen. But I've been prepared now. Done more than just sit in an Entry Plug.
And that's going to make all the difference, I think.
- From the personal journal of Shinji Ikari
AAAWunder, Above Antarctica
Captain Misato Katsuragi watched the end of the world happening right outside her ship, frozen in shock at the monster that Unit-02 had become. And how easily Unit-13 had destroyed it and the Override Plug that they'd pinned their hopes on before this plan. It made it look so… easy for it.
"Ma'am," Aoba said, looking back from his monitor, "We've lost vital signs in Unit-02. The Plug has gone dark."
"Just like we expected." Commander Kaji… no, right now, he was Ryoji, said grimly. "Hope that Bradley pulled her into the Eva in time."
"Captain!" Kitakami shouted. "I'm picking up an Eva on an intercept course with us!"
As she finished speaking, the Eva in question, clad in an orange chest plate and pylons against a body of black and a teardrop-shaped mask with a prominent X across its face, a line below it to the pointed chin, landed on a section of the ship that had a camera, seeming to leer into the aperture to stare at them.
Akagi looked back at Katsuragi, her expression serious. "Pattern confirms that it's the Mark.09. They rebuilt it into a new type of Eva."
"Picking up digital contact from the Eva!" Hyuga said. "It's attempting to physically enter the ship!"
"Give it the designated systems!" Ritsuko said from behind her. "Prepare to lock down what we can before we lose access."
"Well," Ryoji said, "looks like our time in the saddle is up for now."
A warning screen, red and black, flashed into view, reading 'Reversion to Buße Programming Initiated."
"Guidance controls are offline," Nagara said calmly as the screen flashed off, the gaudy symbol of SEELE overlaying itself everywhere on the screens.
"Mark.09 is through the VD firewall gate. Still attempting physical access." Aoba said, an edge to his voice.
"Crap!" Tama said, "We're going unauthorized access of locked down systems! It's breaching our firewalls!"
"Activate Addendum 666!" Akagi shouted. "Make sure it-"
Before Akagi could continue any further, the Hirnstamm capsule went flying out of its locked position, the screens going black before the leaves of the capsule split open, the bridge crew bracing for the impact and still being jostled as the locks for the bridge clicked into place.
"666 has been activated!" Tama said. "Progress on hacking of locked down systems has slowed considerably."
"What about the other Heaven's Key-class vessels?" Katsuragi asked.
"They're disengaging the Scion fleet, descending rapidly towards the underside of the Black Moon," Kitakami replied. "And…"
She looked back at the command staff. "The Scion ships have stopped firing on them. They're clearing a path for the other ships."
Katsuragi was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Take us down with the Vessels if you're still able to, Nagara. It looks like we're up now," she said grimly.
Nagara nodded, and the Wunder drifted away from the formation that had thus far protected it. "Inform the rest of the task force to maintain distance, but descend with us." Katsuragi continued, taking a deep breath. "I don't think this little shooting match is over just yet."
"Otherwise," she continued as she looked over at Akagi, "inform the rest of the crew to begin final preparations on the conversion of the ship. Whatever else, we'll be ready for that."
As the ship drifted into place, Katsuragi, along with the rest of the crew, watched as best they could as the three sister ships of the Wunder began to glow, the crystals that took the place of the Wunder's radar dishes screeching as pillars of prismatic light lanced out from them, stretching into the sky to become wings of light. Wings that stoked old memories, old fears, in Misato Katsuragi.
Beneath them, the red ripples parted, revealing that massive, many-winged form that had been etched on the surface of Antarctica where Calvary Base had once stood.
"It's almost fascinating."
Katsuragi looked back at Akagi with some consternation as she continued. "Up until now, Ikari's been following SEELE's plans for Instrumentality almost to the letter. Now, here, we're seeing the implementation of forces far beyond what even they could have imagined. Another Impact. A Final Impact."
As they spoke, the Black Moon split in half, each part becoming almost clay-like as they molded themselves into a new form, a form almost like an unfurled Spear, containing within it the night sky above as its points faded into a familiar crimson color.
"We have an intruder on the bow deck!" Aoba said, pulling up a camera feed and sending it to the main platform.
True to his word, there on the outer hull of the ship stood a single figure, a human that was eminently familiar. "Commander Ikari…"
Then, Katsuragi jumped slightly as her phone rang. She picked it up quickly. "Yes?"
"I see that Commander Ikari has landed on the surface of the vessel." the other Gendo Ikari replied. "You still require time for your preparations."
"Yes. What are you suggesting?" Katsuragi asked.
"Yui and I will go up there and ensure that you have adequate time for the preparations at hand," Gendo replied firmly. "I suspect it might come to blows."
It was silent for a moment as Katsuragi considered the offer. "Very well. But I have some business with him as well."
"I see." Gendo paused for a moment. "The Fuyutsukis and young Miss Akagi will remain to assist your engineers. I am confident that they will ensure the readiness of this vessel. Good luck, Captain."
It was perhaps one of the strangest things she had heard today. "And good luck to you as well, Co… Ikari."
The call ended, and Katsuragi looked over at Akagi and Kaji. "Alright. Let's go and talk to the Commander."
. . .
The being that had been Commander Gendo Ikari stared up at the sky that surrounded him, taking in a sight that, while tarnished by outside forces, was still well within the bounds of the plan that had been set out in a time long before this frail form. The Black Moon, the final key, hovered above, as ships from unseen shores continued to battle the altered shells of humanity's interstitial stage. Flames, energy, light and darkness plumed all around him, almost framing the scene in a way that Ikari would have found almost artistic. Seemingly at the center of it all, the being that he had dueled with now clashed with two other Evangelions, their power seemingly on full display.
"It's been quite some time, Commander."
He turned and saw Colonel Katsuragi, Doctor Akagi, and the rather surprising sight of Inspector Kaji standing before him. "I commend you for your work, Colonel Katsuragi," he said simply. "Now, however, this ship will fulfill the role it was designed for."
Before he could continue, a shot cracked through the air, slamming into his visor and sending him reeling for a moment. "Ah. Doctor." Ikari said as he regarded both her and the inspector with their guns raised. "I see that you now shoot first and ask questions later. Even still, you show no hesitation when it comes to accomplishing your goals."
"I learned from you, after all," Akagi said coolly, then pulled the trigger again, then again and again, the inspector joining in as they unloaded into the head and body of the man that had orchestrated so much of this world's sorrows.
As Ikari's body hit the deck, his blood and brains splattered across the metal, Akagi kept her eye on the man. Then, all their eyes went wide as he slowly rose to a knee, gently taking a chunk of brain matter in front of him and placing it into the hole in the back of his skull that her shots had made.
"Gods require no barriers. No cages." Ikari said calmly as the last remnants of his visor fell from his face. In place of his eyes, a gaping maw, from which a light that burned red at its fringes emitted, split the top of his face, another crack perpendicular to it aligned with his nose. "We accept all things that come to us and adapt accordingly. This is the godhood humanity so feebly possesses."
"Is that what the Key of Nebuchadnezzar does to someone after this long?" Kaji asked. "I'm glad I was able to get it out then. Maybe there's hope left for you, too."
"I have appended upon this body information and power that transcends the logic of this realm," Ikari replied. "My humanity has been magnified by the power of the first creators."
"I somehow doubt that."
Ikari turned his gaze and saw a man and woman approaching. The man seemed familiar, from his voice to the way his hard blue eyes seemed to pierce into who he looked at. "You've shed your humanity," the man said, "just as I would have in your place before now."
Ikari regarded him, then the woman standing beside him. And a distant part of his mind snapped the puzzle pieces together and started screaming.
On the surface, Ikari was silent for a moment. "There are no problems, mirror image," he said simply.
As if on cue, the massive, gory head of Unit-02 splattered to the deck, narrowly missing all of them as what had tossed it began to rise before them. "I will slay what Gods remain, bind their power with humanity, and through the sacrifice of the Angels, complete the gathering of humanity's souls into a new God, through Complementation and Instrumentality."
All but Ikari looked up and saw the Entry Plug that was clasped in its jaws. "And you would sacrifice as many versions of Asuka as you need to," Katsuragi said in disgust.
"The Shikinami type, as the Ayanami type before it, was prepared for this moment," Ikari said, commanding Unit-13 behind him to complete the sacrifice. "There are no problems."
Unit-13 bit down on the Plug, splitting it down the middle as a flash of light burst from it, the Eva returning to that luminous white as the massive Spear that floated past them picked up speed.
Then, Katsuragi pulled out a phone, her eyes going wide and face pale. "What?" she said numbly.
"We're on our way! Contain them!" she said a moment later, putting the phone away and pulling out her gun. "Keep him busy!" she said to his mirror image as Akagi and Kaji ran with her.
Then, they were alone together. It was silent for a few moments, the two staring at each other as the Spear pierced the veil between this world and the Minus Space, a rippling burst of prismatic light followed by an eruption of massive purple beings, much the same as the Failures of Infinity that wheeled above them began to flow towards them.
"So this is it…" the mirror image of Yui said. "The gathering of all life that has ever existed on Earth…"
"Is this what's required to begin the Final Impact?" Gendo mused as the beings flew over them and around them, the entire battlefield becoming cloaked in the writing mass for terrifying moments.
"Yes," Ikari replied after a moment's silence. "As the Second Impact purified the oceans, and the completed Third purified the land, the Fourth, Final Impact will gather and purify all souls for their ascension. These Infinite Evangelions are the materialization of souls, and through them, humanity will blossom from this seedbed of life we call Earth, to grow to an unsullied paradise where we shall command the universe itself."
It was silent again, the Infinite Evas thinning out before Ikari continued. "With Second Impact, Doctor Katsuragi proved the validity of his Instrumentality Theory, allowing SEELE to feebly grasp at a lesser glory."
"If there is anything I know about Misato Katsuragi," Gendo replied, "it is that she will not allow the culmination of that theory to come to pass."
"Then she is a fool," Ikari replied. "Possessing the Fruit of Knowledge, only two paths remained for humanity. To be exterminated by the Angels, the possessors of the Fruit of Life and the masters of this world, or to destroy the Angels, robbing them of their place before the Creators and usurping them in turn as we surrender our intellects and enjoy…"
Gendo and Yui blinked as Ikari paused, and they could swear he was wincing for a moment before his measured neutrality returned. "And enjoy the gift of eternal life as one being." Ikari finished. "We must choose. NERV's Human Instrumentality Project was the result of SEELE's feeble resistance against the Creators, employing the powers held within Adam as children of Lilith. Their efforts, while straying from the path, were a worthwhile start."
"Think for a moment, Gendo," Yui said, an almost pleading look in her eyes. "All of this, for me. All this suffering, all this pain, what you've done to our son. Why would I want you back if you continue down this path?"
Ikari winced again, his hands shaking for a moment as they began to reach up. Then, he stilled again. "The needs of this creation have superseded this body's base desires," Ikari replied. "Gendo Ikari gave himself as a willing vessel of Adam. Through his exposure to the progenitor of the Fruit of Life, he has made himself capable of doing what needs to be done, starting again where the Creators have failed."
"How did they fail?" Gendo said, glancing up as the Golgotha Object, a purple, smooth cross with spiral patterns pierced through by another perpendicular branch, became visible.
"The division of life was flawed," Ikari replied, looking back up at the Object. "Now, with the empty home of the Creators revealed, the flaw will be mended, and all life made equal."
He looked back and saw Gendo rocketing toward him, his fist covered in a gauntlet of familiar transparent orange as it planted a hook across his face causing him to stumble back.
"You are a fool," Ikari said as his hands began to glow with an AT Field. "Human sentiments and force of arms cannot change what is to come."
"I disagree," Gendo replied, encased in armor now and sporting the strangest thing on his face; a cocky grin. "We just have to keep you busy for long enough, and I think it's been a while since your last barfight."
Ikari stepped forward, then found himself peppered with lances of energy. He looked past and saw Yui, similarly armored and likely controlling the small drones that were attacking a now-raised AT Field. "It seems that the Gods, as always, must teach frail humanity its place," Ikari said, his eye flashing with power.
. . .
Kyu Akagi found that programming was a remarkably difficult task when done under fire. She held the tablet in her hands and stayed behind the Plasm cover that Grandfather had made as best she could, helping the Achiral System here complete its tasks as several people, armored and carrying what were clearly weapons of Worldsea origin, tried their best to stop the final steps of the conversion.
Her grandparents stayed behind a barrier, allowing the two automatic turrets here in the server room to keep them protected as they continued their work. Kozo had a Grip, shaped into a pistol, that he sometimes fired at the intruders.
"Dear," Naoko said as Kozo got fully into cover once again, "any chance you could pick up a computer and make this go a little faster? I'd like to go away from the gunfire, if possible."
"If it wasn't shot out of my hands in the first few seconds," Kozo said patiently, "I'd be helping at this very moment."
"Oh good. At least your heart's in the right place." Naoko retorted as her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Grandparents…" Kyu said absentmindedly as she heard the clunking of heavy footsteps coming towards them from the opposite door, one which they'd sealed. "I believe our reinforcements are here."
It was only a few seconds later that the door blew off its mountings, shooting forward into the group of boarders and slamming into two of them. From the smoke emerged a massive form, its streaked and slightly scorched paint betraying the fact that this White Cell, Data, Kyu believed it was, had seen combat.
It wasted no time striding over to the half-dozen remaining boarders, their harried shots dissolving against an AT Field that stayed up until the moment it stood in their midst. Then, it got to work, grabbing at boarders and tearing them apart with an ease that spoke to its true strength.
For a moment, the gory, macabre sight held Kyu's attention as her lines of code were finished. It was beautiful, in a rather terrifying way.
"Are you all alright?"
She tore her gaze away from the fight that was rapidly wrapping up to see the security chief, one Toph Beifong, barging in with a security team, pistol in hand and a strange armor on, at least compared to the rifle and kevlar that her compatriots wore.
"I believe we are unharmed, for the most part," Kozo replied before looking at the three dead technicians that had been caught out by the teleporting boarders. "I do hope that what comes next is good for them."
Kyu looked away as she heard the White Cells clomping away, seeing Capitan Katsuragi, Doctor Akagi, and Commander Kaji walking in. "What's the status of our preparations?" Doctor Akagi asked.
"All our outer nodes are ready to go," Naoko said as she looked down at her tablet. "We still haven't managed to connect to the spinal column to shift it into place."
"That should have been finished well before you," Akagi said, going over to a console that wasn't smoking and filled with holes. As she tapped on the keyboard, she pulled up a security feed of the engineering bay, the only entrance to the spinal column, and everyone gathered around her to see an engineering bay filled with armored figures, some rather larger than others, and the bodies of the WILLE engineers.
A spike of fear planted itself in Kyu's heart. That was where Maya, Mother, both of them, had been directing things. Had they…
Almost everyone shared a grimace as what was likely the two ringleaders, as it were, became revealed. Kyu recognized the woman HERZ records identified as Aaminata, as well as the woman that Daniel identified as Yzma.
"It looks like we've got one last fight in front of us," Kaji said. "I hope at least some of them made it out alive."
"We'll go make sure of that," Katsuragi said firmly, taking a stowed submachine gun from one of the security personnel. "Get everyone together. We're going to throw these boarders out of here."
. . .
In a shadowed corner of the engineering deck, Ryoji Kaji hid within, both Mayas, Ibuki and Akagi, sequestered in the dark with them.
He should have expected something like this to happen. Should have been quicker to get Ibuki out of the line of fire. He knew Maya could handle herself well enough, but now he had to find his way out of this section.
"Ibuki?" he asked Ibuki, soul to soul. "How are you holding up?"
Ryoji grimaced at how shredded her body and soul had been by that first volley. If he'd been even a second slower…
"I'm… this is so… weird…" Ibuki said, her soul's Framework pulsing weakly as Maya worked on it.
"Maya," Ryoji said as he shifted his attention, "how's work on her coming?"
"Not having a body to stabilize is really throwing me off," Maya replied, her voice laced with concentration and a mounting anxiety. "I wish Hikari or Eleanor were here to help guide me. But I'll do my best."
"Awesome,"
Ryoji said as he kept watch. Whatever he might have said next withered as he saw a squad of souls approaching. "Maya! Pause for a second!"
She stopped, and Ryoji did his best to draw a veil around them to prevent them from being seen. Whoever these people were, he could guess they were well-armed. They chattered to each other, whether by talking or by some other means he didn't know, but they hadn't spotted them yet.
'Come on…' Ryoji thought as he shrank back further still into the nook, watching them intently as they came to a stop in front of him. 'I'd hate to see what fighting with a shadow looks like.'
Then, there was a noise, a dull thud, that penetrated even the shadows, drawing the attention of the four in front of them as they darted away, towards what he remembered to be the access ports to the bay. As he watched them go, he thought for a moment, toying with the Expression that hid them from the rest of the bay as the noise happened again. "Alright. Maya, keep working on Ibuki. I'll go see what's going on." he said as he finished his modifications.
He only saw the assent she gave him through her Frames as he slowly parted from the shadow they were in, creeping to another spot and peering out from his umbral veil. He saw the corpse-strewn bay laid out before him, the boarders stacking up near the three doors into the bay that now had several dents in each of them.
Whoever was coming through, they were about to get lit up. Now, all they needed was a second to get through and break up the party. A second he could give them…
He saw the several dozen soldiers clumped around several points behind cover and reached out with Frameworks to weave Expressions beneath the squads, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be noticed by the Interfacers that led out these raiders.
There… the shadows underneath them would be a decent enough anchor for what was rapidly becoming quite a complicated Expression. 'Come on…' Ryoji thought as the doors began to buckle in again. 'Please don't look behind you…'
Finally, the doors burst in, and Ryoji activated his Expression, shadows snaking up the bodies of the boarders in a flash, blinding them as the room became sound and thunder and fury once again.
He aimed for stealth and surprise as the chaos unfolded and his focus narrowed to keep from getting overwhelmed, literally melting in and out of shadows to put a blade in someone's back or a bullet through their skull before moving on. He had to be quick, he had to be careful, and he had to stay out of the way of those White Cells as they ripped through the bay, man after man finding themselves ripped apart as AT Fields protected the White Cells from the devastation. Fire and water and shards of metal flying alongside stranger energies made the bay the epicenter of a maelstrom, one he had to navigate as deftly as possible…
Then, there was a flash of light, a light he could feel, grasping his shadowed form with unyielding fingers as it tore them off him, leaving him in the flesh, in the middle of a battlefield that was very much detrimental to his health.
He ducked into what cover he could steal from the man he killed, then looked around for the source of the light. He found it in the young woman Daniel had identified as Yzma, shaking her hand as dust fell from it. "A light to dispel all shadows." he heard her mutter as she looked around, finding him and grinning slightly. "Ah. There you are. And…"
She looked around again, Ryoji following her gaze and feeling his jaw tighten as she caught a look at both the Mayas. His world's Maya kneeled over the prone Ibuki, the woman thankfully far less riddled with holes than she was before.
But he needed to stop whatever they might do to them. He broke cover, charging as whisps of shadow began to cover his armor again as he fired his pistol again and again to draw the woman's attention.
But his shots ricocheted off the back of what looked like a flat, manta ray-like Spirit summoned out of thin air as it had been when this whole thing started, the Spirit flowing onto Aaminata's otherwise unarmored arm as she interposed herself between him and Yzma with a vacant, golden stare.
It was not a fight he intended to give her as Yzma stalked toward the two, Maya hurrying as her Grip manifested into a pistol. So, Ryoji went around Aaminata, dissolving into shadows that swept around and past her legs before he reformed, again firing at Yzma's back.
The shots, little sharpened shadows, simply bounced off her, leaving little dents in her skin under where they tore cloth as Yzma turned to face him with a chuckle. "Oh, you're a feisty one. I like that."
She became a shadow herself, Ryoji diving after her soul as he followed her lead. The world around them disappeared, becoming little more than an almost distinct haze as he chased her through the bay, and past the walls, going deeper into the ship.
Here and there, they clashed, coming together for the briefest of moments as they stabbed and slashed and shot at each other. Whoever she was, she was clearly at least somewhat more skilled at him on this battlefield.
As they came to another brief stop in a hallway, he resolved to change that, grabbing her soul and yanking them both out of this shadow space, the world snapping back into color and focus as he landed on top of her.
"Oh, dear." Yzma chuckled, an amused look on her face. "A married man in this position, Inspector? What would your wife think if she saw this?"
Ryoji was confused for a moment before he realized she was looking into his soul through the connection he'd used to drag her out of the shadows. He jumped to his feet, severing the connection as Yzma laughed, the woman flowing to her feet.
"Alright," Ryoji said. "Just the two of us."
"Oh. Just the two of us." Yzma replied sardonically. "All for those pretty little things? You're the most pitiable creature, aren't you? A white knight."
'Wow. Does she get under everyone's skin like this?' Ryoji mused as his Grip became a long combat knife, his senses on edge as he circled her slowly.
Then, he felt someone appear behind him, glancing back to see Aaminata carried by that manta ray that protected her. "Yzma," she said tonelessly. "The ship is lost. Our attempt has failed due to an underestimation of their forces. We must return to the fleet."
He heard a dramatic sigh from behind him as Yzma floated in shadows past him to appear at her side. "Anything else?" she grumbled.
"The rite is beginning," Aaminata said tonelessly. "We must ensure that it is not interrupted."
Yzma nodded and looked back at Ryoji with a critical eye, silent and still for long moments. His eyes went wide as he realized what information he might have given her. 'Damn it! I need to stop them now before she tells anyone.'
As he reformed his pistol, however, Yzma shrugged as she unstoppered a vial, coating her dagger in whatever liquid was contained within. "Well, it looks like it's time to jump ship."
Then, with seemingly all the casualness in the world, Yzma planted the dagger low in Aaminata's back.
As Ryoji's eyes went wide, Aaminata's face went slack, the golden glow fading as she collapsed to the floor.
"Ah, well." Yzma sighed. "It's just a shame dear old Shang and I only get to watch things play out on the periphery. Damn sigil won't come off our brows, either."
She shrugged, and Ryoji raised his pistol. "What the hell? Why?" he said, his mind still reeling.
"Because either my free will gets taken away," Yzma began as if speaking to a toddler, "or Shang and I get chased by you lot once things are finished up here. Whatever happens here, it's going to be very unhealthy for a girl my age."
"Make no mistake though," Yzma continued as her voice took on a hard edge, "I'll tame these wannabe gods, just like I brought Supai to heel and took his power for myself. Unity's a good deal, after all."
She paused, then grinned. "Well, see you around. Maybe."
With that, she melted into shadows, her form seeming to fall through the floor as she disappeared.
Ryoji took a deep breath, dismissing his Grip as he came over to Aaminata's body. "Damn…" he said, gently scooping her up after a moment. "Well, hope you aren't going to turn on us for healing you. Now, how to get back to the engineering bay…"
He made his way as quickly as he could to the engineering bay, entering to see utter carnage. Bodies were strewn everywhere, and there were more than a few people, all of the WILLE, leaning on walls or sitting on chairs, that were tending to wounds or being tended to.
As he approached, more than a few heads turned to ogle at who he carried. One in particular dropped what she was doing, rushing over to Ryoji.
"What happened?" Ymris asked, clearly shaken as Ryoji set her down on her side.
"That shadow witch, Yzma, stuck this knife in her back before she teleported out," Ryoji replied, noting a rather pale Maya coming over to inspect the scene. "I guess she wasn't as loyal as we thought."
"And why the hell did you bring her back here?" one of the security team members said, pointing a gun at the prone Aaminata. "She took out most of the bay, and butchered several of our men during the fight."
"She isn't fully in control." Ymris shot back as she slapped the barrel of the rifle away. She looked over at Maya. "Is there anything you can see in her that should worry us if she wakes up?"
Maya studied the woman lying before her with a critical eye. "Let's see…"
Ryoji watched silently for a moment as Maya worked, glancing up at the rest of the bay and scanning it. His eyes went wide as he saw Captain Katsuragi, nursing what looked like a shot wound on her shoulder, Commander Kaji by her side as Kyu Akagi worked on her with Interfacing.
He rose almost on instinct, making his way over to her quickly. "How is she?" he asked Kaji.
Kaji took a deep breath. "Some pretty bad bullet wounds, and an arrow of all things, but Kyu here's managed to patch her up a decent amount."
"I'll be fine, Ryoji," Katsuragi said, wincing in pain as Kyu sealed another wound. "Both of you. I almost forgot how much you worry." she chuckled.
Then, not for the first time, the cabin shook, a muffled boom seeping through from the surface.
"Man," Kaji said as he looked at the ceiling. "They're still going at it?"
"Ikari was a bar brawler," Ryoji replied. "Our version at least. I think he can take a few hits."
"What's this?" Kyu said, drawing their attention to her as she studied Katsuragi's shoulder. "Grandmother, can you come here for a moment?"
Naoko, perched over a console, looked back over at them as she walked over. "What's the matter?"
"I'm seeing a strange Framework here in Captain Katsuragi's shoulder," Kyu said as Naoko stopped by her side. "Here. I can't seem to get it out…"
"Don't worry about me," Katsuragi said firmly as she gently pushed Kyu away. "We need to get this Spear ready for when it's needed."
Kyu regarded her for a moment, then nodded slightly. "We're almost done with preparations. I would recommend clearing the bay of any survivors once we're finished."
"Good point if Ikari's going to break Unit-01 out of here." Commander Kaji said as he stood, looking over at the security team. "Get everyone out as quickly as you can! We'll call the medical teams to do triage."
Toph nodded, beginning to get those who could walk on their own to leave the bay as more able-bodied security members began carrying those who couldn't. Ibuki, now conscious, was the last that was out carried out of the door, after a quiet moment with Akagi. Soon enough, only the technically involved, the command staff, and the dead remained.
Those working did so with all due haste, fingers flying over the main consoles of the system here. "Alright," Vice-Captain Akagi said after what felt like too long. "Our preparations here are done. I don't see any need to be here much longer."
She paused for a moment, obviously thinking before turning to Naoko. "Mother, can we guide this ship in remotely?"
"It would be possible, I think," Naoko replied. "But we'd need control of the ship's engines and control surfaces."
"Easy enough for the ship to hack into, I would think, Grandmother," Kyu replied. "And it takes the risk of having anyone on this ship for longer than necessary out of the question."
"Well, I don't see why not." Commander Kaji said. "Talk to your people, Mrs. Fuyutsuki. We'll get ours ready."
Ryoji was now, for the moment, simply an observer here in the bay as preparations to evacuate got underway. "Alright," Kozo said after a moment, "we've begun the evacuation of all remaining crew. We'll be teleported out shortly."
"I'll stay behind for a moment," Ryoji said, drawing confused looks from everyone for a moment. "I'll just be checking the ship one last time, make sure our Scion friends didn't leave any surprises behind. I'll be quick."
"Then I'd get to it quickly." Captain Katsuragi said. "We need to be out of here soon."
Ryoji nodded, vanishing into shadows like a puff of smoke as he flew away toward the first section that he needed to check.
. . .
Captain Katsuragi waited patiently for this all to be over, the sealed wound in her shoulder still aching as she watched. Anxiety, seemingly omnipresent now, quietly ticked away within her as she heard the reports from the Val of crewmen being teleported aboard.
"Alright," Naoko said quietly as the last of those souls not in the engineering bay vanished from the ship. "Here we go."
Kozo nodded, silently relaying a message to the other Gendo Ikari via their soul link. "Gendo's been notified. He'll be joining us shortly," he said.
Katsuragi closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and waiting for the strange, fuzzy feeling of teleporting away from the ship she'd dedicated so much of her life to.
She felt the ripple of the process beginning. But then, the… thing in her shoulder flared, and the rippling sensation disappeared as she opened her eyes in shock to an empty bay. 'What the…'
Her eyes went wide, and she stood and dashed towards one of the exits. She had to get clear now. If Ikari was going to…
She just barely reached the door and opened it before…
She woke up slowly. Achingly slowly. When the hell…
Her ears rang, and the first thing she felt was the pain waking her up the rest of the way as she tried to look behind her. The engineering bay had disappeared in flames, Ikari's explosive method of freeing Unit-01 having pushed her free from the fire.
It had also, she found as she tried to get simply to her hands and knees, pushed no small amount of shrapnel into her body. It was a miracle that she was still alive. Why hadn't she teleported out? What had that witch shot into her with that arrow?
She crawled over to a wall, pulling herself to her feet as best she could. Finally, she began the slow walk up to the bridge.
After what felt like ages, her mind caught up, and a hand slowly went down to a pocket. What she pulled from it was a mess of plastic and glass that had once been a phone, along with being smeared with blood. She was probably losing a lot of that. It felt strangely… warm as the ship shook slightly, the world beginning to spin as Katsuragi paused.
Then, from the shadows, Ryoji emerged. 'You came back for me.' her addled mind thought. 'I'm a lucky girl… should I be?'
Her thoughts made her miss what Ryoji said to her at first, but she could not miss the panicked expression, the strange sensation of healing beginning to go to work.
She blinked, and he was on a call with someone. She focused, straining her still distant hearing to listen.
"I don't care what was supposed to happen, damn it! She's still here, and she's wounded. We need to find a way to get her off the ship now!"
A pause, his expression slackening. "What? What the hell's an Anchor… no. No, that's a stupid question. I get it. I'll get her to a hatch, fly her over when you get close."
"Ryoji."
The name felt slurred, spoken by lips that still hadn't fully regained their sensation, but it made him pause, just as she wanted.
"Somehow… I think this is where I need to be. No need to worry about anyone hijacking the ship from you if I'm at the controls." she said.
"We won't let someone do that," Ryoji said.
He was panicked. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him like that. "I'm near death anyway, Ryoji," she said as firmly as she could. "You could patch me up, but we both know I've lost too much blood at this point. Just get me to the bridge, and Mrs. Theisman will make sure I'm taken care of."
Ryoji's brow furrowed. He was on the cusp of continuing to argue with her. Then, quietly, he sighed. "Alright. Sit still."
Ryoji disappeared from sight as she felt more pieces of shrapnel being removed, the wounds pinching together and sealing almost painlessly. She watched, and waited, until finally, Ryoji came around to her again. "Alright." he said, "get ready. I'll get you to the bridge."
He picked her up gently, and she felt the equally strange sensation of dissolving as she became a shadow with him. The world, vague and shifting now, blurred by as Ryoji flew, snapping into focus once again on the command platform of the bridge as she was helped to her feet again.
"Anything I should take back to your husband?" Ryoji asked.
"Tell him…" Katsuragi was silent for a moment. "I'll see him again soon."
Ryoji nodded. "Good luck, Misato."
"Thanks."
With that, he disappeared. And the bridge, once again, was hers.
Katsuragi took a deep breath as she walked over to a rail. "Magi, begin vocal command automation, and transfer all controls to command, authorization K-0916 Alpha."
A quiet tri-tone told her it was done, and she looked at a screen beside her that showed the battle going still as Unit-13 plunged into the Minus Space.
"It's up to you and yours now, Daniel," she said mostly to herself as she reached for her messy, tangled hair, pulling the bun apart.
The door opened, and she whipped her head around to see… two of the White Cells, their pain scratched and seared off enough that she couldn't make out which ones they were. "Oh. Good," she said quietly. "You two keep me safe, alright?"
She couldn't tell if it was the blood loss or the resulting delirium that made her see one of them nodding as she turned back to her window to the end of the world. "Shinji…" she said as she removed the tie that kept her hair up, finally letting it fall free as she let go of everything else.
"Good luck," Misato said. "I'm ready to see the world you make."
. . .
Daniel watched, strangely relieved, as the brilliant Unit-13 dove towards the opening in the world, disengaging with the Hollow Saint as all watched.
"Alright guys," he began to say to the Children. "Get ready."
He watched the Hollow Saint for a moment, hoping against hope. Finally, he dived after Ikari, Daniel content to let him get a little distance before going after him. It would give him a little time to take care of the wounds, and the Flux, that even just a few minutes of combat had given him as the others gathered to his side.
"We're ready, Bruder," Asuka said quietly, Daniel glancing over to see Unit=01, Unit=02, Unit=05, and Unit=06 by his sides.
He took a deep breath, then made Unit=00 dive towards the open Doors of Guf. "Let's end this."