Apotheosis Echo: Re(verb - it)erations

by StriderInCosmos

The end has passed, and a storm looms over a broken world. At its edge, a Captain who cannot fully chart her course plunges in regardless. Within the lightning, a Priest sees his gods, and hopes to draw them to the dying Earth he wishes to gift to them. Against the rain, a Soldier and his family seek to dispel the tempest. The storm looms, and the End is nigh. But what End?

20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The Crux of Trust

It all seems to come down to this.

That's the atmosphere of the ship right now. Any day, something could kick off. Any day, the end of the world could once again rear its ugly head. It makes things tense. Even the happier moments are tinged with anxiety now.

But those of us in the know, a number that is still slowly growing, realize that more likely than not, this is simply the opening act in this time's trials concerning Impacts and Instrumentality. The true test comes after, if we all survive what's coming.

And if there's anything that Daniel Theisman does, it's to make sure as many people survive as he can manage.

- From the personal journal of Eleanor Theisman

New NERV HQ, March 20th, 2028

Commander Ikari and Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki watched the massive dome that housed their magnum opus, as it were, waiting for the moment of its birth.

From within the massive dome, the sounds of massive, thundering rumbles and pops began to echo throughout the room, then picked up in intensity as the dome began to open to allow a crane arm to begin latching onto the prone Unit.

LCL, still hot, steamed out of the opening in the top, draining away from the bottom as the arm caught Unit-13 with a thunk, beginning to raise it out of its womb.

What LCL clung to the rather familiar form, far more massive than the Evangelion that it took inspiration from, began to drop off, a light rain of the stuff sprinkling Ikari and Fuyutsuki.

"So," Fuyutsuki finally said into the returning silence, staring up at the Vessel of Adam vivified before them, "our final executor has been born at last."

"Yes," Ikari said. "All our tools have been properly prepared. The time will come to use them soon."

With that, Ikari turned, walking away from the spectacle as his footsteps echoed through the chamber. Where he was going, Fuyutsuki had his suspicions. But right now, he had places of his own to be.

As he turned, however, it struck him that finding the intruder that was a friend of Shinji's, in a base as large and ruined as this one was, would be rather… challenging.

'Perhaps I should start by the Ayanami unit's quarters.' he thought as he made his way in the opposite direction of Ikari. There were still a few hours yet until Unit-13 was fully ready to go down with the Mark.09 into Terminal Dogma.

As much as it seemed a game of memory, of a base that quite frankly, he hadn't toured that often, it also seemed far too much like a game of luck. It was still a game that he hoped he would manage to win today.

. . .

Shinji Ikari felt… well, a lot of things, as he walked down the hallway toward the gantry that would soon be Unit-13. It would be ready soon, and Kaworu wanted to be ready to get in the moment that they could, get this whole business done and over with.

He still felt, most of all… hollow. Yes, hollow was the only way to describe how yesterday had left him. With having killed Daniel, with the revelations that he'd had, with Kaworu taking the Choker from him…

'I just need to make the world right again. Then I can finally just… go away. Figure things out.'

That beach in New Borneo sounded good… 'It'll be better when all the world is like that.'

Kaworu emerged from a side corridor, the DSS Choker prominent against his pale skin, and began to walk with him. "Hello, Shinji," he said, a slight coolness to his greeting that hadn't been present before he took Shinji's collar from him. "I hope that you are as ready as I am."

Shinji took a deep breath and nodded. "About as ready as I can be, really."

He looked over at the Choker once again. "How does… how does that feel?"

Kaworu glanced down, a hand rising to the Choker. "It feels… natural. Doctor Akagi stole the concept for the Choker from SEELE's database. It was a concept for a control device for me. So, in a sense, this final iteration of that concept… feels like it was made for me."

Shinji found himself rather disturbed by the fact even as he nodded. "Right. What's SEELE?"

"They are my creators. The minds behind NERV, and the orchestrators of the Second Impact in order to advance Human Instrumentality."

He said the words with such glibness that Shinji needed a moment to process what he'd just heard, his eyes going wide. "The Second Impact? Human Instrumentality? And we're… helping them?"

"NERV was, yes. But now, under your father, NERV forges its own path to Instrumentality, and SEELE has lost all of its power. They are little more than babbling old men, simply wishing for their world to come to pass. Besides, we plan to make a far better world. Your world."

Shinji nodded as they reached the locker room that was before Unit-13's gantry, their Plugsuits, unsurprisingly matching, coming into view. "No. It's not going to be my world. I might make it… but it's not for me. Not after what I did to make it this way."

It was silent between them as they dressed into their Plugsuits, all too similar to Ayanami's with the number 13 on both of their sternums. With that familiar click-hiss, the suits sealed, and Shinji found himself… comfortable as well, strangely. The pressure of the suit, the anticipation of climbing into an Evangelion to save the world, and the hope that he had enough training and willpower to overcome whatever was in his way, were all familiar to him.

'What's the old saying? Like riding a bike.'

Another saying from a dead man. How would Daniel have helped him here?

He didn't know. And he desperately wanted to.

Finally, the door before them opened, and they walked out into a massive space, the Evangelion and its Entry Plugs suspended high into the air as a similarly massive gate began to open up beneath them.

He looked over at Unit-13 itself and found himself somewhat awestruck at its size, and its similarity to his old Unit-01. There was little in the way of green paint to be found on its body armor, and its shoulder pylons were differently shaped, two containers on each pylon holding what Shinji's training told him were special 'RS Hoppers' to allow them to create AT Fields. For whatever reason, it could not create one of its own. 'I never got an answer to that.' he mused as he made his way to his Plug, Kaworu going to his.

Stepping into the Plug, letting the LCL wash over him and into him, the display of lights and patterns flashing past him before revealing Kaworu beside him, and the space around him, that all felt familiar as well. The pilots' seats were angled away from each other, and lines of light, like arcing, curving musical staffs, seemed to connect them in the back.

With a deep breath, and the connection between them deepening, Shinji and Kaworu grasped their controls. "Evangelion Unit-13, activating," they said in unison, hearing the hum of the Eva's eyes opening as they prepared for their descent.

. . .

Captain Misato Katsuragi of the Wunder, standing on the bridge in anticipation, found herself still somewhat shocked as the sensors rang out, a panel flashing to life in front of her with the same general wording that Koji said just a moment later. "We've got an activation alert coming from Tokyo-3! It's an Evangelion that's not on our logs."

She waited, then waited some more for the Choker to detonate, looking over at Ritsuko for confirmation as she continued to hear the alarm in the background.

Ritsuko's brow furled, then her eyes went wide. "We should have received a detonation signal by now," she said quietly. "Either the Choker's malfunctioning or…"

"Someone's sabotaged it," Misato said, her jaw clenching. 'Damn it, Shinji. Why did you have to be such a martyr?'

She turned back to the shocked crew. "All hands, action stations! Set a course for Tokyo-3 and ready Unit-02 and Unit-08 in their gantries!"

"Ma'am," Tennison said from her station on Eva Control as they began to smoothly shift toward Tokyo-3, only an hour away, "what about the HERZ Evas? Mrs. Theisman?"

Misato shook her head. "They'd be more likely to try and stop us than help us. We won't request their assistance. We'll go into Battle Stations Level 1 at 25 minutes out."

Ymris nodded, looking back at the landscape that sprawled before the camera feed of the ground she had patched through from Midori's sensor station.

As she watched the ground go by, confirming that Eleanor and her crew had things under control, she saw something quite odd. A massive bank of fog, likely stretching out over kilometers, wandered under them, keeping a steady clip as it also aimed unerringly toward their destination.

'Fog… mist…' her eyes went wide as she realized what, or who exactly, was traveling with them. 'How does he know?'

Just to make sure, she glanced over at Sumire, focused on the helm. "Sumire," she asked as coolly as she could, "just wondering. What's the wind look like on the ground?"

Sumire checked a dial that, with their AT Field nullifying gravity and wind resistance, was somewhat unnecessary. "It's blowing southeast, about 10 kilometers per hour."

She paused for a moment as she looked back at Ymris. "Which that fog bank is very much not going with."

A pill of unease settled in the pit of Ymris' stomach. This was going to be bad. She hoped that whatever came next, Daniel was ready for it.

. . .

Daniel heard a deep rumbling through his cheek, the noise seeming to spread through his bones as it reverberated throughout the base.

That it was the first thing that he remembered after slamming into the side of the HQ was very concerning to him. He began to pull himself back to consciousness, dulling the pain that was very clearly still blooming throughout his body as the rumbling went quiet.

He connected his soul to Nynrya and Bradley and found a flood of concern poised to swamp him almost as much as the pain. "Daniel!" Nynrya said as he began to patch up the broken bones, of which there were, again, a concerning amount. "You've been out for the better part of a day! What happened?"

He struggled to remember for a moment. The last thing he knew, he was… talking to Shinji. It had gone… wrong. Terribly wrong. Then, there was a flash of prismatic light…

"Damn it," Daniel said as he began to emerge from a tunnel of darkness, his vision opening up to a view of an opening in the uncovered surface of HQ. "Shinji must have lost control and smacked me with an AT Field. I thought I taught him how to pull his punches."

The majority of the life-threatening injuries mostly finished healing, several cracks and pops still coming from his chest as he began to stumble down the hallway into the waiting darkness, his vision adjusting to compensate. "And now, Unit-13's likely just finished being 'born'. We've got to move quickly."

"At least a little more quickly than you are now."

Bradley quipped as Daniel continued to stumble down a corridor, his Sight locating Kaji and allowing him to take a route that would get him to the man quickly.

"I'm working on that." Daniel nearly grumbled as he picked up the pace, his body almost done healing. My, but his clothes were really bloody, weren't they? And how long had it been since he'd started walking? The sense of time needed to come back, and quickly.

He scanned around with his Sight to see where everyone was at the moment. Shinji and Kaworu were still in their respective rooms, the Ayanami unit probably on her way to get into the Mark.09, Commander Ikari heading to what was likely Central Dogma to go ogle at the severed head of Lilith-turned-Rei/Yui, and Fuyutsuki…

He paused for a moment. Fuyutsuki was… heading away from the Ayanami unit's quarters? Deeper into the base? 'What's he looking for? Me? And why isn't he doing it with Commander Ikari?"

Questions to be answered later, as he made his way quickly towards the hidden WILLE HQ.

The door to the HQ opened up, and showed a Ryoji Kaji on his feet, going from monitor to monitor as he stuffed memory sticks and hard drives into a bag that he had with him, another bag that appeared to be a survival kit sitting on a table. As kaji looked over at him, he held a questioning look in his eyes. "So, quick question on the whole teleportation thing. Can I take things with me when I go? Because most of this is actually kinda important."

Daniel nodded. "Yeah. Just make sure you're holding the crystal too," he said as he stepped into the room. "It looks like things are getting ready to kick off for real. I'd recommend that you stay down. Fuyutsuki's on his way down here, and I'm not sure why."

Kaji's brow quirked slightly. "That is odd. All on his own?"

Daniel nodded. "Well, I'll admit I made quite the display when Commander Ikari dropped in on my visit to the Ayanami unit."

Kaji's eyes went wide. "Damn. You are ballsy, aren't you?"

"When you've lived like I have, something like that is downright pedestrian. Even when he's already used the Key of Nebuchadnezzar."

Kaji shook his head. "You need to calm down with all this news. You're liable to give a man a heart attack. He actually did it? And it stuck?"

"Apparently so."

Kaji took a deep breath as he finished packing. "He really is dedicated to doing this, isn't he? I still don't know if I've fully recovered from what that… thing did to me so that I could stop Third Impact from destroying everything. And he's just let that thing run rampant?" he scoffed quietly as he shook his head. "He must be dedicated to whatever he's doing."

Daniel nodded. "That he is."

It was quiet between them for a moment as Daniel glanced over at the one display that remained on. "How quickly can the Wunder get here?"

Kaji walked over to the console looking intently at it. "At their best speed… I'd give them a little under an hour."

Daniel nodded. "So that's how long I have to get ready to talk him out of this."

He looked back up at where Shinji and Kaworu were and cursed silently as he saw them walking towards what must have been Unit-13, which was… a black mess of lines confined by a cage of regular-looking Frames. 'What is this thing?'

"And it looks like that hour-timer is going to start soon," Daniel said as he tapped the bracelet on his wrist, the familiar Frame Plugsuit buttons glowing to life as he pressed them.

The click-hiss of Daniel's Plugsuit activating was perfectly timed with Kaji's eyes going wide at the sight of the starry bodysuit, the twin 0s glowing on his armored sternum. "That's… a neat trick," he said slowly. "Got an Eva stashed around here somewhere?"

"It's handy, yes," Daniel said as he looked back up. It was actually quite surprising to see how close Fuyutsuki was getting to this HQ, likely without even meaning to. "I've got to go. People to see, apocalypses to cancel."

As he turned, Kaji put up a hand. "Wait. One last thing."

Daniel paused, looking back at Kaji, his gaze uncertain as he faltered on his words. "I… I don't quite know why I'm asking this, but… what do I say? To Misato? How do I even begin to discuss what's happened?"

Daniel nodded silently as he turned back and walked over to Kaji, putting a hand on his shoulder. "As Daniel Theisman, I'd start by just going over the fact that you're alive, you're real, and you have some things you need to talk about. Establish the baseline stuff again."

Daniel paused, his gaze hardening. "But as Major Theisman of HERZ's Piloting Division, I'd recommend you table it until the world isn't quite as in danger."

Kaji nodded as he took another deep breath, Daniel patting the man's shoulder as he stepped back to the door. "And hey," he said as he exited, "you're Ryoji Kaji, ex-spy and suavest dolt in the world. I'm sure you'll think of something."

There wasn't any time to catch Kaji's reaction as he walked down the hallway, towards the elevator shaft that he knew would lead him down to Terminal Dogma. That it happened to cross Fuyutsuki's path was an extra bonus, really.

The walk was made in silence, both physical and Pneumaic, the tension Daniel had tamped down on during his discussion with Kaji stifling any conversation for the moment. The halls that led to his destination were, at this point, utterly decrepit, void of any maintenance.

So, as he turned a corner, the shaft just a few more turns away, Fuyutsuki stood out quite clearly in the darkness, waving a flashlight around. As the beam shone on him, the older man froze in his tracks, his eyes going wide. "Oh. Oh my. Are you…"

"The intruder that Ikari likely told you about? Yes."

Fuyutsuki was silent for a moment as he took in the sight of Daniel, and his Plugsuit. "What's… what's your name? How do you know young Shinji?"

"I'm Major Daniel Theisman of HERZ's Piloting Division. I'm also Vice-Chief of Evangelion maintenance for WILLE, who has been something of a thorn in your side for the last little while. I took Shinji under my wing when he and Rei emerged from Unit-01."

"WILLE… are they, are you, the ones who took the Buße?"

Daniel nodded as he looked back up somewhat impatiently at the mass of Frames that was Unit-13. "I wasn't there for that, but yes. It's called the Wunder now."

"Wunder. A far better name for it, I suppose." Fuyutsuki shook his head as he took a step forward. "Tell me, do you know Ms. Mari Makinami?"

"I do," Daniel said slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"She's a student of mine, as much as it might shock you to realize. And a contact from a now rather dead organization dedicated to curtailing the power of the Evangelion. And those who would wield it for their own ends." Fuyutsuki paused for a moment. "I need to help her more fully now. From the inside. Gendo… Commander Ikari has to be stopped. But it would be too suspicious if I just disappeared from his side now."

Daniel nodded slightly, his brow creasing for a moment as he pondered on how to best give him the contact info for Mari's tablet. That would be the quickest, most secure way to do it. "Do you have a mobile phone?"

"Yes, I do. It doesn't do much in my hands, but…"

"It'll be enough." Daniel stepped forward as he bundled up his knowledge on how to connect with and contact Mari into a physical medium, in this case, a bright pink and white crystal that formed in his open palm, which he put into Fuyutsuki's hand. "Focus on this and think about her for a moment. You'll gain the knowledge you need."

Fuyutsuki's eyes went wide as he pocketed the crystal. "How did you do that?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

"With how little time I have to explain things, magic. Which is the same principle that's going to allow me to summon an Evangelion to pilot." Daniel began to walk past. "You'll need to be getting back to the old men soon so Ikari can shut them down when things get started. How I know that's going to happen will have to wait for another time as well."

"Wh…" Fuyutsuki was still clearly startled by the nigh-on miracle that had just occurred in front of his eyes. "Wait!"

As Daniel paused and looked back, they both heard an alarm, echoing deep into the base alongside the deep rumbling of massive doors opening. "We don't have much time, Professor," Daniel warned.

"I know, but… do you truly think you can stop this? Young Shinji seems truly driven to do this."

Daniel was silent for a moment as he pondered the question, the implications that went with it circling in his mind like haunting specters. If quite literally all else failed, and he had to choose between this world's Shinji and the world he might end, could he?

"Yes."

The word, echoing down the hallway, was an ominous declaration, a fact that was not lost on either of them. And with that, Daniel turned back to his path, leaving Fuyutsuki to make his way back to where he needed to be.

Daniel found the elevator shaft in short order, dropping into the abyss without a second thought. The wind made by his fall whipped past his ears as he looked down at Terminal Dogma with his Sight, and wondered how he missed such a sight.

The lake was awash with souls, their movements creating swirling tide patterns that the stillness of the lake itself couldn't replicate. 'I guess those souls had to go somewhere after Lilith kicked the bucket.' he pondered as he stretched out constellation-like wings to slow his fall.

Rather less in the distance were four souls, far more defined by their complete Frames, waiting by the door into the room itself. As he landed on the roof of the elevator car, he realized why they were so familiar.

He found the emergency roof access of the elevator car, opening it with a slight Expression before dropping down into the car itself, the open doors revealing Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu, his kids, in their Plugsuits.

"Took you long enough," Asuka said as he emerged into the room, stifling the smell of a decaying god's corpse.

"And you're ahead of schedule by a few minutes," Daniel replied. "What are you all doing here?"

"We had Kensuke teleport us here," Rei replied. "We figured that being of assistance now would be far more effective than arriving with the Wunder."

Daniel was silent for a moment before he sighed quietly. "I'll be honest, having you guys here might hinder me more than help at the moment. Poor Shinji's going to be in for enough of a shock when he sees me alive again, and in an Evangelion, no less."

"Did Commander Ikari kill you here?" Kaworu asked, his brow furrowed in concern along with the other kids.

"Gendo failed with his pistol. Shinji nearly succeeded with his AT Field."

Daniel continued into the shocked silence. "Here's what I want you to do right now. Form your Evas, and hide in the lake. I'm going to try talking Shinji and Kaworu down from ending the world, which is not going to be helped when Misato and company arrive. If things get hairy, I promise I'll tag you in."

The four Children nodded, and Daniel tapped his vambrace, a wireframe model of his Frame Plug lifting from it before he took the model and threw it out toward the island of gargantuan skulls like a dart, space rippling and rearing as the real Frame Plug burst from its dimensional storage space.

"Alright," Daniel said as he marched towards it, "let's be about it."

. . .

Shinji and Kaworu descended in near silence on their Eva-sized cable, Ayanami in the Mark.09 above them, the walls around them stretching out well away from them until being cloaked in the darkness making Shinji feel almost small. 'I feel like the 8th Angel could have almost fit in here.'

Shinji looked around and down the vast chute, catching sight of the massive scythe blade that Ayanami wielded. It was a simple, yet stylized weapon, and it reminded Shinji of the old pictures of the Grim Reaper that he'd seen in history class so long ago.

He glanced again at the Mark.09 that descended with them. "Is Ayanami a part of the process?" he asked.

"She's coming along as backup, in case WILLE comes along and interrupts us."

Shinji nodded. "I do hope she's good at piloting. Poor Rei wasn't the best at it."

He didn't see Ayanami in the Plug of her Eva pondering on the words that came across her link to Unit-13. 'Am I… that much different from Rei?'

Something stirred within her again, whispering wordless ideas that seemed just out of reach.

They passed into total darkness now, what little light they had left behind as they continued their long descent.

After a moment in such total darkness, the lights on their pylons flashed on, revealing on the far wall a scene out of a horror film.

"What are those? Are they like the things on the surface?" Shinji asked as he ogled at the wall of twisted, tangled bodies, all seeming to try at climbing out of the hole Terminal Dogma was situated in.

"Those are the Failures of Infinity," Kaworu answered. "Those who, in the aborted ascent to godhood, were stifled in their still incomplete bodies."

Shinji shuddered slightly at the thought. "We do not have to worry." Kaworu continued. "They will not act against us. Or at all, really. Get ready. We approach Inspector Kaji's seal."

Shinji's eyes went wide at the mention of the name as they reached the seal, looking just like the massive, smooth purple stone that the simulators had shown it to be. "What do you mean Kaji's seal?"

"Inspector Kaji intervened in the ritual to complete Third Impact," Kaworu said as their descent began to slow. "Using the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, he gained the power to forestall Instrumentality, erecting a barrier which no Evangelion could pass after evicting the Evangelions prosecuting the ritual."

"Now, focus," Kaworu said after a moment, clicks and hums coming from both their stations as the mechanisms that would enable them to turn their synchronization into a key for the massive lock before them. "We can do this easily."

Shinji nodded as he stared down at the seal beneath them, his focus intertwining with Kaworu's as they reached out, the hum of Unit-13 increasing in intensity as they slowly began to pierce the veil before them.

The mechanisms gave a long beep, and with a piercing tone, the smooth seal began to crumple in on itself in a series of massive cubes, the way beginning to open just beneath Unit-13's hanging foot.

Their focus did not waver as they continued downward, the seal a thick wall that even still continued to be broken down until, finally, the blocks flew apart and away from them, disintegrating as the way to descend fully into Terminal Dogma became clear.

"We've done it," Kaworu said, smiling slightly as he looked over at Shinji. "Good job, Shinji."

Shinji nodded. "Yeah. Now we can get to… work…"

He trailed off as they both heard the strangest thing echoing through the space that they descended into, grotesque in the imagery of a slumped over, decaying Lilith, on its hands and knees with an arm outstretched as it sat atop, or perhaps partially buried within, an island of massive skulls that covered a good portion of the LCL lake. Coming seemingly from the walls was the sound of a single, slow piano, playing Clair De Lune.

"What the…" Shinji managed to say before a 'Sound Only' comm panel flashed into existence between Shinji and Kaworu.

"That's a hell of an entrance you're making from down here, Shinji."

Shinji's eyes went wide as he heard a voice he'd consigned only to memory. "Daniel? You're alive? How?" he said, almost dazed.

"I've survived worse before, kiddo. Trust me, as bad as that AT Field smack was, you still showed a lot of restraint."

"But not enough," Shinji said bitterly. "I shouldn't have done that in the first place. Daniel… I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Shinji," Daniel replied, reassurance in his voice. "We're still friends."

He paused for a moment. "And friends keep friends from doing something stupid."

Shinji's jaw clenched slightly as they touched down on the island behind Lilith's back, the sight of the embedded Spears gleaming near its neck focusing him on his goal. "Daniel… we can do this."

"You're still playing into your father's hands, Shinji. More likely than not, he's got some way of keeping an eye on proceedings here. Just…."

Daniel sighed quietly. "Just wait for a second. Please. I'll back you up when the Wunder arrives, stop Misato from trying to kill you, and then we can stop your father together before we find a way to make the world right that doesn't involve nearly ending it."

"And what if I say no? You may have an AT Field, but you don't have an Eva. Who's going to come and stop me?"

"And yet again, I have the chance to prove you wrong."

Shinji wondered what he was talking about before seeing something glinting in the distance, walking out from under Lilith's legs, glinting in the otherwise dark space. "What the…"

As it continued to walk closer, and the magnification lenses kicked in, Shinji and Kaworu's eyes went wide as they saw approaching them… an Evangelion. It was a seemingly impossible thing, its armor swirling with stars and nebulae and the void between them, the places where its pylons should have been instead glowing with AT Fields that framed a head that had four horns, broad, flat and spreading out from the Eva's forehead like the wings of dragonflies, the tip curling up.

"And as for who would have to stop you?"

The Sound Only panel blinked into a full video, showing Daniel, at the controls of what must have been the Eva in front of the, wearing an armored Plugsuit that reflected the Eva, twin 0s glowing on his sternum.

"That would have to be Major Daniel Theisman of HERZ, pilot of Unit=00."

. . .

Misato looked down at the cavernous opening of the Geofront, hoping earnestly that they had made it in time as the Wunder began to tilt down, its guns slowly coming to bear on the ground beneath it as it became perpendicular to the massive pillar that led up to what few files they could find on it called 'the ritual site'.

"So we're just going to blast our way in?" Mari asked as she stowed her sniper rifle, standing impossibly on the top hull of the ship.

"That we are," Misato said. "You both did a terribly good job sealing Heaven's Door, so we'll need to make an alternate path in."

"And then freefall right onto the Eva's face." Asuka finished as she stowed her twinblade. "Simple, straightforward. Good."

Her proud bluster, which had started to return as they had her piloting again, was gone now. Maybe it had something to do with going up against Shinji. Perhaps she didn't want to crush Mr. Theisman underfoot somehow. 'We'll worry about that after we've saved the world.'

"I wish we had some help here," Mari said as they began to triangulate a targeting solution, a slight pout on her face. "Those fancy Evas would be nice to have watching our backs."

"Mrs. Theisman will be under observation for the moment." Ritsuko calmly replied. "We can't run the risk of her interfering in the mission."

Mari sighed quietly but nodded. "I understand, ma'am."

"Firing solution has been established, ma'am," Hyuga said from his position, looking back at the command bridge.

"Prepare to fire," Misato said. "Pilots, your mission is to stop Shinji Ikari from piloting the Evangelion and initiating an Instrumentality event. Do what you must."

"Yes, ma'am." the two pilots said, their Evas getting ready to leap off the ship.

The tone sounded, the reticles changed to lock-on, and Misato gave her command as a fog bank began to roll into the exposed Geofront. "Fire!"

. . .

Daniel Theisman, the power of Unit=00 thrumming through him, looked across the way at Unit-13 and the Mark.09, now standing side by side.

Unit-13 was massive, standing easily head and shoulders above its compatriot. That must have made it… what, 20, even 40 more meters taller and commensurately larger? Either way, it was not something to trifle with in combat. Which made his current plan all the more important.

"I know I've been keeping a lot from you, Shinji. A lot that you had a right to know," he said to the scared, somewhat shocked, and even angry young man on the screen in front of him. "So let's just hash it out for a moment, just the three of us. Alright?"

It was silent for what he felt was far too long before Shinji slowly nodded. "Alright. What's HERZ? And how are you piloting an Eva? Is that even an Eva anyway?"

"I'll take the questions one at a time. HERZ is an organization from another universe. One where the Angels, and SEELE, have been dealt with. Right now, me and mine are here trying to stop someone else from usurping the power of Instrumentality and using it for their own ends."

"Who cou-"

The screen vanished, and Daniel looked at the comms screen intently as he tried to reestablish contact to no avail. 'Something's blocking our comms. Ikari? No. He couldn't access us specifically. Maybe a blanket of some sort?'

He flicked on his loudspeakers. "Looks like our comms are getting jammed. We'll just talk like thi-"

He was rudely interrupted by the rumbling of something far beyond them, the sound like a heavy drumbeat falling on them over and over again. Then, his eyes went wide as Unit=00's arms flashed up, an AT Field unfurling over Shinji, Kaworu, and the Ayanami unit's heads as a brilliant flash of purple light exploded over their heads.

The pylons of Unit-13 disappeared in a puff of smoke as the little drones that were strapped to them took flight, and a dreadfully familiar red and white Eva slammed feet first into the Field, the tip of a blade slamming into the point where Unit-13's back would have been.

Unit-13 stumbled towards Unit=00 as Unit-02 leaped off the field and landed in the skulls, skidding back slightly as Asuka leveled her blade at Unit-13. "Asuka!" Shinji shouted over the loudspeakers. "Please, don't get in my way!"

"You idiot, Shinji!" Asuka shouted back. "I don't know how you're piloting that thing, but I can't sit back and let you just end the world!"

"I won't!" Shinji said, his voice hardening. "I'm going to make the world a better place with this power."

"You brat." Asuka spat as Unit-02 tensed up, ready to pounce. "You make the world a better place by not piloting!"

With that, Unit-02 began its charge, kicking off the skulls and sending several up behind her as she swept her blade back for a swipe, the Mark.09 readying itself to step in. 'Oh, no you don't.' Daniel thought as he beat the Ayanami unit to the punch.

He dashed forward, willing Unit=00 to become starlight as he passed through Unit-13, his form coalescing as he leaned to the right, grabbing the handles of Asuka's twinblade and planting a foot in the ground, sliding only for a moment as he pivoted and lifted Unit-02 off its feet with the rotation. Just before the throw, he twisted the handle just so, the blades separating as he tore the one in Asuka's right out of its grasp before sending Unit-02 tumbling for a moment.

"That's enough, Asuka," he said, making his voice loud enough for Mari, who waited in the wings, to hear as he held onto the blade and watched Unit-02 get back to its feet.

"Daniel?" Asuka said incredulously. "It figures that if Eleanor had an Eva, you would too."

"Yes. And I was explaining to Shinji why…" Daniel trailed off before scoffing and shaking his head. "You know what? Let's make this easier."

He sent a Pneumaic comm-link, still thankfully working, up to the Val, Kensuke's face appearing in short order. "Ken, I need a Pneumaic comm-link for all the pilots and the Wunder. It appears someone doesn't want us talking to each other. Keep our other pilots on audio only."

"Will do," Kensuke said, his face disappearing as several more comm panels appeared, Shinji and Kaworu looking back at him in concerned readiness, Asuka and Mari looking at him with no small amount of shock, and perhaps most importantly, the Hirnstamm Module of the Wunder laid out before him.

"This is Major Theisman of HERZ's Pilot Division. I've taken command of the situation," he said, a hard steel to his words pointed at Misato and Ritsuko. "So, what I'm going to say next to you Misato isn't a suggestion, it's an order. You, along with Unit-02 and Unit-08, will stand down now. Otherwise, you will be considered enemy combatants. And dealt with as such."

"What?" Misato said incredulously as Asuka and Mari let out slight gasps. "You can't just barge in and take the safety of the world into your own hands, Mr. Theisman!"

"I have before, Misato," Daniel replied. "And I'll do it again. You get in my way, I'm going to get you out of it. How permanent that is is entirely up to your discretion."

He paused, then sighed. "But we don't need to be fighting each other like this. Hell, Gendo probably expected to be at each other's throats. We can't play his game and hope to save the world. So right now, everyone just needs to calm down and put our heads together. Figure out a way to do this without touching the Spears."

As he said the last words, he directed a glance at Kaworu, who looked up at the Spears, cupping his chin in thought. 'Good. He's likely noticed something's off now.'

"Mr. Theisman," Misato said coolly, lifting a remote that Daniel had an anxious suspicion went to the DSS Chokers, "I won't allow you to threaten me just because you have too damn big of a heart. If Shinji Ikari doesn't shut down that Eva right now, I'm going to detonate the Choker."

"Ms. Misato!" Shinji said. "You can't! I won't let you!"

"And neither will I. This is bigger than you, Misato." Daniel interjected. "This isn't just the world or even the universe that's at risk now. If you've talked to Eleanor for any length of time, you'll realize all of Reality is at stake."

"And if we stop this, if we somehow destroy the Spears…" Ritsuko began.

"What other choice do we have?" Shinji said. "We can make the world better by-"

"By you stepping out of that Eva!" Misato shouted. "Damn it all, Shinji, we wouldn't even be here if you hadn't decided to play a big damn hero and throw yourself on the Spears."

"But this world is my fault, Misato. I made this mess. I have to clean it up."

"Captain," Kaworu began as a pause entered the conversation, his eyes still fixed on the Spears, "As your Commander, I-"

"I don't give a damn what you're in command of!" Misato snapped. "You're doing nothing aiding Shinji in a cause that might doom us all! Now you will shut down that Eva, or-"

Click. Beep-beep.

The sound made everyone go silent, as all eyes turned toward Misato. And the trigger that she had just pulled.

"What have you done?" Daniel said, voice barely above a whisper.

. . .

The sound of the detonator activating caused Shinji to whirl his head towards Kaworu, seeing tiny spires, poised like daggers, spring into existence, all of them circling Kaworu's neck.

He rebelled against the calmness that he felt through his link with Kaworu as he threw himself against the wall of his Plug, banging against the walls in utter desperation. "Kaworu! Kaworu!" he cried out, tears welling up in his eyes.

"So it seems our time has come to an end again, Shinji Ikari," Kaworu said as he looked over at him, so damnably peaceful as he smiled. "I hope I will see you again soon."

He watched Kaworu take a deep breath and close his eyes as he looked away, seemingly waiting for the inevitable. Then Shinji felt as Kaworu felt… a revelation. A realization that filled him with terror and dread as his eyes snapped open and looked back at Shinji, filled with that fear that Shinji knew was within him. "Shinji, do not take the Spears! Do not-"

His next words were cut off as the pylons zipped toward Kaworu's neck, meeting it with an explosion that sent pain slamming through Shinji's own head as Kaworu… died.

The pain left him reeling, almost throwing him out of his seat, unable to process anything that he heard next as grief almost overcame him. Kaworu was… dead. He'd been killed by the Choker that he'd taken.

Then, that grief mixed with something else. Something that he'd kept tamped down for as long as he could. Something that had had only a portion of it released against Daniel as he realized that Kaworu hadn't just been killed. He'd been murdered. By Misato.

A caldera of anger roiled to life and erupted as he opened his eyes, uncaring of Daniel's voice in an unseen distance as he focused entirely on Misato, and saw within her… fear. "You killed him."

. . .

Misato's mind was reeling as she saw the gory aftermath of her mistake. And who, exactly, it had taken. "Shinji… I… I didn't…"

"Shut up!" he shouted, face twisted in anger in a way that she hadn't even thought possible before. "You killed him! You killed Kaworu Nagisa! This is all your fault!"

She saw a flash from the edges of her vision as he spoke, heard Ritsuko gasp like she'd seen a ghost, and turned to see… what could only have been a ghost.

The man that stood before them, bags dropping to the deck, though he had a full beard, was without a doubt Ryoji Kaji.

"R… Ryoji?" she said numbly as he looked around the place, and looked up at the screen, his eyes going wide at the sight of the boy's decapitated body.

"What the…" Ryoji looked at Misato, at the detonator still somehow loosely in her grip. "You.. you killed Commander Nagisa? You killed our Commander?"

'Our commander… that boy… Commander of… WILLE… Ryoji…'

The sight of her husband, the sounds of a battle about to be rejoined, the press of everything finally simply cracking, the void she tumbled in finally finding a bottom, all pressed her to her knees as she simply… shut down.

. . .

Daniel's eyes went wide as he saw Unit-13 turn back to the Spears, the resolve in Shinji's eyes joined by a blind fury that seemed to almost tinge them red as his Unit, its own eyes a baleful crimson now, stepped forward.

"Shinji, no! Stop!" Daniel shouted as Unit=00 turned and dashed toward Unit-13, tossing Asuka's blade back toward her as he ran.

Before he could go far, the Mark.09 interposed itself, its scythe blade arcing toward him. He barged forward anyway, the haft of the scythe clattering on his shoulder as he shoved the Mark.09 over, bounding over the Ayanami unit. "Asuka! Mari! Help me stop him!"

"No, Daniel!" Shinji shouted as the four RS Hoppers darted toward him, an AT Field flashing into existence as Unit=00 slammed into it. "I'm taking the Spears! And I'm ending this!"

"You aren't in control!" Daniel retorted as he ripped through the AT Field, watching Asuka charge at Shinji from the side as he heard several rounds from Mari's covering fire behind him keeping the Mark.09 at bay. "You'll end the world!"

"I don't care!" Shinji turned as Unit-02 came within arm's length, Unit-13's massive arm darting out and catching Unit-02 by the neck as he lifted it up bodily before tossing it back at Daniel, turning away as Daniel bent space to bring Unit-02 back to its feet beside him. "It doesn't matter anymore!"

Daniel's heart ached as he rushed forward, jumping as he caught Unit-13 in a full nelson as best he could, pinning its arms out to its sides. "Then you leave me no choice!"

He lifted both of them into the air, Unit-13 flailing wildly as he tried his best to get to the opening in Terminal Dogma's ceiling.

"Daniel!" he heard Shinji, his Shinji, shout through their comm link. "Let us help!"

"Not yet!" Daniel replied, hearing and sometimes seeing the RS Hoppers getting destroyed by Mari's fire and by Asuka hanging on to one as it flew up to try and intercept his flight, slashing at its partner as it grew too close.

"Leave… me… alone!" Shinji shouted as the last RS Hopped went up in a ball of flame, heaving Unit-13's legs up over its head. Daniel's heart nearly seemed to skip a beat as something impossible happened, and the Eva's feet landed on a plane of prismatic light.

'An AT Field!' was all Daniel could think before another one bloomed between Unit-13's back and Unit=00's chest, slamming into him and forcing him to let go as they both fell back into Terminal Dogma. Daniel corrected himself quickly as he fell towards Unit-13, the massive Eva slamming into Lilith's back on his side and rolling for a moment before he corrected himself.

As Unit-13 got to its feet, Daniel saw that Asuka now dueled the Mark.09 a ways away from them, and floated down to Lilith's back, interposing himself between the Spears as he manifested his swordspear. "Shinji," he said as calmly and levelly as he could, "if there's any time to step back and stop for a minute, it's now. You're grieving. You're in no shape to change the world or end it. Please."

"Spare me." Shinji spat back. "You swaggered into my life and tried to fix me after everyone treated me like a monster for not having enough control. If they wanted a monster to hate, they have it now."

Daniel's jaw clenched. "Shinji, I don't want to kill you in order to spare my friends, your friends, but if I have to…"

"Daniel! The mist! He's coming!"

The words snapped his focus for a moment as he processed what Ymris had just said over their comm link. 'Mist… no…'

He looked up, and saw mist falling down into the shaft, past a confused Mari, and begin to resolve into an image, a form that was as large as their own. A terribly familiar, pale one, that floated down on ribbons of mist that rippled out from him like a tattered cloak.

"Hello, heretic." he heard Tavis Farhaven say, his voice echoing out from the Evangelion that he was piloting. "The new world begins now. And you will be unable to stop it."

As the mist continued to fall and resolved into the forms of five more Evangelions that looked all too similar to the Mass-Production Evangelions, he could feel that Tavis' confidence was not without reason.

. . .

Far away, up in a tucked away meeting room, Commander Ikari began the slow, almost ritualistic process of putting the minds, and souls, of SEELE's council to rest.

"The time has come to revise the pact found within the Dead Sea Scrolls," he said simply as he heard Fuyutsuki begin to pull the plug for SEELE-06. "This is farewell."

As the plug rotated, the black surface of SEELE-06's plinth flashed, then became a pale, stripped metal shadow of its former self, the image of a human brain viewed from the front seared into the metal where the logo for SEELE was.

As the process continued, each shutting down one by one slowly but surely, Ikari continued. "Though your forms have changed through time, you are still the products of the forbidden fruit. Though it is possible to live for time uncounted, death must come to you as it does all things to return from whence it came. In your quest to advance the evolution of all who are burdened with frail mortality, you have given us many gifts. On behalf of your descendants, I express our gratitude."

The words were hollow things, but they would be what the doddering fools would expect to hear, as only SEELE-01 remained to hear his final words. "I will carry out the Human Instrumentality Project."

Before he could continue, SEELE-01 did something entirely unexpected. It shouted in fear.

"Something has taken our bodies!" he, it, cried out. "Something intends to harm the mother's will! Brothers! Defend our mother!"

It was the first time that 01 had been so outspoken in ages. It was the first time either of them heard such fear in his voice.

Before Ikari could enquire any further, he tensed up, his hand going to his forehead as something began to glow over it.

Fuyutsuki emerged from behind the power bank to see Ikari seemingly trying to yank something from his head, prismatic light surrounding a cord of deep, radiant gold as it resisted his attempts for a few moments before finally giving way, the golden light becoming dust-like motes that began to drift away.

"Ikari… what was that?" Fuyutsuki asked, shocked by the sight.

"A foreign influence," Ikari said coolly, seeming to have regained his composure. "It has been removed."

. . .

Daniel took a step back on Lilith's back as Tavis floated down to stand across from him and Shinji, the other 5 surrounding them.

"You can't stand against all 6 of us at once, heretic," Tavis called out. "Stand aside and accept your defeat."

Daniel set his jaw as he tasked Nynrya, who eagerly waited to assist him, to take down the MP-Eva lookalike behind him, then linked himself to his Shinji, Asuka, Kaworu, and Rei's souls, showing them the situation. "Kids… now."

As one, a pair of blades flashed out from Unit=00's back while 4 more Evas leaped into the air, landing on shoulders or backs and yanking the MP lookalikes to the ground as they engaged them.

"I can stand against one," Daniel said to Tavis as he looked over at Shinji.

"Shinji, this is who we're here to stop. Please, help me stop him from enslaving this world. Enslaving the people we both care for."

Shinji was silent as he watched the pale Eva, looking so much like the White Cells, manifest a massive sword out of the mist that surrounded him. Then, his jaw clenched as the restraints on Unit-13's chest released, two more sets of arms dropping free and going wide as the massive Eva settled into a crouch. "You're all in my way."

With that, Shinji charged, Daniel deftly ducking under the hooks that were meant for him as an AT Field flashed to life to stop Tavis' sword from skewering Unit-13, the strikes all flashing toward Tavis blocked by AT Fields of his own.

Daniel's swordspear flowed into the form of a compact rifle aimed at Unit-13's feet, shards of gemstone slamming into them like paintballs and flowing impossibly to try and bind him to Lilith's skin and bones, sinking deep into the flesh.

As Shinji tried to lift his feet free, thrashing about wildly and sending the Evas next to him stepping back and to the side, Daniel switched targets, the gemstones becoming miniature stars that slammed into AT Fields and tendrils of mist before zipping out, striking from every angle that they could in their flight. One finally slipped through Tavis' defenses, striking his MP-Eva in the back of the head with a brilliant flash.

'There!' he thought as he began to charge forward, a crystal bayonet forming at the end of his rifle.

Before he could take another step, his brand flashed into existence, and an almost numbing, terrifyingly familiar sensation filled his head.

"My potential champions, my Vessels, have been assembled."

It was him. He was here again, in this place. 'Hamar'ramah…'

"Take each of you a portion of my power. Whoever remains possessing it shall be my Vessel. My Hollow Saint."

Daniel felt a spike of pure fear, of almost paralyzing terror, sink into his chest and snake down into the rest of his body as he finally regained a view of the situation. Just in time to see Unit-13 tear free from the entanglement that he'd set and swing twin backhanded strikes at him.

The strikes lifted him into the air, sending him tumbling for long seconds before he slammed into the ground and went rolling, coming to a stop just in time to see a pale arm burst out of a section of wall near one of the MP lookalikes, another one revealing itself as it began to rail on its companion, leaving Rei likely just as confused as Daniel was.

Looking around, he saw the same sight repeated 5 times over, two of them striking at both the MP lookalike that they fought and at Unit=01.

"The Guide of War graces me with his strength, Daniel!"

His focus returned to Tavis after his exultant shout, still dueling with Unit-13, his mist now seemingly lit from within by a golden glow as he blocked strike after strike, young Shinji's attack's growing wilder and wilder until Tavis slipped into his defenses, a sphere of glowing mist flashing into sight for the briefest of moments before it sent Unit-13 rocketing toward the far wall, mist beginning to cover its torso before it was out of sight.

As Tavis turned and began to walk toward the Spears, Daniel's rifle came back up, and he loathed the sight of the golden stars that shot out in three-round bursts toward Tavis.

Every shot found itself deflected or simply snatched out of the air, the mist around him like writhing tentacles. "He might share his power with you as well, heretic," Tavis said as he continued his slowed but steady progress toward the Spears, "but a broken vessel cannot hold such power to truly use it as it meant to be used. At what point will your pitiful strikes even graze me now?"

It was at that moment that Daniel realized that, even though he could feel the tether that fed him Hamar'ramah's power, he still had control of his body and mind.

It set his soul with purpose, fear quenched in realization to become hardened into resolve. And with that resolved, the space around him moved.

He was on Tavis' Eva in an instant, slamming into him and continuing to fly towards the far wall out across the LCL lake. The flight lasted long seconds, the tentacles of mist meeting an implacable defense of AT Fields or disks of crystal or net-like constellations before Unit=00 slammed the MP lookalike in front of him into the wall.

As the dust and rubble that blew away from the impact cleared, Daniel put the barrel of his rifle against the MP's chest. "Point blank, shithead," he said with a voice of steel forged into a blade.

He fired, chunks of obsidian the size of battleship shells finally drawing blood as shot after shot for the briefest of moments gored the MP lookalike pinned under him, before it finally batted the gun aside, a wicked dagger slicing up towards his chest.

He leaped back as his gun disappeared, landing on a sheet of deep red crystal that formed like ice on the surface of the lake as Tavis came after him, a twin dagger in his other hand as he charged wildly, slashing at Daniel as he raised his arms, luminous crystals sheathing them in spiked gauntlets as he blocked and maneuvered around the strikes, accurate jabs and hooks throwing the MP lookalike off balance only for the briefest of moments.

As they moved, the surface of the crystal that they stood on grew, even as Daniel used spikes flash-grown from it to attack Tavis from unexpected angles, though lashes of mist all too often stymied them. Then, an opening presented itself, and Daniel dashed in, grabbing the MP-Eva by the neck and an armor plate, lifting it up over his head, and throwing it with all the strength he could muster to Unit=00.

The MP went flying into the air, tumbling enough to make Tavis lose his balance and focus before slamming into the outstretched arm of Lilith, a massive crack echoing through Terminal Dogma as the arm broke off at the elbow, a dot dropping just before it the only indication that Tavis might have passed through it.

Daniel stood still, simply dragging the space to him as he seemed to slide across the lake without a disturbance, coming to a stop in front of the form of the MP-Eva that struggled to its feet, the battle that raged around them pausing for the briefest of moments as both friend and foe gauged his dramatic arrival.

"You…" Tavis spat as his MP lookalike stumbled to its feet. "You are less afraid than I expected."

It spread its arms, and tendrils of mist shot out to weave diaphanous circlets on the heads of the MP lookalikes, duels and battles stopping as they turned to focus on Daniel, several with AT Fields that glowed in the form of claws, extra arms or oversized jaws. "But courage cannot win against strength forever."

"Perhaps," Daniel replied as the MP-Evas began to charge at him. "But my strength is not alone."

The first ones to get close to him, a pair, were dispatched by Unit=02, a series of quick, lightning-wreathed punches and taps with the head of her massive two-handed mace to their backs and sides sending red currents arcing over it, exploding over its chest and back and sending it falling to the ground. The next two met with one having its legs literally shaken apart before its companion disappeared into the flames of Unit=01, seared to a near crisp.

Unit=05 simply encased the three that came next in varying bindings of glass harder than the steel that surrounded them, AT Fields or the sheer physical strength of the Evas uncared for as the glass only seemed to refract the light of the AT Fields. Another pair were bound up with intricate artwork that flowed from the tip of Unit=06's copy of the Spear of Cassius, roots growing into the ground around their legs and almost delicate sigils acting as seals for their AT Fields.

Two more found themselves speared into the ground by the twin blades of Nynrya, the crystalline blades growing plates over their bodies and rooting them to the ground. The last, Daniel allowed to charge at him, arms spread wide as it tried at bowling him over. But with a wave of Unit=00's hand, the MP lookalike simply… fell apart, the space that connected its waist and hips expanding and separating the halves of its body before burying the pieces that fell to the ground deep in the pile of skulls.

"You wanted a taste of what godhood is, Tavis," Daniel said levelly, every attack that Tavis threw at him now simply sliding off Unit=00 as he slowly advanced forward, coming to a stop several dozen meters away as Tavis continued his desperate assault, fear finally seeming to root the man in place. "So, let me show how strong you have to be when you're in the Guide of War's service."

Frames, jagged and sharp, began to make a mountain range of coronal ejections down Unit=00's back, their deep purple glow rising in intensity before the Eva's mouth opened, and a stream of superheated plasma lanced out toward the MP lookalike, blanketing its top half as Daniel simply stood there, the Vent Frames on his own body beginning to spring to life as he slowly, surely, continued to bear down on Tavis, taking one step forward. Then another.

That he'd gone this long without screaming was remarkable, his focus on whatever Expressions he used to attack Daniel still holding. Had he bypassed the pain receptor connections somehow?

"Daniel! Daniel! Behind you!"

He didn't know which Asuka's voice had broken through to him, or how long he'd simply focused on attempting to wipe Tavis from the face of the earth, but the beam of plasma snapped off as Daniel turned. And his eyes went wide as he saw Unit-13, young Shinji arriving at the Spears.

A pair of hands each grasped each Spear and began to pull.

"Shinji!" Shikinami shouted. "Stop! Please!"

"Don't do this, Shinji!" Daniel cried out.

"Shinji, wait!" Daniel heard Kaji say, the words almost in the distance.

Heedless of their pleas, the Spears slid free of the massive form of the Mark.06 that they were embedded in, one after another. And as Lilith's corpse began to bloat, the ritual of Fourth Impact began.