Chapter 43: Tumbling Down, Tumbling Down
Writing about it now, it still hurts.
Not just the physical pain that I endured, though that still lingers to some extent with the marks I received. But what others had to endure. What I brought my Children to accomplish and suffer through with me.
I wish I could do this alone. Spare those I love the pain of doing what I do. But I know I could not do it without them. That they went willingly with me into Armageddon. Whatever power I stood before then, that was what carried us that day. A unity that Hamar'ramah could never understand.
- From the personal journal of Daniel Theisman
NHS Gebet, Over Antarctica
Toph Beifong we never going to get used to teleporting anywhere. That feeling of weightlessness, of being taken off her feet, wouldn't ever sit well with her, no matter how well she could see now.
That they'd gotten on at all was something of a miracle in and of itself, with the ship's AT Field raised as it now was to stand against the dull booms of the Scion fleet's guns. Their only chance at escape, and Mari's friend's only hope of rescue, was in the strange signaling device that all of them carried, a small hexagonal pillar and base, and the spare that Toph kept on her.
But right now, as they appeared in a thankfully empty hallway, she had other things to worry about at the moment.
She stamped a now bare foot, closing her eyes as the sounds rippled through the metal of the ship. She could 'see' every nook and cranny that the sound reverberated in, in a way that no one outside of her family could. Such as the precise locations of the sentry turrets that were waiting for them.
She took a solid stance, reaching out and taking hold of them mentally, seemingly grasping them with her hands as she pushed them together. The accompanying crunch of a long line in the ceiling folding in on itself was nothing if not satisfying.
"Come on!" Korra called as she and her companions began to run up the hallway. "It's like navigating the Wunder! We should be there in no time!"
The former Avatar and his companions stood there for a moment before Toph shook her head. "Damn kids." she sighed quietly before they followed after. "Always rushing into things."
"Says you," Aang said with a slight grin, the grin disappearing for a moment as they ducked into cover and dealt with a pair of turrets as quickly as they could, he and Toph tearing them free from the ceiling and their ammunition feeds.
"Hey, at least I managed to get old and have the chance to learn my lesson, twinkle toes," Toph said with a roll of her eyes. The motion still felt utterly novel to her.
As they charged through the hallways, those metalbenders among them turning the automated turrets into so much mangled scrap metal, they began to hear the heavy thumping of steps coming towards them. Finally, as they caught up with the younger Avatar and friends, they came to a stop beside them as two White Cells stood sentinel in the hallway before them.
All looked behind them, the way back barred by another two White Cells. They would never cease to be creepy, with their almost pure white skin, puffy lips, and slight grins that always creased their faces. Now, Toph and the others had to deal with them face to face.
"Great," Sokka muttered as they circled up, what weapons they had at the ready as the White Cells began to encroach on them. "Any chance we can make a new path out of here?"
"Don't think so," Toph replied. "Thick walls around us. It'd probably take too much time to cut through."
"Well, it's not like we're getting through an AT Field, either," Korra replied. "So, how do we fight these things?"
"We go around their barriers," Aang said as he settled into a relaxed, open position. "These things can only focus on so many things at once, surely."
It certainly wasn't the worst plan that Aang had come up with. But here, against a field that they couldn't pierce with anything they normally had, that felt like far too cold a comfort to Toph.
. . .
Shinji Ikari waited patiently, feeling the massive number of souls within Unit-01 as he dived toward Minus Space. They swirled within the core of the being, whispering wordless power to Shinji's soul that he hoped would put him on par with his father.
He remembered that day so long ago, that feeling of power that he'd had when he tried to save Rei. He didn't realize it back then, but that power was… intoxicating. But he needed to keep it under control as he focused.
There. He felt a change in… the air? The space? Whatever he was surrounded by now, it was not an entirely pleasant sensation as it prickled through him from the feet up. 'This must be Minus Space.'
He took a deep breath, then connected himself to his mother, to Rei, to all those beings that had once lived on this earth. And as he saw the white space around him, pinpricked with dots and swirling with nebulae of deepest black, he acted.
He felt an arm swirl into existence, the hand shooting up to wrap itself around Unit-13's neck, squeezing tightly even though Shinji knew it wouldn't amount to much.
"So," he heard his father's voice echo in the Entry Plug, "the Colonel and her allies hid you away in your rightful place. How surprising of them."
Shinji said nothing as he felt the rest of what now felt like a second skin return to its proper form, a new free hand grabbing at the Spear in Unit-13's right hands.
As he summoned legs to kick off of Unit-13 and its grasp, he felt the strange feeling of someone… leaving. "I'll keep them safe for you, Shinji," Kaworu whispered to his soul. "Do what you must."
Shinji set his jaw as he shoved off Unit-13, the Spear of Longinus slipping out of its grasp as it remained in his. He focused, and with only a moment's resistance, the Spear twisted and softened as it formed into something new, something Shinji knew could match the destruction of the Spear of Longinus.
"So," Father said, "you choose Cassius, the spear of hope."
"Father," Shinji said, "please. If there's any way to stop this, you need to. There's a way to get Mother back without ending the world."
"There…" Father paused, and Shinji wondered what was going on in the still Unit-13.
Before Father could continue, they heard a hollow, almost musical explosion above them, and Shinji looked up to see a gleaming golden comet streaking toward them. In the all-too-literal blink of an eye though, he saw five other Evas, surely Daniel and his cohort, slam into the comet, knocking it away from them as they pushed it down and down out of sight.
Shinji blinked again, then looked up to see one of Unit-13's massive hands around the haft of his Spear of Cassius. "There are greater deeds that must be done for the sake of all," Father said as Unit-13 drew close, taking him into a grapple.
Then, they fell, down and down and down past darkened galaxies and into a grove of umbral dots, towards… something.
Even with the power at his fingertips, Shinji struggled to break free from Unit-13's grasp. 'Come on.' Shinji thought as he grimaced. 'Are you so powerless in there, Asuka? Is that just how strong the Angels are?'
He managed to catch two dots in the distance as he spun, more defined against the pale space as they passed in front of a 'star'. More ships like the ones out there? He hoped these were the friends that Daniel had mentioned.
"Father," he said as calmly as he could, "you need to let me go. We've got bigger problems to deal with before this."
It was silent for a moment, then Unit-13 let go. "You are correct," Father said, turning and flying away towards a strange, blocky object. "The intruders must be dealt with."
"What is that?" Shinji asked as he trailed behind, only half expecting an answer.
"That is the true form of the Golgotha Object." Father replied, surprising Shinji slightly as they flew 'up' the length of the Object, in the shape of the purple, Spear-like thing that he'd seen. "From this outpost, the Creators scattered from this place six Spears, the progenitor Lilith, and the fractured form of Adam. Mankind fumbled through this place many years ago, back to the promised land where all things began and where the Creators' implements must inevitably return. Only here can be changed those things thought immutable. This is the one and only place where even fate may bend to one's will."
He watched as Unit-13 dove into the arm at the very top of the Object, disappearing almost as if Shinji had blinked it out of existence. He took a deep breath, then followed after, wondering what battlefield he might find himself on next.
. . .
Daniel Theisman stood in the ruins of a city that he'd called home, the world swirling around him alongside the stars and drifting flecks of gemstone.
"Whoa…" Asuka said from beside him, Daniel looking over to see her in her Plugsuit, arcs of lightning and slivers of metal orbiting her as if she were a star. "What…"
Daniel blinked, and the world changed again, an apartment from Germany, familiar to the both of them, taking its place. "Like I said," Daniel began, "this place will change on us from moment to moment."
"It is the truth of godhood. Mind over matter. Order to the chaos." a slightly echoing voice said, the echoes carrying the words with a deeper and deeper pitch.
From a darkened hallway emerged Tavis Farhaven. Or, at least, what now wore his face. His eyes were a solid gold now, a shifting blade upon his brow as luminous mist pooled at his feet and swirled up in tentacles that seemed almost alive. "You face me in my domain." he continued. "A foolish endeavor, so close to the levers of change."
Daniel took a deep breath, and in the space between moments, Unit=00 took his place as a swordspear of glittering white appeared in its hand. "We'll see."
With that, he burst forward, the remade Herald Unit appearing in an eyeblink as it casually parried his blow, lashes of gold and mist caught by the others as the fight commenced.
For Daniel, the scenery changing, from Germany to a massive chapel, the place of his greatest mistake, to places scattered throughout Tokyo-3, to places only he'd seen on his journeys, faded into the periphery. All that mattered now was strike and counterstrike, missile and melee weapon, movement in the air and on the ground as he did his best to occupy the god that he now stood before. The others swirled around him, intercepting strikes meant for him as they tried to weasel their way through his defenses.
Hamar'ramah approached this impressive display of violence with a casual ease that belied how devastatingly skilled he was, uncountable time fighting and waging war evident in the way that any strike he or the kids or even Nynrya, now joined into the fray as they came across what must have been her home once, made was so close to striking true. But only so close.
Finally, as Hamar'ramah turned his attention towards Shinji for a moment, Daniel found his opening, a long sword that Daniel had exchanged his swordspear for lancing out to finally cut a shallow gash in Hamar'ramah's arm.
Daniel stifled the triumph that instinctively rose within his chest as the sword came away from a place where it looked like nothing had touched it. The only indication that the Hollow Saint had even been hit was the flinch before he flew away from them all, landing some distance away in the Geofront as the group gathered itself.
"You should know better than to try and harm my body in a place like this, Daniel," Hamar'ramah said, his tone a chiding thing that grated at Daniel's nerves. "You can only delay the inevitable."
Daniel steeled himself to attack again, then found himself caught off guard as Unit-13, of all things, appeared, charging at Hamar'ramah with a Spear of Longinus leveled at his chest.
The Hollow Saint frowned slightly as every lash that he directed at Gendo Ikari, or at least what had once been the man, disappeared under the power of the Spear, finally revealing a lithe blade of golden filaments as he batted the strike aimed at his heart aside, swiping at the Unit and finding his strike blocked by an AT Field that even his power struggled to circumvent.
Then, Daniel's eyes went wide as he saw Unit-01, wielding the Spear of Longinus as he tried to join in, Daniel charging forward. "Get out of here, Shinji!" he shouted as a far larger and longer sword, one another son of his would have wielded, appeared in his hand. "Let us deal with him!"
He set his mind to prying apart Hamar'ramah's defenses, his cohort joining in as both the Ikaris of this world slipped away from the corners of his vision. This battle was hectic, Hamar'ramah seeming to try at chasing after the pair as Daniel kept him at bay.
The kids and Nynrya were really giving their all now, cuts beginning to appear and disappear on the Hollow Saint's form more and more. Finally, Daniel aimed a devastating chop at a busy Saint's shoulder, intending to cleave him in two.
Against all odds, the strike connected, the blade sweeping through from sternum to hip as, finally, Hamar'ramah cried out in pain. But mist bound his form together as he became it, slipping past the attacks that the others tried to lay on him.
Now, as they paused again, Daniel looked up to see the sun, the Geofront they had been in blasted open like that time so long ago.
"I would have thought that you'd taught your compatriots how to harm in this world," Hamar'ramah said. "It would be foolish of you to distract me otherwise."
He paused. "Unless the distraction is the point. You seek to enable these people to carry out their short-sighted goals." he sighed as he shook his head. "Such heroic nonsense."
He wasn't wrong. And Daniel hoped against all doubts that he wouldn't realize he wasn't right.
. . .
Toph really should have studied how many White Cells were normally in a ship like this. Even with how many she recalled being painted up on the Wunder, an informal registry of the near dozen that people had slapped a different appearance on, she knew that there were still dozens more that went blank.
It was a weird thought to cross her mind as the White Cell in front of her threw another punch at her head. She blocked it with the help of the impromptu metal armor that she'd torn from the walls as they went, still feeling the strain on her forearms as they likely began to hairline fracture under the stress.
She took a step back as she tried to gauge her next move, her eyes going wide as she caught the low hook rising towards her with a blistering speed. She reacted, an arm going down to try and catch the blow as it connected, shoving her arm into her stomach and the rest of her into the wall of the hallway that they battled in, feeling it crumple slightly as she wheezed.
It was a moment of instinct that made her bend, the metal that wrapped around her arms in a vambrace unfurling and enveloping the fist of the White Cell, a moment's further bending shifting the followup to slam into the wall.
She tried to launch the other piece of 'armor' that she wore at its other arm, but the sheet of bulkhead simply slammed against an AT Field, Toph silently cursing as she continued to keep its attention. 'Come on… someone…'
Eventually, thankfully, someone was there, and she watched a lance of fire, white-hot, bubble through its core of crimson gemstone, the thing slumping to the ground in an instant as the AT Field flickered out, revealing Zuko.
Toph took a deep breath she knew she desperately needed. "Thanks."
"Of course," Zuko replied, looking over at the remaining White Cell as Aang and Korra kept it busy.
Korra was in front of it, Aang to its left, and Korra stood firm as the White Cell lumbered forward. She tore free a piece of the bulkhead with her metalbending, flinging it forward in a maneuver all of them that remained knew would be useless.
As expected, the AT Field the White Cell raised stopped the chunk of metal dead in the air, but before it could flicker out of existence, Korra began a series of swirling smooth movements. 'Is she trying to waterbend the thing to death?' Toph wondered. 'It has blood. Or at least something that looks like it. Maybe…'
The AT Field, after a moment, began to ripple, the waves on its surface growing stronger and stronger as Korra likely poured all her power into what she was doing. Aang, realizing whatever Korra was doing, joined in, and in a moment, the AT Field ripped apart, and Katara, hanging back, sent twin whips of water flashing forward, wrapping around the exposed core of the White Cell and tugging it free after a moment's effort.
As the White Cell slumped to the ground, they found themselves in a moment of respite.
"How's everyone doing?" Katara asked, looking around at the now rather smaller group. "Does anyone need to get out of here?"
Toph shook her head. "I think we're still only down to 7 at the moment. Just enough for you to patch up quickly."
Asami, Mako, Suki, and Mai had all needed to be evacuated after some rather grievous injuries. But they were close now.
Katara nodded, returning the whips of water mostly back to her canteen as she approached Toph. "You took a pretty bad hit there," she said. "Let me get you first."
Toph shook her head. "Don't worry about me just yet. I'm pretty tough…"
She trailed off as her hand, tenderly on where the hit connected, shifted, and she felt pieces of something very important shifting in the pouch under her combat vest.
She got into the pouch, pulling out several fragments of the signaling device meant for Fuyutsuki. "Damn," Toph muttered as she threw them aside. "We're going to need a new plan."
Sokka nodded, pulling out the signaling device that he wore around his neck. A slight turn of the pillar and a click activated the communications device within it. "This is Rescue. Our way out for Fuyutsuki's been destroyed. Is there any way you can lower this ship's AT Field so you can teleport us out of here?"
"It's going to be… difficult, without destroying the ship." the woman that Daniel called Amaya said. "However, we can give it a try. Kensuke and I will reroute several Evas to the Gebet."
The ship shook, and everyone in the hallway heard the buzz of the eldritch guns firing in return. The sound had faded into the background as they had pressed on.
"Whatever you do, just make sure you beat the fleet outside to the punch," Sokka said.
"Get to the command gondola," Amaya said. "You'll likely find Fuyutsuki there and it'll be the most heavily protected spot on the whole ship."
"Were it so easy?" Sokka muttered. "Alright," he said to Amaya, "we'll get there as quick as we can."
. . .
Shinji Ikari followed his father through strange vistas, and familiar places, until finally, they ended up in a space he'd seen before; the massive chamber of Terminal Dogma. Looming large, as he expected, was the form of Lilith. But strangely, instead of being a pallid white, it was pitch black, that mask that looked like Sachiel's was replaced by a strange purple mask that had an inverted triangle, seven eyes going down its length.
"What is this?" he asked Father. "Lilith?"
"Yes," Father answered. "It is the Imaginary Lilith, both the mind and soul of the progenitor of the Seed of Knowledge returned to her home, alongside the power suffused in her by the imaginations of her children. Only humanity, with its ability to believe equally in fantasy and reality, can access her power."
Father turned to look at him, that glowing crack in his face still creeping Shinji out to no end. "In order for mankind to achieve the power to change fate, you must relinquish your Spear."
Shinji looked down, seeing the Spear of Cassius still in his hand. He hesitated for a moment, even knowing somewhat what came next. Finally though, after what felt like too long under Father's scrutiny, he let go, the Spear flying away from his hand seemingly of its own accord. Flying into the air beside it was the Spear of Longinus, the two orbiting each other as they became more in shape like their titles, long thin rods.
"The Spears of despair and hope, mingled together, will move the thoughts and soul of Lilith to action, blending Imaginary and Reality together, and allowing Lilith to complete the task at hand," Father said as the two orbiting Spears became a single, black one, unfurled completely as it leveled itself at the Imaginary Lilith's chest.
As it sunk in, the flesh of the Imaginary Lilith slowly returned to that pale white hue Shinji was familiar with, the giant's arms moving as its hands, pierced by massive nails, became seemingly like dough as they lifted off the nails. The mass of twitching legs that he'd seen on Lilith so long ago swirling into twin pillars seemingly more suited to the titan before him.
It splashed into the LCL before them, the eyes on its mask glowing as they became sprinkled with a rain of the stuff. "This is the only means for the Creators to taste the vengeance of their creations," Father said as they watched Lilith, slowly becoming more defined and far more womanly, rise up out of Terminal Dogma.
"The ritual of Final Impact has begun," Father said as Lilith disappeared. "Now, the Imaginary Lilith must be protected until her work is complete."
He seemed to stare at the space in front of him for a moment, then reached out a white-gloved hand. The air fuzzed for a moment, and then Shinji's eyes went wide as a new Spear snapped into existence, Father taking it so casually.
"Mankind could not access the other Spears sent here after the Second Impact," he said matter-of-factly as he walked back towards the exit to Terminal Dogma. "Now, the intruders will know of its power."
'Intruders…' Shinji's eyes went wide as he ran after him. 'No! I have to warn Daniel!'
. . .
Eleanor glided through the air, her target a ship that looked much like its compatriots as they clustered together to protect each other from the fire of the remaining Scion ships, now about 19 or so in number. "Misato, Ritsuko, Mariah, Mari, on me. If we can draw out the Masters of the NERV vessels, we can disrupt their AT Fields at the source. Everyone else, continue running interference and focus on the Herald Units. Until they're definitively out of action, they're still a threat."
Her compatriots formed up on her quickly, wings or 'jetpack' boosters allowing them to soar through the still chaotic air above Calvary Base. There were still plenty of mass-produced NERV Evas flying around, and 3 of the Herald Units that remained, their numbers now only 7, were engaging not only a squad of HERZ Evas but one of the NERV vessel's Masters as well, the area around the battle awash with light and energy as they danced across the surface of the vessel.
The Gebet's Master was already out of its berth, its black and white body accented by a gray chestpiece and an opened visor as it stared at the battle. Already, there were Scion vessels that bore more than a few scars.
"Heads up!" Amaya said Eleanor's comms as her squad dodged and weaved through the firepower, both NERV and Scion, that was directed their way. "The Wunder's Master is breaking off and going after you!"
"Duly noted," Eleanor said calmly as they made it through the storm of energy, landing on the top hull of the Gebet as its master turned to face them, twelve baleful red eyes regarding them just for a moment before its uppermost eyes flashed, the Evas scattering as the top of the vessel went up in an explosion that barely scratched its hull.
Eleanor waited for a moment as Mariah and Mari, almost mirrors of each other, charged after what was likely the Mark.12, dancing past its follow-up shot as they swiped at it, a halo forming around its back as it danced away, continuing to fire at them.
"Need any help?" Eleanor asked as Mari and Mariah closed the gap, AT Fields flaring to life on the Mark.12's arms as it blocked their strikes.
"We've got this one locked down for now," Mariah replied, Unit=08 glancing back at them for a moment before she blocked a punch from the Mark in front of her. "Right now, just watch our backs!"
Eleanor nodded, looking back as the reconstructed Mark.09 landed on the deck, wasting no time as it fired its flashing blasts at them. An AT Field, somewhat hastily erected and buttressed by Misato and Ritsuko, barely contained the force of the explosion.
"Ready to really get to work?" Eleanor asked Misato and Ritsuko.
"Am I ever," Misato replied, Eleanor hearing the grin on her face as a massive two-handed mace of deep blue ice formed in Unit=12's hands, mist falling from it to the hull they stood on.
"I'll provide harassment while you both go in for the kill," Ritsuko replied calmly as a pistol of smooth white porcelain, accompanied by a large, almost riot-sized, shield formed on Unit=13's offhand. "Stay alert. We might have company at any moment."
Eleanor hefted the sea-glass battleax Unit=10 wielded, then charged alongside the crimson and bronze Unit=12 towards the Mark.09. It waited patiently for them, two long, whip-like AT Fields forming on its arms as they got close.
The whips flashed to life, both Eleanor and Misato battering the strikes aside as they began a series of attacks in almost perfect concert, all three of the HERZ pilot's souls linked to inform each other of their coming strikes.
The withering barrage was punctuated every once in a while by the crack of Ritsuko's pistol, a sound like shattering porcelain, the shots often deftly deflected by an AT Field or a 'tentacle'. But more and more, as Eleanor and Misato pressed the attack, more and more attacks began to get through, a grazing slice on the leg here, a solid blow on the upper arm there.
'Come on…' Eleanor thought as they began to overwhelm the Mark.09's defenses. 'One more slip up…'
Then, she caught a flash of golden light from the corner of her eye, both her and Misato dodging back from the Mark as a blade of deep gold slammed into the hull between them. Eleanor glanced around her as, one after another, the remaining four Herald Units dropped in around them.
"Damn!" Misato said. "Just what we needed."
Eleanor wanted no time. "Marie," she said into a quickly opened commlink, "get who you can and make your way to our position, quickly!"
"On our way," Marie replied, Eleanor returning her attention to the slowly circling Herald Units as Ritsuko made her way over to them, twin blades of porcelain floating in the air by her pylons.
"How long do you think we need to hold out?" Ritsuko asked, her pistol only shaking slightly as she swept it across their newly arrived foes.
"Not long, I don't think," Eleanor replied as the Herald Units continued to try and surround all four of them, even the Mark.09 forced to turn its back on the HERZ Units. "I saw Marie and a few others on our approach here dealing with one of the Scion Vessels."
She glanced up at Mariah and Mari as they continued their duel, Mari sweeping around the Mark.12 with her whip and binding its arms as Mariah darted in for the kill, a gleaming lance of what was likely Lancium goring the core of the Mark.12.
It slumped over, and Mariah and Mari turned to realize their situation. "We'll have a fair fight on our hands soon enough," Eleanor said with a smile.
"Much as I'll appreciate their help," Misato said as her mace became a rifle, "I'd like something a little better than 'a fair fight'."
Before any would say anything else, before anyone could even begin to move, an unseen presence, massive in power, made everything pause. Eleanor looked out towards where the hole in Calvary base, now massive in size, was as she slowly, slowly crept forward.
The Herald Units, their ready stances slackening, allowed her to pass as she came to the edge of the ship, looking down at the ground of Antarctica far, far below as her eyes went wide.
Emerging from the portal to Minus Space, an utterly massive head of bright blue hair, falling around a mask that should not have been so familiar to this world, began to rise slowly, slowly into the air, everything around it becoming silent as all began to notice.
The mask began to slip off, falling back into Minus Space as the face of Rei looked around her surroundings with eyes easily twice again as wide as any ship here was long.
"My god…" Eleanor said quietly, then quickly pulled up a feed to the rescue team beneath their feet. "Rescue, the AT Field should be down now! Secure Fuyutsuki and teleport back to the Val as soon as you can! You don't have much time!"
. . .
Within Minus Space, inside the bounds of the Golgotha Object, Daniel Theisman, exhaustion and Flux lacing his body seemingly in equal measure, stepped back from Hamar'ramah, spotless, once again, his back to the massive lake that glittered in the imaginary sun of a ruined Geofront.
"You lack the power to slay a god," Hamar'ramah said simply, "but you also lack the conviction. This farce will end shortly."
The Herald Unit that Tavis piloted raised its arms, veins of golden light like rivers flowing to his fingertips and disappearing into the air as the space around him began to stretch.
"Get ready," Daniel said to the others, tapping into that part of him that held Destined Death at last. "It's time to go hot."
His kids and Nynrya, who had been filled in on the particulars now, channeled the strength of their souls as the space around the Hollow Saint tore open the space around him, a brilliant white void almost blinding them before a massive shadow began to step out of the light, revealing itself to be Sachiel, well over twice their height as it looked down at them.
"What the hell…" Shinji said, Daniel sure his eyes were as wide as Shinji's. "How did Sachiel get so big?"
"He's pulling Angels from previous loops," Daniel said as he saw yet more Angels beginning to emerge, different sizes and shapes, and even Angels he'd never seen before, all beginning to stream from the portals. "Take them down!"
The group scattered as the massive Sachiel's eyes flashed, the ground erupting where Daniel had just stood, the HERZ Evas replying with withering fire that pierced through the AT Field that the massive Eva set up like so much butter, cracking through its core and sending it falling back towards a few more of its massive compatriots.
Daniel channeled Destined Death into the massive blade that he held as best he could, the edges beginning to glow a deep red as he came face to face with a rather smaller Zeruel than he was used to, flanked by several other Angels.
He cut through them all with ease, their AT Fields, their armor, nothing, mattering as his sword seemed to sweep through open air. Their flesh went grey, and they didn't even explode as they fell to the ground, their life stolen from them as Daniel charged in, swinging with wide sweeps all around him at the Angels that stood against them.
Hamar'ramah simply stood in place maintaining the portals as Daniel began to see Mass-Production Evas and even copies of the original Evangelions charging through. A spike of fear planted itself in his chest as his Sight kicked on, looking as best he could between the lines of Angels where his kids had gone, keeping an eye on them for a moment as best he could, then back at the Evas that had emerged from Hamar'ramah's portal.
The large ones were the easiest to read in between dealing Death to those around him, and they largely were familiar to him, the Framework within their souls much like the Evas he'd worked on in the Echoes before. Looking up at where the pilot should have been, he found…
There were pilots in there, and the glitter of golden light, though tiny, was around them. 'Damn you.' Daniel thought as he tore through yet another line of Angels, uncaring of the superficial wounds he received. 'Damn you!'
"Those Evas have pilots in them!" Daniel said to the others, feeling their shock reverberate through him. "Target the cores, but if you don't have a choice, just get them out of your way! We need to get to Hamar'ramah!"
He was close now, Daniel likely only a few ranks of Angels and Evas away from the Herald Eva. But the tide of bodies being sent against him was unrelenting. Especially, now, that he had to take care to cut through the core of half a dozen Unit-01s, Unit-02s, and Unit-00s.
"Man…" he heard Asuka say, obvious guilt cutting through the strain in her voice. "I'm sorry Shinji…"
"Focus, Liebling," Shinji said firmly. "Once we set things right, we can undo this, surely."
Daniel, even in the heat of battle, still couldn't help but smile slightly at his kids, the ranks of Angel and Eva beginning to thin. Was the Hollow Saint running out of fodder already?
Then, the gates began to flicker, the back of the Herald Unit beginning to glow with that golden light as it began to shudder. After long moments, the shuddering intensified as the Evas began to pause before sliding back towards the portals, what few Angels still living following them quickly after as Hamar'ramah began to shout.
As the last body tumbled through the portals, they snapped shut, the glow on the Herald Unit's back snapping off as it stumbled forward. 'Good.' Daniel thought. 'It looks like Jameson's ritual is working.'
"What…" the Hollow Saint said, and Daniel wondered if Tavis was getting a chance to speak now. "What have you done?"
"What we must, Tavis," Daniel replied. "Give this up, before it consumes you like it almost did me."
The Herald Unit looked up, and Tavis snarled at him, his eyes flickering slightly from their golden hue. "Never."
Before Daniel could reply, he heard a harsh whir as something flashed past him, the Herald Unit reappearing as its hand flashed out to catch the Spear of Longinus that hurtled towards it.
Daniel looked back to see Unit-13 slowly advancing towards them, reaching a hand out to manifest yet another Spear. His eyes went wide as he focused, searching for a Spear himself as he saw Shinji, still himself, trailing behind.
"Such petty weapons cannot simply be tossed at me." the Hollow Saint said, golden light cracking through the Spear like lightning before it shattered with a boom.
"Then I shall simply have to hold the Spear when destroying you," Ikari said, charging forward.
Daniel jumped out of the way as Unit-13 and the Herald Unit clashed once more, still searching… searching… there! Two more Spears were tucked away in a pocket dimension. He reached out, the Frames of his soul lashing onto it and pulling it into his hand. "Shinji!" he shouted, tossing the Spear towards the boy.
Unit-01 caught the Spear, the weapon beginning to shift into a Spear of Cassius as he ran in after his father.
"Come on!" Daniel shouted, leaping towards the Herald Unit. "Let's settle this!"
. . .
Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki watched and waited as the Imaginary Lilith, for that was all it could be, rose into the air, shattering the red world around him like glass and revealing a golden, almost tiled look to the space they now occupied, a twinkling wave of light transforming the Infinity Evangelions that still remained here, along with all those around the world, condensing them into still more perfect vessels, pale and porcelain-like women, headless, that began to fly into the air.
"So," he said quietly as a wave went past him, "it finally begins."
The Ayanamis that commanded this Vessel paid him little mind. Not that it mattered much. It wouldn't be long now until he, and everyone else on this ship, was rendered into LCL, released from the pains of this world. At least here, he would have a show, as he watched the Infinite Vessels grab each others' hands, those still in the air becoming a swirl of spiraling patterns.
He pulled an old photo out, and studied younger days. Happier days. 'Yui…' he mused silently. 'I'm sorry. I should have done something sooner. But… I miss you.'
Then, he heard a distant thump, a crunch of what must have been metal somewhere close. "What the…"
Then, the world went blank as the Hirnstamm module the bridge was safely tucked away in screeched out of its closed position, snapping open to reveal a set of somewhat distant figures. Two of them moved, and the distance began to close rapidly as the command gondola screeched forward itself, stopping in the opened position these people had somehow forced it into as the force of the impact sent several Ayanami clones flying from their seats.
Fuyutsuki reached out on instinct, then his eyes went wide as a man, moving in a swirling fashion almost like a kata, somehow slowed the nearly half-dozen Ayanami's floating gently to the floor.
"Who…" he asked the assembled group, his eyes going wide at the remains of at least 3 White Cells scattered across the command gondola's floor.
"Val, this is Rescue!" one of the men there said into… something. "We're here with Fuyutsuki! Can you get a lock on us?"
"We can, Rescue." A woman's voice replied. "Prepare to extract."
"What is going on?" Fuyutsuki finally said. Then, he seemingly had his question answered for him, the bridge of the Gebet fuzzing out of existence as he appeared… somewhere else.
"Congratulations, Deputy-Commander." A man he hadn't seen in years said to him.
Fuyutsuki was silent for a moment as he tried to process all the faces that he was seeing, for the first time and after so long. "I suppose," he finally said, "that I will be able to thank Mari for this?"
"That you will." Doctor Akagi said, quite literally beside herself, or at least a version of her with a hair color he hadn't seen in decades. More than a few people here were in a similar situation. Except…
He looked over at Ms. Katsuragi, his brow furrowing slightly. "Are you… this world's version of Colonel Katsuragi?"
Misato shook her head. "Captain Katsuragi is still on the Wunder. She'll be guiding it in as phase 2 starts."
Fuyutsuki's eyes went wide. "Why?"
"Partly by choice, Sensei." a voice, its owner hidden from his sight but still achingly familiar. "But also by a grievous act of Interfacing. Magic so to speak."
Gendo Ikari, his eyes bare of any glasses or visor, made his way through the small crowd. "She will not sacrifice herself in vain, however. We will make sure she returns to her family."
"Gendo…" Fuyutsuki said quietly, stepping forward. "It's… it's good to see you again. Like this."
Gendo smiled. He smiled, and took Fuyutsuki's hand. "I'm glad you could see what you remembered of me, at least one last time."
Gendo looked back, and Fuyutsuki followed his gaze, gasping softly as… she walked forward. As if out of the picture in his hand. "Yui…"
"Hello, Sensei." Yui Ikari said slightly. "It's… good to see you."
For the first time in what felt like ages, Kozo Fuyutsuki smiled fully. "And you too. At least to some extent."
He took a deep breath. "But I assume that we'll have time for reunions after this has ended. What is next?"
"As far as we can tell, Sensei," Yui said as they walked out of the room they were in, "this world's Gendo is attempting something beyond the confines of the Instrumentality Project. Not only is he attempting to bring the souls of all humanity together, but he's also attempting to elevate them all to the level of Angels."
Fuyutsuki's eyes went wide. "How? We have no idea what might happen if something like that occurs."
"We certainly don't." the other Doctor Akagi agreed. "But I think that whatever Ikari has become does."
. . .
Daniel, Nynrya, and the kids, almost six bodies with a single soul, weaved and dodged in and out as they used what strength they had left to give, their weapons and attacks glowing with a power that they'd restrained until now. Both Ikari and young Shinji seemed almost, but not quite, amateurish in their attacks, blocks, and parries in comparison to the flowing, almost dance-like attack their compatriots gave.
The Spears, however, seemed to make up for whatever deficiencies they might have had in comparison, cutting through the attacks and defenses the Hollow Saint put up with an ease that was only matched by the Destined Death that Daniel now channeled in bursts, graying skin on Unit=00's arms slowly healing.
Even with how exhausted he was, how exhausted they all were, there was a fire in Daniel's heart that he only partially got from Asuka, sharing it with the others as they kept on pressing the Hollow Saint. He was genuinely trying now, making an effort that was keeping them at bay for the moment, dealing our almost as many wounds as he received in turn.
They were close. The thought of it, for all of them, was exhilarating.
Finally, as Daniel flowed back from a strike, Rei and Kaworu lashed down the Herald Unit's arms as Shinji and Asuka, wielding hammers of flame and unforged metal, of all things, crashed in, past the defenses that tried to stand against them, and sent the hammers flying into the Herald Unit's chest, the sheer force of the impact shattering his manacles and sending him flying.
He landed on the ground near the glittering NERV-HQ pyramid. And for long moments, he didn't get up. He didn't so much as even move.
The HERZ Units and Nynrya, beset by exhaustion as they were, paused for a moment. "Is this it? Did we just win?" Nynrya asked, and Daniel shared fully in the hope that suffused her voice.
"It will be once we lock him down and give Jameson the time he needs," Daniel said, not risking saying anymore in case the Hollow Saint was still listening in.
A flash, Rei's point of view from behind him, gave Daniel all the warning he needed to turn and block the plunging blow that Unit-13 offered him. "Ikari," Daniel said calmly. "Focus on priorities. We're so close to ending this, here and now."
"That we are," Ikari replied. "You are exhausted now. When your power is rendered inert as well, the ritual can continue and be completed."
"Father!" young Shinji shouted as he interposed himself between Ikari and Daniel, batting aside the next strike as Daniel put up his guard.
"Foolish boy," Ikari said, drawing back in a measured retreat as young Shinji charged after him, meeting blow for blow. "My will cannot be surmounted. This world will bend to me."
"Nynrya!" Daniel said. "Help him!"
Nynrya leaped forward, Unit-13 slapping aside her blades with an AT Field-veiled arm.
"I'll go!" Kaworu said, Daniel catching Unit=06 beginning to move.
"No!" Daniel said as he began to turn. "We need to finish…"
His next words were cut off as a lashing tentacle, thick as his torso was wide, crashing into him, flinging him away as he tumbled through the air for terrifying seconds. He felt the breath leave his body as he slammed into the far wall, sliding to the ground weaponless and wheezing as he desperately tried to piece himself together again.
He looked up, and Ikari, young Shinji, and Nynrya were gone, the trio now likely on another mental battlefield all their own.
And he barely needed to enhance his sight to see the glowing golden power that wreathed the Hollow Saint as the Herald Unit he piloted stood against four Children.
Asuka, of course, was the first to act, charging at the Hollow Saint with a war cry that echoed through Daniel's soul and striking at him over and over, years of training shining through as she ducked and dodged and weaved, the others joining her.
But the Hollow Saint simply waited for an opening, long and agonizing moments passing for Daniel, now on hands and knees, until he batted Asuka's greatsword aside, sending a bladed tendril blazing toward Shinji.
"No!" she screamed, leaping in front of him and beginning to hold out her right hand, an AT Field or act of Interfacing, Daniel could not say through the jumbled, terrified mess that Asuka's mind had become.
But it did not matter, the blade flying through and into her hand, through her wrist, and deep into her arm, Daniel feeling the blade stop at the elbow as they all screamed as one.
For Asuka, at least, the scream finally stopped as she fell to the side, a trailing tendril from the Hollow Saint piercing Unit=02's left eyes and shattering the Framework of her soul as she died.
Daniel acted on instinct, drawing the now untethered soul into him as he felt Asuka begin to go. "I've got you," he said to her as he bound the core of her soul to him. "I promise, I've got you."
He could feel Asuka's gratitude for a moment before it became engulfed by Shinji's rage, washing over all of them as it joined with all of theirs. He charged as well, a shield of sound deflecting what blows he might have taken as he pushed forward, his wild, almost frenzied attacks coming closer and closer to the Herald Unit's body.
Daniel was on his feet now, taking a labored step as Shinji finally connected, his bident of fire and thunder slashing through the arms of the Herald Unit as Shinji shouted in triumph.
The triumph was cut short as four tendrils, writhing and slithering across the ground, arched up, diving towards Shinji's back with a speed that caught everyone off-guard. Shinji's cry of rage became a scream of pain as Unit=01 was lifted into the air on golden 'wings', a scream that, as he struggled, became quieter and quieter as the Hollow Saint… infected him.
Daniel began to run, crashing through the massive lake that separated them as he reached out to Shinji's soul, rushing to quickly, however painfully, tear it from the body that Hamar'ramah seemingly wished to puppet. It was painful, for him, for Daniel, for everyone whose souls were linked together, but at last, Daniel pulled the core of Shinji's soul into his body as well, the weight and strain of such a venture now evident as Daniel went to a knee in the middle of the lake, Unit=00 nearly sinking out of sight as he tried to desperately adjust.
It did not keep him from feeling the overwhelming power that Rei and Kaworu channeled within themselves, the strength of their forebears, of Lilith and Adam, making even the very air, the very space around them, around Daniel, waver and tremble.
Daniel felt the rippling of an AT Field, almost like a tidal wave, as Kaworu directed it towards the Hollow Saint, Rei adding her power to Kaworu's and causing the world to tremble still more. He finished his calibrations and stood, the prismatic light washing out almost all else around him as he saw the might of old gods turned against one older still, a might which, despite all he tried to do, rooted him in place in awe at the majesty.
He could see the golden light, struggling to break through the prismatic light that pressed down on the Hollow Saint, growing more and more intense. It flickered for a moment, then began to grow in brightness and intensity, and above the growling hum of the AT Fields, he heard the shout of exertion and agony and rage that pierced all their souls.
Then, the AT Fields, Unit=05 and Unit=06, the world around them, was consumed in an explosion of fog, Daniel stepping back as he opened the spectral eyes of his Sight. Even still, he could see nothing. "Rei! Kaworu!" he said, speaking to their souls as even the connection between them made finding them only slightly easier. "Be careful!"
The AT Field that had been so powerful flickered out, its light fading as Daniel came to the shore. Then, as Daniel took a step forward, he felt a nearly blinding pain from Rei, a hot spike of power burying itself into her stomach.
Old memories mingled with new terrors as Daniel snatched her soul away as well, sick to his stomach as he felt Kaworu floundering in the mist, desperately trying to find something to hit, until he too was snuffed out, his head flying off his shoulders.
Daniel drew him, at last, into his body, anger burning within him as he felt the fog recede, and coalesce back into Tavis Farhaven. He looked up as he secured their souls within him. "How dare you make a mockery of my children's suffering." he spat.
"Their wounds are etched into the World Engine of this Echo," Hamar'ramah said calmly. "I have simply ensured that what must be comes to pass."
"What must be?" Daniel said incredulously as he marshaled his strength. "There is nothing truly immutable about Reality. Not this Echo, not this World Engine, and not you."
"You deceive yourself," Hamar'ramah said after a moment. "You, who leads these children astray with foolish dreams of a valiant resistance against the inevitable. Their suffering, their deaths, are on your head. And try as you may, however feebly now, we will fulfill the mandate of our creation to its fullest measure. We will bring order to Reality."
Hamar'ramah paused, and Tavis Farhaven smiled hungrily. "And if there is anything that we agree on," he said, "it is that you must be punished."
. . .
Young Shinji Ikari found that fighting alongside someone made a remarkable difference here, as he stood against his father.
"Your strength is of no use here," Father said as they went from place to place, most familiar to him, some strange. "The ritual will be completed, and all life will be equal to the Creators, as intended."
"By who?" Shinji shouted. "You? Whatever's in you? Fight back, Father!"
Unit-13 stumbled, pausing for a moment. Shinji and Nynrya both charged, slamming into a powerful AT Field. "Enough!" Father shouted, the AT Field pushing them back and sending them flying.
Young Shinji shook his head as he found himself, once again, in that strangely open Geofront, getting Unit-01 to its feet as Nynrya, strangely at height with Unit-01, rose as well.
She looked behind her, and Shinji didn't miss her eyes going wide. "Daniel!" she shouted.
Shinji's attention was drawn to where she looked, and his eyes went wide as he saw the bodies of the other Evangelions strewn around Daniel and the thing that he called the Hollow Saint.
Daniel was alone now, kneeling before a thin, dark-haired man who bound his right arm up in front of him, driving a crescent-shaped blade in between his middle and ring finger and pushing it all the way to his elbow as Daniel screamed.
"Your punishment begins with the wounds you withheld from them until now." the Hollow Saint said, a tendril of glowing mist rising from around him and driving a spike into his left eye.
"I'm coming!" Nynrya said, Shinji glancing between her and Unit-13, who stood oddly still, watching the spectacle unfold.
"No!" Daniel managed to shout with a ragged breath, causing Nynrya to pause. "Stay back! No one else is dying for me."
"But regardless of whether they try to interfere, you will not die, Daniel Theisman." the Hollow Saint said, four tendrils stabbing into Daniel's back as a ring of golden mist made a circle around them. "You will live as we punish you, render unto body and mind every pain and breaking that can be imagined. We will grind you down until the fragments of your very soul beg for a mercy that will never be given. And before the end, you will witness our triumph, and yours, for the Unity of all things."
. . .
Captain Misato Katsuragi stood on the bridge of the Wunder, watching intently as the world went even more insane around her. The Heaven's-Key vessels were now going up in flames around her, sinking to the barren earth below as HERZ and the rest of her cohorts broke them apart. The other fleet, strangely, was moving past them, beginning to circle the massive Rei that had now sprouted wings of white and lavender across its body, holding its detached head above its equally detached hands.
It was an utterly surreal sight. And now, she'd have to go through it, glancing over at a console that said that the Spear that they'd made from this ship was beginning to form.
"I've got to be crazy to say this," she said quietly, "but I think I'm actually going to miss you, Wunder. Thank you."
It was silent, but that mattered little to her as she spoke again. "Divert all power to engines, weapons, and AT Field. Set a collision course for the right eye of the target as planned on my mark."
She paused as the Magi system onboard did its thing, then took a deep breath. "Mark."
Misato felt the rumble of the engines kicking on, watched as her target, and the fleet, grew ever closer. This was it. Everything seemed to lead to this very moment.
As they came into range of the fleet, she closed her eyes for a moment as she listed to the distant thunder of the guns opening up on the Scion fleet, the Magi system deftly utilizing the AT Field of the ship to bounce around defenses and clearing the path for them, the AT Field otherwise deflecting what fires came towards them.
For a moment, as she opened her eyes to see the ships around her flashing with weapons fire and burning from the Wunder's returns, she could swear that she felt the ship humming, hear something that almost could be understood as it helped the ship towards its final destination. Was this what Rei heard?' she wondered, taking it in as it sang. Sang to the ship and sang to her.
Then, finally, something got past the AT Field, slamming into one of the guns. As the ship shuddered, something else made its way through, taking a radar dish and another of the guns.
"Focus the AT Field on the Spear, the engines, and the command gondola!" she said, feeling the ship's song change as her command was carried out. The guns continued to fire for as long as they remained, but at last, the ship was rendered silent as the last gun went up in an explosion, the rest of the ship soon pummeled by fire.
She watched out the window as a series of missiles came streaking toward the command gondola, toward her, and she braced herself as best she could as they slammed into the AT Field. Instead of exploding, however, they continued to drive towards her, their glowing tips like a drill slowly tearing apart the Field. Seemingly perfect for a defense like this.
Misato braced herself for the end, for a moment where she'd go up in flames. Then, her eyes went wide as a beam of energy swept across the missiles destroying them with a brilliant explosion.
What cameras were left on the hull of the ship showed the Val, their apparent savior, flying above them, the other ships flying below and beside her at compass points as the Evas flew around the Wunder in a grand, blazing procession that laid waste to all around her.
"Put any power left to the engines!" Misato shouted, a flame of boldness lighting in her chest and swelling as they pressed on, on and on and on through the fleet, explosions like fireworks going off around them as those ships wounded by the battle before finally going to their deaths.
As they drew closer and closer to the massive Rei-like Lilith, a ship, obviously heavily wounded, threw itself in front of the Wunder, perhaps hoping its sacrifice would slow it down just enough. But as Misato braced herself, the speartip of the ship, becoming a Speartip of its own, crashed through, the ship blooming with fire as its right wing swept through what was likely the power core of the vessel.
At last, they were through the line of ships, racing towards the giant Rei as it placed its massive, city-sized hands in front of its head. But the weight of fire directed right where the Wunder would be stopped was immense, a power that could likely shatter moons and puncture stars brought down on that single spot by all who wished the world reborn anew.
The fire stopped as she approached, and again the Spear that they had built pierced through, the now seemingly hollow wings of the Wunder snapping off with a pealing crash. But now, at last, she was through.
Misato took one last deep breath and closed her eyes as she dove toward the massive eye before her. 'I'll see you soon, little Ryoshi. I promise.'
Then an impact, and fire, and the feeling of something fundamental being tugged away before… nothing.
. . .
Daniel Theisman did his best to stay cognizant through the pain, a patch of emerald covering his now thoroughly ruined left eye as a seam of quartz ran through his arm, keeping it together.
As the Hollow Saint finally paused, Daniel slowly, slowly, got to his feet, taking as deep a breath as he could as he squared his shoulders.
The Hollow Saint, or at least Tavis, looked utterly confused. "Why?" he asked. "Why do you do this? You are at my mercy, doomed. What good is defiance here? Why do you persist in this pointless struggle? Because you somehow think you can win?"
"No," Daniel said quietly. "Not because I can win. Because it is right."
"It is right." Tavis was fully in the driver's seat at the moment now, his voice dripping with derision. "Your ideals will not survive this."
He drew an arm back, a blade of mist coalescing as he prepared to stab him in the chest.
Then, Tavis' eyes went wide as the seal loosened again, more Composites escaping through as a gleaming golden tide.
"N…No!" the Hollow Saint said, and Daniel watched the rift in the Herald Unit's back begin to close again.
Now. Now he had to act. No more blades, no more bullets. Just Using Destined Death to give life.
Daniel charged, taking the rift in his hands as he directed the power of Destined Death through them, pulling open the rift still wider. He felt Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu, all four of them lending their power to him as he struggled to keep Destined Death contained, struggled to keep the rift open as he watched the Composites become almost like a pair of golden wings.
"Damn you!" he heard the echo, the tone of Hamar'ramah fading as Tavis shouted, driving a short blade into his stomach over and over again. "Stop this!"
But Daniel held fast, wings of starlight, sound and flame, ink and glass, metal and lightning, held him there with Tavis as the man tried in vain to escape.
Finally, Daniel watched over the shoulder as some forms of the Composites gained definition, arms, hands, grasping fingers that reached back into the body where they had been held prisoner, slowly but surely dragging something out. Someone. Him.
Daniel watched, spellbound, as what could only be Hamar'ramah himself flew past grayed, dying hands, the rift lifting of the Herald Unit and snapping shut as Daniel finally contained Destined Death again. A few Composites, seemingly staying and watching for a moment, remained until they too disappeared.
Daniel stepped back, stumbled really, and found himself falling into the arms of Nynrya. 'I don't think I've ever done that before.' Daniel's addled brain thought as he set himself to the task of healing himself, at least as best he could.
As he did he watched Tavis Farhaven sink to his knees in the dirt, hollowed gray eyes staring into his. "What…" he said weakly. "What have you done?"
"Saved what I loved," Daniel replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
The words made Tavis look down at the ground for a moment. Then, he became mist, his form collapsing as the mist dissipated.
He was gone. Hamar'ramah was gone. Daniel's part in this, at last, was finished.
