Evangelion: Rebuild Shinji's Choice

by Chucky117

In the Rebuild timeline, Asuka Shikinami Langley was chosen as the test Pilot for Unit 03's activation, leading to the events that unfolded. But what if Shinji was given the choice to become Unit 03's test Pilot? How much would this one choice change the entire timeline? Would he and everyone around him ever come to regret his choices?

9. Chapter 9 - Tenth Angel - Part 1 - Trust

Author's Notes: Happy New Year to all!

Thank you all for your reviews and continued support. I know I say this all the time, I'm happy to hear that the story is good/getting better. I hope it can be said the same about this one.

As always, apologies in advance for grammatical/spelling mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.

---

"ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT!"

Everyone in the room was, needless to say, surprised by Hikari's sudden outburst.

While Asuka did also agree that the jock shouldn't become a Pilot, she would not have yelled as the Class Rep had. "Who knew she had that kind of voice?" And what was that jock thinking? Trying to become a Pilot after finding out about Shinji's death…

Rei's eyes widened at this strange behavior from the relatively collected Class Representative. She did not take her to be someone who was capable of such loud emotions.

Toji flinched and covered his head with his hands from Hikari's outburst, "G-Geeze, not so loud, Class Rep." He put one hand down and the other behind his head as he looked to the floor next to her, "C-Can you just let me explain?"

"No!" Hikari stomped towards him with anger in her eyes. How could he think about such a thing after finding out the true dangers of piloting an EVA? "This is not up for discussion! You are NOT going to become a Pilot!"

Toji closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew the dangers of becoming a Pilot. But he can't just standstill. He… He had to do this. He opened his eyes and stared deep into her eyes, "Listen, Class Rep-"

"Didn't you hear what happened to Shinji? You could die!"

He grabbed onto her shoulders, causing her to flinch by this sudden action. His voice was strangely serious just like before, "Listen, Hikari. I know the dangers. I know that I can die. And you seem to be okay with both Ayanami and Red continuing to be Pilo-"

"Because they were trained to be Pilots for far longer! And I…" she looked away, "I don't want them to Pilot now, either. But that's not my choice to make."

"And my choice is not yours to make either. I can't just sit still knowing that Shinji died for us. I… I need to do something to help."

Hikari held strong and turned to look into his eyes, "There are other ways to help than to become a Pilot." She wasn't going to back down on this. She's not going to lose him.

"But none of them protects yo-" He shook his head. "None of them protects all of you from those monsters. I want to be able to protect you- and everyone I care about." "Shit, I almost slipped."

Hikari's eyes widened. Did he…?

Asuka shook her head, no longer able to listen to these two argue. "Listen, Jock. As much as I would love to see you get beaten to a pulp by an Angel," she motioned to both herself and Rei, "we don't decide on who can Pilot or not. And not anyone can be a Pilot you know."

"And… I'm not sure if the Idiot would've wanted you to become a Pilot." Asuka bit her lips, unsure if she should say this part. "I can't say 'you don't have any training' because the Idiot was able to become a Pilot without one so there goes that."

Toji shook his head but his eyes never left Hikari's, "I know that. So that's why I want to know how I can become one!"

Rei walked up next to Asuka as she said, "Allow me to clarify our point. Both Asuka and I cannot divulge the information. There is a certain process and protocol to be followed. One does not become a Pilot because he or she simply wishes to be."

He finally turned to the two, "Then what do I do? I want to be able to help! I don't want to lose another friend! I want to protect everyone that matters to - GAH!"

Toji couldn't finish as the building started to shake with enough force to cause everyone to start losing their balance. The household items started to shake with some eventually falling to the floor. Cabinets were forced open with plates shattering as they crashed onto the floor. The lights above them flickered on and off as this tremor continued.

The two Pilots had to latch onto the wall for support while Toji wrapped his arms around Hikari to protect her. Both Toji and Hikari eventually went on their knees but both Asuka and Rei managed to stay standing until the tremor stopped with the lights in the apartment going back to normal.

If it wasn't for the fact that the apartment that they were in and the surrounding buildings weren't built to withstand earthquakes of harsher magnitude, the damage might've either been worse or their building might've collapsed.

Toji looked at Hikari with concern, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yea." When the two realized how close they were, they both looked away with heavy blushes covering their faces. One thing Hikari did notice, however, Toji didn't let go of her even though the building stopped shaking.

Asuka asked no one in particular, "What the hell was that?" She went to the windows that luckily stayed intact through the quake but had some cracks along its surface. "Was it just our apartment? Was anyone else affected by this?" When she looked out, she noticed that everyone outside was in a state of disarray and was trying to recover from the recent event, confirming that it wasn't just their apartment.

But what could've caused this?

It couldn't be an earthquake, both NERV and the Japanese government were on top of those kinds of natural events. So there would be some sort of warning ahead of time…

…Wait.

"Shit… SHIT! Don't tell me that was-"

Rei noticed Asuka's uneasiness towards the situation, "Asuka, what have you discovered-?"

The alarm that filled the entire city of Tokyo-3 answered Rei's question and confirmed Asuka's suspicion. This was the sound that no one wanted to hear.

"Shit…" Asuka cursed under her breath, "Not now…"

Both she and Rei received a phone call from NERV. When they answered, they were both immediately ordered to come to NERV as soon as possible due to Angel's attack being imminent in the city. Both Asuka and Rei are to be prepared for the sortie against the Angel.

And the person in both Asuka's and Rei's line ended the call stating, "Despite the Second Child's failed Test with her Unit 02, we require her at its cage for the Unit's activation. Any and all available Pilots are to report for duty."

Asuka's bandaged hand tightened on her phone. She gritted her teeth in annoyance. They didn't have faith in her but had to still call her in due to the situation.

Kensuke came rushing out of the bathroom and said, "A-An Angel alarm?!"

Toji turned to him, "About damn time you got ou-..." He stopped when he noticed the state his friend was in. Kensuke was drenched in water from head to toe. And that stench... "Did you fall into the toilet during all of that?"

His face reddened in embarrassment as he tried to clean his glasses, answering Toji's question, "T-That doesn't matter! We need to go!" Kensuke mumbled just low enough for himself to hear, "I fell into the toilet and had running sink water splash onto me."

Asuka placed her phone into her back pocket and pushed her frustration aside. She had a job to do. Asuka turned to her three classmates, not caring about the poor comical situation one of them was in.

She said, "Geek is right. You three need to go, now."

Toji nodded as he got up while still holding on to Hikari, helping her up as well. "You don't need to tell me twice, Red." He finally dropped his hands, freeing her from his grasp.

Hikari recovered from the shock and nodded, "Right…" She stared at Toji, "And don't think we're done here. We'll talk after this. I'm not letting you become a Pilot."

He said, "Yea. I'm not done with this either." Toji turned his head to the two Pilots, "I'm coming to see you two after you two kick this thing's ass."

Asuka groaned, "Fine. Just get going already." She motioned her head to Rei, "Come on, First. We need to get going too."

Rei gave a nod, "Of course."

As everyone tried to get to the front door, Asuka stopped just outside the bathroom when she noticed the wet marks on the floor from the bathroom to the front door and rolled her eyes. She let out another groan. "Dumbass."

Kensuke was the first at the door with water still dripping from his clothes and hair. "GEEK!" He turned to Asuka's voice, only for his face to clash against a towel. "Wipe yourself off, don't let both Hikari and the jock suffer because you were clumsy and fell into the toilet."

He grabbed the towel off his face and started to clean his glasses, "...T-Thanks…" His face reddened with embarrassment.

Toji gave out a low chuckle as he was tying his shoes, "Don't take it too personally, Kensuke. At least she gave you a towel to dry yourself off instead of letting you go, all wet and all."

"Y-yea… you're right." The blush disappeared from his face, instead felt some sort of relief when he heard Toji say those words. "Yea… guess there is a nice side to you too, Shikinami. But can't you be a bit nicer about this?"

Everyone finished putting on their shoes and the front door opened with the alarm getting louder as the entrance to the outside was exposed. Asuka raised her voice a bit more than usual as she said, "Take the stairs, it'll be faster than taking the elevator."

Hikari nodded, "Right." They needed to get to the shelter as soon as possible while both Asuka and Rei had to get wherever they needed to go to get ready to fight.

As everyone tried to leave, they all froze when they heard a voice call to them, "Wark!"

The five students all turned to see Pen-Pen waving his arm to them, almost as if he was telling them to 'take care'.

Asuka completely forgot that he was still here! She stood still for a bit, contemplating what she should do.

The last time, and every other time, when there was going to be an Angel attack, Misato had time to plan ahead to leave Pen-Pen with someone in the shelter during the attack and have Section Two pick him up when the battle was over. But right now, without Misato here, there was no one they could find to take care of him.

So, he was going to be here all alone during the battle, waiting for them to get back. He's going to be in danger.

Asuka remembered the times the bird tried to help her as best as he could.

The hug that she pushed away.

The bottle of water he gave to her when she threw up.

Asuka shook her head, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

She walked over to Pen-Pen while hearing Rei say to her, "Asuka, we need to make haste."

"Yea, just one second." Asuka stopped when she towered over Pen-Pen. "I seriously can't believe I'm doing this."

"Wark?" the warm water penguin tilted his head. What was she still doing here? She should get going before - "Wark?!" Pen-Pen started to flail as Asuka placed her hands under his arms and lifted him up.

"Stop." She grunted from all the flailing, "Stop moving so much, you stupid penguin." That caused him to stop and blink at her. He was still confused about what her purpose for doing this was.

Asuka still kept Pen-Pen at a full arm's length from her even when he stopped moving as much. She couldn't believe she was doing this, but Asuka needed to make sure that Misato's pet bird was safe. The tremor meant that the Angel was relatively close and the battle will most likely happen in the city. Pen-Pen was not safe if he stayed here.

And she still owed this bird for everything he tried to do for her before.

"You know, you're pretty heavy," Asuka said. "And soft." She had to resist trying to squeeze her fingers.

"Wark," Pen-Pen tried to shrug the best he could in this situation.

"Yea, whatever, you're going on a diet when we get back."

Pen-Pen tilted his head. Wait, what did she mean by that?

Asuka brought him over to the group and stopped in front of Hikari with Pen-Pen facing her right in front of her face.

Hikari blinked, unsure as to what was happening, "Um… wha-"

"Can you take him to the shelter with you?"

She blinked, "Oh… uh… Yea. Sure." She held her hand out and took the penguin in her arms and close to her chest. "Huh… He's really soft… But heavy." Pen-Pen flailed a bit to turn to face forward, much to Hikari's annoyance.

He brought his head up to Asuka, "Wark?"

Asuka said, "It's not safe here. The Angel's probably going to be here in the city soon." She hesitantly petted Pen-Pen's head with his eyes closing on contact, "Once the Angel's been taken care of, you can come back. Misato will be here too."

The penguin nodded when her hand dropped and opened his eyes. "Wark."

Hikari giggled, causing Asuka to look at her with an annoyed glare, "What?"

"Nothing." She's never going to tell Asuka that what she did was so cute. Hikari didn't want to get an earful from her just because she called Asuka cute.

Kensuke, who was drying his hair, said, "Uhh, guys, we really should get going now."

Hikari nodded, "Right." She turned and was the first to run out with Pen-Pen in her arms.

Toji pushed Kensuke out with his hands through the uncomfortable wet feeling on his hands when he touched the back of the wet clothes. When Kensuke started to run on his own, Toji shook his wet hand to get some of the water off.

Toji said, "Dude, we really need to get you some dry clothes when we get to the shelter."

"I know man! It's giving me a wedgie!" He tried to pull the butt of his pants down only for it to attach to him once more.

"Man, I did not need to know that."

Asuka watched Rei run out before her. As she was about to follow to catch up to Rei, Asuka froze at the door once more when she heard a voice say, "Take care of yourself."

"Idiot Shinji?"

She turned her head into the apartment where the source of the voice originated. She saw an image of Shinji standing next to his room and waving his hand to her with his dumb smiling face. She placed one of her hands onto the SDAT in her sweater pocket, feeling the warmth she dared to say that she's become dependent on through this tough time.

Asuka mumbled, "Don't you worry, Idiot. I'll be fine." She saw Shinji disappear into the air.

Rei, from a few steps out, noticed that Asuka wasn't following her. When she stopped and turned, she noticed that the redhead was looking into the apartment. "Asuka, we need to make haste."

Asuka took one last breath, taking in the environment that she has fond memories she had here one more time. "I'll continue to fight, Idiot. I'm not going to run away from my guilt anymore." She turned and pulled back her hoodie. She shook her head, letting her long red hair run across the air. "No more hiding. I'm ready, for real this time." She ran out as the door closed behind her.

Asuka tapped Rei's shoulder as she passed her, "Let's get going then."

Rei, a bit confused by Asuka's sudden action, lagged behind for a quick second before breaking into a run to catch up with Asuka who started to run down the steps. The alarm was still going strong as they all made their way down.

After a few floors down, Rei said, "Asuka, if there is any solace to this situation, you will be able to test with your Unit 02 sooner than tomorrow and won't require Colonel Misato's permission to do so."

Asuka blinked but didn't stop nor slow down, "First, did you just make a joke?"

She might not be able to see it, but Asuka could feel Rei shaking her head. Rei said, "I was merely making an observation."

"Well, there may be hope for you yet." "You're not a doll as I thought you were." She could almost sense Rei tilting her head in confusion. Asuka almost laughed. She'll explain once this is all over.

When everyone came out of the apartment, they noticed that there were two black cars with multiple men in black suits waiting for them. One of the members explained that one car was for the Pilots and the other was for their friends.

They were keeping tabs on them surprisingly, and creepily, well.

Hikari was the first to turn to the two Pilots, "Good luck out there!"

"Wark!" Pen-Pen managed to get one out before the girl holding him went into one of the cars.

Kensuke waved his hand to them as he was trying to dry his face now, "I'll bring the towel back once this is all over."

Asuka yelled, "Make sure to wash it before you return it!" She didn't receive a reply as he made his way into the car as well.

Toji, as he was about to step in, turned his head to the two Pilots and put his thumb out, "You two got this! Make Shin-man proud! Gah!" He was almost forced into the car by one of the agents, "Okay, okay. I'm getting in. Sheesh."

As the last one got in, the door closed with the car rushing towards one of the train lines leading down to the shelters.

What Toji said echoed in Asuka's mind. "Make the Idiot proud? Of course. That's a given." Both Rei and she went into the second car. While she wanted to say something to him, it'll have to wait. "Jock, I'm going to get you back for the way you behaved towards me."

Rei smiled at what Toji said to the two, "Yes… we will make Shinji proud." Her attention went to her fellow Pilot who was practically demanding that the driver speed up to get to NERV faster. "Although it was aggressive, thank you for assisting Asuka in realizing what she needs to do. She is livelier than she has ever been for the past week. I will be sure to return the favor one day."

---

On the surface of the moon, Kaworu put on his Mark 06 plugsuit as he stood up on top of a dark deep blue EVA with yellow trims around its shoulder armor, arms, and legs. The main difference between this EVA and the rest was its eyes.

It had a red visor for its eyes.

Kaworu closed his eyes.

His plugsuit was composed of black and navy blue coloring with gray-blue coloring on the parts covering his neck, shoulder, and chest. There was a red orb at the center with the number '06' above it.

He raised his right hand towards the Earth above him before opening his eyes once more. "This time… It'll all be different."

He smiled as the red visor of his Mark 06 glowed.

"It's time to move."

---

Misato ran into the loud Command Room with Ritsuko following closely behind her. Based on the updates that they were getting during their way here, the Commander had already ordered proper defensive measures to delay the Angel's arrival as much as possible.

The Sub Commander was the first to greet them as he turned his head to them, "Colonel Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi."

The two saluted, "Sir!"

Misato added, "Apologies for the delay, we were-"

Gendo interrupted her before she could finish, "Irrelevant to the current matter at hand. As you were debriefed on your way here, this is confirmed to be the Tenth Angel. Our current priority is to delay the Angel as much as possible until our Pilots are ready for sortie."

His eyes never left the screen displaying the next Angel as he spoke to them. The Angel had an arthropod-like body with dark green ribbons draped around itself while still exposing part of its core, giving it an almost mummy-like appearance. The head looked like that of a mask with an agape mouth.

Misato gritted her teeth. After she found out about the secret with Shinji's body, she was ready to shoot this man. Using his own son for his own sick twisted experiment and game. But she had to be patient, there'll be a day when she gets to be the one to put a bullet between his eyes. Right now, they had to deal with the Angel first.

"If you think I'm going to let you go scot-free after what you are doing with Shinji, you've got another thing coming." Her eyes went to Ritsuko. "I'm trusting in your plan… for now."

Dr. Akagi sighed. "So simple-minded as always, but this time, it's for the better." Their attention should be towards the Angel, nothing else. After all, with the arrival of the Angel, their Operation can finally begin. "It's actually to our benefit that he's so simple-minded right now. It gives her a better opening to do her part."

Misato quickly walked up and demanded, "Status report!" She had a job to do, even if it aligned with that man for now.

Aoba reported, "The Angel is still advancing! It doesn't look like it's slowing down!"

On the screen, it showed the military taking their attempt to fight against the Angel, if not delay it. But nothing was working. It was proceeding forward like everything that was thrown at it were mere raindrops.

They were mere ants to its presence.

"It just broke through the Old Odawara defense perimeter!"

The first wave of N2 missiles crashed onto it, exploding on contact. But it was proven futile as the Angel proceeded forward past the smoke caused by the explosion undisturbed. There wasn't even a scratch on it.

Once it got a view of Tokyo-3, with a single glow emitting from the Angel's face, it fired a blast and caused a giant cross-shaped explosion to appear in the center of the city.

The explosion was strong enough to topple everything down. The skyscrapers, weapons, barriers between the surface to the underground base. Everything came crashing down.

The debris fell crashing towards the Geofront underneath Tokyo-3. The entire Geofront shook as the remains of the structures above rained down. Luckily, the main NERV base was constructed to withstand such shock waves, so everyone stationed there felt minimal effects to this. But they were still able to feel it, nonetheless.

All of NERV's technicians and officers' eyes started to shake in amazement and fear of this Angel's catastrophic capabilities.

Hyuga commented, "It… broke through all twenty-four layers of special armor in one hit…" And it was after they reinforced it after the battle with the Sixth Angel too.

Fuyutsuki commented as he watched the Angel continue to move forward, "So, the Tenth Angel is the strongest rejection-type. Its destructive power is unbelievable." His eyes went to his student. "Gendo… what's our next move?" Because without Unit 01, he didn't know if they even had a sliver of a chance against this Angel.

Gendo frowned behind his shades. They were not ready for this. Not when the new Dummy System was rejected by Unit 01! As of right now, they had only one operating Evangelion that they knew they could send out against it.

Unit 02's Pilot showed that she was incapable of piloting her Unit in her current state. But they were still willing to try to get her to activate Unit 02, even if the Second Child failed to do so this time as well. Based on how soon this was from the previous failed test earlier today, there was heavy doubt that she'll be able to pilot Unit 02 this soon.

So, as of right now, they just had Unit 00 available to them that they could confidently believe to be operational with its Pilot. But it was still in no condition to fight.

This was the worst possible scenario.

Misato had to quickly come up with something. They can't just sit here dawdling just because the Angel managed to make their barriers look like cardboard!

She quickly ordered, "Make use of all anti-invasion facilities within the fortified city! And I mean ALL of them. Just slow it down! And what about the Pilots? Are they ready?" Her orders quickly brought everyone out of their trance and quickly back to work, remembering their goal right now.

They needed to stall as much as possible.

In the visual, all the remaining weapons at their disposal were shown firing against the Angel without any sense of reserving their shots. But the Angle proceeded to move forward unhinged. Its AT Field was just too strong for any common weaponry to pierce through.

They needed an EVA.

Maya turned as she reported, "The Pilots are on their way! They've just arrived at the facility!"

Misato asked, "What about the civilians?"

Aoba, while still looking at the monitor in front of him, answered, "We're still evacuating them to the shelters!"

"Dammit! Try to get everyone into a nearby shelter within the next five minutes!" That was an impossible task, but they needed to push to move faster than they already were. Everything was going too slow… no, it wasn't that they were too slow. The Angel was just progressing too fast for them to adapt around.

Something needed to happen fast. And they can't do anything to slow it down.

Ritsuko walked over and leaned into Maya's monitor, "What about the EVA Units? What is their status?"

She replied, "Both EVA Unit 00 and Unit 02 are ready to launch as soon as the Pilots are ready and activate their Units."

Gendo gritted his teeth, unhappy at the pace that they were moving. They needed to have had the EVA's in position minutes ago.

But there was another way to handle this situation… However, that would mean potentially breaking his promise to Fuyutsuki to not touch or involve himself with the Second Child.

But the situation was getting too dire.

"Professor…"

"Ikari," The elder man knew what Gendo was thinking. Because he was thinking the same thing. "The Second Child, at this moment, has not proven to us that she can pilot her EVA. If she's not within Unit 02 with the Dummy System, then that is still within our agreement. I'll handle the Second Child's anger afterward."

The Second Child's request to no longer involve the Dummy System with Unit 02 is irrelevant to the current situation.

The Commander nodded. "Fuyutsuki is with me, good." Then there will be no issues with their partnership with this move. He ordered, "Move the Dummy System from Unit 01's cage and have it prepared to be operated with Unit 02."

Maya said, "Yes sir!" She dreaded the fact that she'll have to see that monstrosity in action again. But they had no choice based on how close the Angel was.

"Okay… the command to do this should be here." May blinked as she was about to input the order into the system but saw something strange. She froze when she realized what she was seeing. "Wait…" She had to refresh the system again to confirm. She turned her gaze to Ritsuko who returned the confused stare.

Maya finally turned to the Commander seating above them. "Um… sir… Unit 01 was just launched with the Dummy Plug System."

There was a short silence from their Commander.

Gendo slowly dropped his hands from his usual position and let them rest on the table. His eyes widened behind his shades. Fuyutsuki dropped his hands from his back with his eyes also widening at what he had just heard. The two had to let the wheels turn in their head to process what they had just heard.

There was a large slam on the desk from both of Gendo's hands. He jumped up from his seat with Fuyutsuki stepping forward as the two leaders of NERV yelled in sync with each other.

"WHAT?!"

---

BEFORE UNIT 01'S LAUNCH

"Damn, this place is cold."

Mari shivered as she felt the pink and white accented plugsuit wrap itself around her. She was on the platform next to Unit 01 in its cage. Luckily Kaji was able to disable all the cameras leading into Unit 01. And not only that, thanks to Misato, everyone stationed in Unit 01's cage and observation room was sent elsewhere, leaving her alone with Unit 01.

"This new suit is great!" She started to look at herself starting from her leg, "Much better than that prototype that they had me wear. This feels so nice." She ended at her chest, "Especially around my chest."

Mari gave out a small chuckle, "Well, enough of that."

Her gaze went upon Unit 01's head, "Ms. Yui." Her usual smug smirk disappeared and was replaced with a serious gaze upon the Unit before her. "For the moment of truth. Either this works or our whole Operation is going under. Heh, 'fingers crossed' as Ms. Kyoko would usually say."

She entered the Entry Plug still containing the new Dummy Plug System. She pressed the controls and took out a separate tablet to access the observation room's controls. The Entry Plug was soon inserted into Unit 01 with LCL filling the pod. She placed the tablet in the compartment underneath the seat.

She took in the smell of the LCL engulfing her. "Well, it does smell good like the Puppy did. And this feeling. It does feel nice." She released a deep sigh. "So far so good."

Mari closed her eyes and grasped the two hand controls in front of her. "Come on, Ms. Yui." She tried to concentrate as Unit 01 activated with its eyes glowing. The inside of the Entry Plug soon displayed its surroundings. "Huh, that was easy-" Her eyes widened as she felt a sudden need to hurl and had to cover her mouth to prevent any watery vile from shooting out from her mouth.

The Entry Plug's surroundings turned dark, cutting off all view of her surroundings outside of the EVA. The dark red-orange light illuminated the pod. Unit 01's eyes darkened.

It didn't work. She celebrated too soon.

Mari forced herself to swallow the vile backdown.

"At least there isn't that pain like the clone mentioned. Just an unpleasant one." She closed her eyes and clenched her hands on her chest, "Please, Ms. Yui. It's me. You have to know that it's me. I'm sorry that I'm not the person you're looking for, but please… Let me pilot Unit 01."

There was a short silence within the Entry Plug.

"Guess I was really pushing my luck here wasn't I? Crap… Do I fall back to Unit 02?"

"Maria?" a voice called out to her. The unsettling sensation in her stomach disappeared after the voice was heard.

Mari opened her eyes and saw a ghostly figure of her senior in front of her, wearing a weird white plugsuit with white tendril-like wings on its back. "It's you!" "M-Ms. Yui?" She reached out.

Yui Ikari said, "Maria, what are you-…" she shook her head. "Sorry, I forgot you prefer the nickname that my late boy gave you. Mari, what are you doing here? Wait…" Her eyes narrowed, "Are you with my husband on this trickery?"

Mari shook her head, "No, I'm not with that asshole. I'm here to-…"

How should she go about doing this? She really should've practiced this beforehand, but she didn't think she'd actually see her when she got into Unit 01! She thought that at worst, she would be talking to empty air with Unit 01, Yui, eventually accepting her.

Mari blinked when she realized what she heard. "Wait… 'late boy'? And 'trickery'?"

"First he orders our son's death. Then uses his remains to trick me into thinking it was actually Shinji piloting. And now he uses my closest friend and partner to trick me." Yui turned her head to the side and gritted her teeth. "Guess my message from before wasn't good enough for him."

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, Ms. Yui. But you think it's Puppy-... You think it's your son's remains that are being used for the Dummy System?"

Yui's glare confirmed Mari's question. "What else can it be? I saw into the memories of that person, surprisingly easily I may add. The first time, when I found out that my little boy died through her memories…"

Her eyes started to water and placed her hands to her chest. "I… I couldn't do anything. I just… I couldn't forgive him, Gendo… He broke his promise to me, to watch over my Shinji." Yui placed her hands on her chest with a pained expression on her face. "It shouldn't have been him. My dear baby…"

Mari tilted her head, "That person? Oh, she means the Ayanami Series. Yea, it would make sense that you can access her memories easier because she IS your clone… did you not know about her?" She shook her head. "Puppy's not dead." "Ms. Yui, I think you're-"

Yui continued with anger in her eyes, "Then the second time I thought it was weird that it was Shinji when he was supposed to be dead. But eventually, I accepted it because I really thought it was him who miraculously survived. I had my doubts but I still wanted to believe… Then the third time..."

Mari could feel the LCL around her turn ice cold.

"When I felt two presence instead of one, I looked into that person's mind again only to find out that my little boy was still dead. That's when I knew that Gendo tried to trick me using our son's remains. How else could I sense my boy while that person knew that he was dead? I sent Gendo a message to never try this again. But now, he's using you to do the same as before, hoping to get a different outcome."

Yui's voice almost became distorted as she gritted out, "I won't forgive him."

Mari could feel the pain slowly creeping around her body. "This is the pain that she mentioned!" She reached out her hand while wrapping herself with the other. "W-Wait, Ms. Yui! Please! I know you may have a hard time trusting me given the current situation. But please, hear me out!"

"No," Yui shook her head. "I'm done. I'm sorry, Mari, but you have to go. I don't know if you knew about him using my son's remains or not, but I can't let him have his way."

She could feel the Entry Plug shaking as well as the pain was becoming unbearable.

"When you see him, tell him 'it was a mistake to ever trust him'."

Yui was trying to eject her out of Unit 01! "Damn it!" They were so close! Mari had to act fast or this would all be over. Through the pain, she took a deep breath to blurt out the truth… or at least, her truth.

"YOUR SON'S ALIVE!"

The Entry Plug stopped shaking with the pain in her body ceasing but the cold atmosphere remained. Mari started panting from the pain being released from her. She hunched forward with hands wrapped around her body with sweat beads slowly dissolving into the LCL around her.

Yui's eyes widened, "What?"

Mari took a deep breath to catch herself and looked to the floating figure before her, "Ms. Yui, Puppy - your son-" she took another breath, "-is alive. I know this may be hard to believe, but he's alive. Contaminated, but alive." She could feel her senior's now cold glare piercing through her plugsuit and skin.

"Man, if looks can kill, I would be dead a hundred times over. Those are the same eyes he always gave me whenever I annoyed him. You two really are-...were a match made in heaven. Too bad he turned out to be a shit dad who'll use his own son like a lab rat."

When she noticed that Yui was waiting for her to continue, Mari said, "Your poor excuse of a husband is using Puppy's body as a medium for this dumb machine. Your son is alive but-"

"He's been infected by an Angel."

"- and Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, you may remember her mother, she was able to modify our pillar project from our early days of Project E to contain the Angel's infections within him."

Yui placed her hand to her chin. She did know Naoko Akagi, how could she forget? She tried to always pursue Gendo romantically-... No… Yui can't get distracted right now. She had to focus on the matter at hand. Shinji's alive… and infected by an Angel.

"But how is that even possible? There were tests done with the Angel's blood injected into live human subjects in the past by other groups, but those always ended in failure and any future tests were all terminated… But that did lay the groundwork for a potential cloning program like Kyoko's, and she-..."

Yui shook her head, she was going to go off tangent. She needed to stay on the topic at hand. She glared at her former coworker, "You're lying to me."

Mari softly smiled. "I'll never lie to you, Ms. Yui."

Yui wondered out loud, "But that doesn't make any sense. There are too many variables to consider. Is this one in a million or-"

Mari shook her head. "It doesn't matter how your son survived the Angel's contamination. What matters is that your son survived. And he's currently in a forced induced comatose state because-"

"We don't know if it's actually my son or a monster who will wake up," Yui finished for her. She put her hand down and clenched it into a tight fist. "And if what you are telling me is true, then how can I trust that it's actually my son who's alive? How do I know that it's my baby that's still in there?"

"Ms. Yui, who do you feel right now? Other than me, of course."

Yui stayed still as she took that question into account. Letting the question digest in her mind while she tried to really think of what Mari was saying. She decided to concentrate to feel for something or someone else-

She then felt a heartbeat that didn't belong to Mari. It was very faint, but it was there. "No wonder I couldn't feel it the first time… it's very weak…" If she didn't concentrate on it with everything she had, she wouldn't have been able to notice it.

…Yui knew that heartbeat and who it belonged to.

There was a short silence that filled the space, but to Mari, it felt like an eternity. Her sweats were dripping and dissolving into LCL with each second that passed, unsure how Yui would want to proceed with this.

Yui finally answered, "Fine. I'll trust that it's my son who's in there. But how can I believe you that you're not with the man who betrayed my trust?" No matter how much she tried to deny it, she did feel Shinji, her son. But… Can she trust Mari?

"You do realize that I liked your son more than I liked your husband after you had him, right? Hell, I babysat him a couple of times while you two were busy doing whatever you two did. I miss him calling me 'Aunchie Mari', it was so cute to hear him say those words. Always wanted to be the cool older sibling."

Taking a deep breath and with a serious tone, Mari continued, "I'm not with that shitty guy. I'm here to rescue your son." "Among other things, like exposing NERV for what they truly are." "We have a plan, but I need to pilot Unit 01 if we're to have a chance at succeeding. Please, Ms. Yui, help me."

Yui stayed still. Taking into consideration what Mari said to her. She knew that Mari would never lie to her but she still had a lot to think about.

But that made Mari worry even more. Ms. Yui hardly ever stood still like that unless she was mad. "Well, she IS mad about what happened to her son, so this is sorta expected. But damn, it's colder in here than it is out there." She rubbed her arms to keep herself warm.

"I'll believe you."

Mari's teal eyes and her smile widened at what she heard. "Thank you, Ms. Yui!"

"What's the plan?"

"First, we have to handle the Angel that's coming over here right now. It's very close and we could really use Unit 01's help."

"And I assume the rescue plan comes afterward?"

She nodded, "Yes, we do have a plan to rescue your son from the underground lab that your husband has him in. But, the Angel has to be taken care of before we can do anything. Luckily, the place he's currently at is probably the safest place to be in for this situation."

Mari's smile widened as she continued, "And I know with the two of us, we'll be able to handle this together. It'll just be like the old days when we always tackled and overcame all problems together!"

A smile appeared on Yui's face, causing Mari's face to brighten. But then Yui said, "Under one condition."

Both Mari's wide eyes and her smile froze. "Uh oh." That never usually was a good thing when it came to her. Yui was kind, but whenever she made a condition, she stood by it hard, no matter what. No negotiations.

Mari could only hope that Yui would be kind with her condition.

"I don't fully trust you due to the current situation with my son. But I'll believe that my boy is alive because… I do owe you and you're my friend. As long as I feel my son's presence, I'll believe in you. As long as I can feel his presence, I can know that he's still safe wherever Gendo put him. But the moment that disappears so is your connection with Unit 01."

Mari mentally let out a sigh in relief, "So, as long as you feel him, you know he'll be safe. But if your husband decides to kill him or move him somewhere, you lose all faith in our Operation, which involves rescuing Puppy, actually succeeding. If that happens, you'll make sure my synchronization is cut off with Unit 01."

She shrugged, ready to accept the terms.

"Well… could be worse. Kaji's watching things there right now anyway, so we don't have to worry about the Puppy being removed or killed while I'm piloting. We just have to hope nothing happens to the system connection, like him waking up or the whole machine going down, but we've already taken proper measures to prevent them from happening."

Mari nodded, "Of course!" "So there shouldn't be any issues, at least for this Angel."

There was a slight frown on Yui's face. She leaned forward, raising both her hands, and placed them on Mari's cheek. Mari could feel the warmth on her senior's hands but not the physical touch.

Yui apologized, "And I'm sorry… It's because of my selfish desire and research from our early days that you're stuck at this age." She took a quick glance at Mari's body. Now that she had a chance to take a closer look at her, she noticed something odd.

"Did she get younger?"

Mari shook her head and gave her a warm smile, "Please, don't blame yourself. I was the one who volunteered to be the first human test subject with LCL exposure. Even you couldn't expect the LCL to be an anti-aging serum with enough exposure. Hell, I think I got a little bit younger since I last saw you from all the different tests I've been running on myself after the three of us went our separate ways."

"Yes… I can see." There was a teasing smirk on Yui's face, "Your chest has gotten smaller than the last time I've seen them. Even smaller than when the two of us first met."

She laughed, "You're such a tease!"

Yui's face frowned, "Please… don't do anything rash with your tests. We don't know how much more damage it can do to you."

"You're treating this like a curse," Mari motioned to herself. "I have a body that people would destroy the world to have." Mari smiled as she put her hand over Yui's ghostly hands the best she could. "Please, don't blame yourself for what's happening to me. Besides, I haven't been de-aging in about the past year or so."

"Though, now that I think about it, that was around the same time when I also became eligible to be a Pilot… huh… More to think about later."

"Just don't overdo it." Yui dropped her hands and started to float backward while her body became more transparent each second. As Yui started to disappear, the LCL around Mari started to grow warmer like before.

Yui did always wonder, "You know, Mari. I never did understand why you kept calling my son Puppy back then and even now."

Mari's smile turned into a mischievous smirk, "Isn't it obvious? Because he always looked like a lost little puppy whenever you weren't around. Especially with those big teary puppy eyes."

"Hmm…" Yui disappeared, looking somewhat satisfied with the answer she heard.

Mari soon felt herself get connected with Unit 01 and the warmth she felt earlier returning. The Entry Plug displayed the outside surroundings to her. "Thank you, Ms. Yui." Unit 01's eyes glowed.

"Unit 01 activated! Time to move out!" Mari pushed the controls forward.

CRASH

She blinked as she felt a small rumble happen around her with a slight pain around her chin.

Mari realized that Unit 01's lower head bumped into the catwalk in front of her with walls still attached to its side, preventing her from getting anywhere. She could almost feel her senior's annoyed gaze at her.

She gave out a nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her head, "Haha. Oh right."

Mari took out her tablet from underneath the seat as she mumbled, "Have to execute the launch sequence now. Can't get too excited now."

---

Kaji sighed as he looked into the red room through the glass window. He looked at the pistol in his hand that felt surprisingly heavy. He hated his role in this, but he did understand that it was necessary.

FLASHBACK

A small tremor was felt. It was weak enough that the room started to shake slightly but it was enough for them to know that something was happening. The four of them looked at each other, trying to see if any of them knew what that was.

Then the Angel alarm blared.

Ritsuko uncharacteristically cursed, "Shit. Now?" She went to a nearby monitor to confirm that the shaking didn't do anything to the system. "So far so good. No anomalies were detected. The shock absorbents we've installed in that room are coming in handy."

Misato ran over and placed her hand on Ritsuko's shoulder, "Is everything… Is Shinji okay?"

The doctor's eyes turned towards her friend, "You think it's Shinji in there? Misato… please, don't latch onto false hope." "The System housing the Item is safe."

But that answer only made Misato grit her teeth in anger. The fact that she was considering Shinji as the 'Item' meant that Ritsuko thought that it wasn't Shinji in there. "I don't care what you think, Ritsuko. It's Shinji in there. I just know it. Damn it, do you realize how much this would've helped Asuka if she knew? Wait…"

Her tense muscles relaxed, "But what if I'm wrong and it isn't Shinji?"

Because then, it would only hurt Asuka more if it was a monster… an Angel… Which meant Asuka would have to watch Shinji, or at least his body, die again in the end.

Kaji walked to the two, "Are we ready for the Angel? Do we even have time to make proper adjustments?"

Mari answered before Ritsuko could. Shrugging, she said, "Does it matter if we're ready or not? There's no time to make any changes to the system. We just have to make the first step of the Operation work."

Misato pushed away from the doubt that was slowly creeping into her mind for now. She turned to them as this was a more pressing matter, "What do you mean by 'Operation'?"

Kaji looked at her with a strange seriousness she only got to see a few times. He chose his next words very carefully, "The Operation is to rescue Shinji and expose NERV's true plans to the world."

"Wait," she shook her head, "That doesn't make any sense! What do you mean by 'NERV's true plans'? How are you going to rescue Shinji?"

Mari walked over and stood between the two, "Listen, Misa-… Katsu-… I'm sorry." She shook her head. "What should I call you?"

There was a cold tone, "Colonel Katsuragi."

"Colonel it is then," Mari smiled. "Well, Colonel, does the full plan matter? Our Operation involves rescuing Pup- Shinji and reuniting him with both you and the Princess- Shikinami."

Misato's eyes narrowed with distrust. Even though that was what she wanted more than anything else right now, she still couldn't trust her. She couldn't fully trust them. "And how can I believe a word coming out of your mouth? I don't even know you."

Ritsuko turned away from the monitor and placed her hands in her pocket, "But you trust me, right?"

"I'm not so sure I do anymore, with you keeping this a secret from me." Misato's uninjured hand clenched in frustration. She didn't know who to trust right now.

"I…" she sighed. "It's because I didn't want to give you false hope. I wanted to make sure that it was actually Shinji Ikari in there before I told you." Ritsuko walked closer and placed her hand on her shoulder, "I didn't want to tell you that it may be him. I wanted to tell you that it is him."

Misato stared back into her friend's eyes. She… While Ritsuko did keep a secret from her, it was for her sake. Misato knew that Ritsuko didn't want to give her false hope. And it wasn't entirely Ritsuko's fault…

And those eyes of hers…

Misato closed her eyes, "Fine. I'll trust you because you're my friend." She didn't want to say it out loud, but she trusted those honest eyes. "And I knew you meant well. It's NERV, that piece of shit Commander that kept this a secret and you were just trying your best. But don't think that I've forgiven you for keeping this a secret from me."

"Thank you Misato," Ritsuko smiled. "I promise that we will rescue Shinji."

Misato opened her eyes and pointed towards Mari, "And I still don't trust her."

Mari put both her hands up, "Geeze. While that is fair since you haven't met me before. But don't you know it's impolite to point?" "At least I don't think we've met before…"

"Does it look like I care?"

"You are a feisty one like Mr. Agent here said you were. I like it," she put her hands down. "Also, I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but we have to get moving. My debut awaits."

Ritsuko shook her head, "No, it's too dangerous. While Unit 01 has been moved to a new cage with the Dummy System and given how things are the way they are now, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to fully activate and synchronize with it even with the help of the System."

"Just trust me. I know I can get Unit 01 to work." Mari took a quick side glance. "Actually, I'm not even sure. It's a HUGE maybe… but I'm pretty sure I can."

Misato walked past Ritsuko to the Fourth Child, "You think you can pilot Unit 01?" Can she do it? Can she really pilot Unit 01? But what makes her so different from Rei? What makes her so similar to Shinji?

"Wait, they're going to use Shinji as a tool to make it work, aren't they?"

So, what made them so different from NERV then?

…The fact that Ritsuko promised that they will rescue Shinji is what made these people different. That was more than what NERV, the Commander, had offered to Misato. He just kept everything a secret from her, using his own son for his twisted game. If she knew him as well as she did, the Commander would never let his son go since Shinji became a weapon he can utilize permanently.

As much as Misato hated it… if in the end, she'll get Shinji back, then she'll do it.

She'll trust them… for now.

"Well, it's not a matter of 'if I can' at this point, is it?" Mari fixed her glasses, "This is something that has to work at this point."

Misato shook her head. But still… "But Unit 00 and Unit 02 could be enough-"

Kaji stepped in before Misato could finish, "Do you think they will be enough? Unit 00 is repaired, but it's still in no condition for a one on one fight against an Angel. And Unit 02… well, you've seen what happened with Asuka, do you think she'll be able to pilot it this soon?"

Misato looked to the floor in defeat. Kaji was right. Unit 00 was not ready for a solo fight against the Angel right now. And Asuka… While, maybe in the future, she'll be able to pilot Unit 02 again, Misato wasn't sure if she could do it right now, especially this soon after today's failed test.

They could try to move Rei to Unit 02, but do they even know if Rei could pilot Unit 02? Do they even have the time to make sure that it'll work?

…Do they even have time to confirm if Mari can even pilot Unit 01? But they're running out of options at this point. Asuka and Rei should both be at the apartment right now, assuming that's where they went like Asuka said they would.

They don't currently have any Pilots available to sortie out against the Angel.

Misato let out a grunt of frustration. She turned her attention to Mari, "Are you really sure that you can get Unit 01 to work? Or are you guessing right now?"

"Weeeelll," Mari said, "you know nothing is ever certain when it comes to these EVA's, right?"

"That's not reassuring."

"But it's the only chance we have." Mari looked at Ritsuko, "I'm going to make this work. I promise."

Ritsuko looked at the monitor next to her. "Fine. But in case this fails, we'll see if we can get you to Unit 02 as a backup." "Though, it will be another story if we have the time to do so." But with Mari, the key component to their plan, pushing for Unit 01, they had no choice.

And if they did end up using Unit 02, their current Operation will have to be scrapped and they have to come up with a new one. They needed Unit 01 for this to work. Though, Mari didn't seem too worried.

Mari smiled, "That works for me!" She ran to the door, "Now that's sorted out, let's get going!"

Misato was hesitant to follow whatever they were planning since she didn't know what their exact plan was. And NERV? What was their 'true' plan exactly?

"No." She shook her head.

This was her best chance to save Shinji… if it is still him in there- "No… It's him in there. I know it… it has to be." She held her cross. "Ritsuko, I'll go along with whatever your plan is, but I just want one thing from you."

"I don't care about NERV's plan. I just want Shinji back in our life… I want to see those two smile again."

"Which is?"

"I want you to treat him as Shinji… not some monster, not some 'Item', but Shinji. And…" Misato tightened her grasp on her cross. "And if it turns out that it's not him… but some monster… I don't want Asuka to be there to see what'll happen to him in the end." "I don't think Asuka can go through that again."

Misato finished with, "And promise me that you'll save Shinji."

Those… were fair to her. Ritsuko needed to think about Misato's feelings… and she was right. They need to think about the positives. But, "I can't promise most of them but I… I can try my best to meet your request, Misato. The only thing I can promise, however, is that we're going to do our best to save the Ite-... Shinji." "If it is him in there."

Misato released her hand from the cross necklace, "That's all I ask, Ritsuko. If you can promise me that you'll do your best to save him, I'll be sure to follow whatever plan you guys have. I just want to save Shinji. And… in the end, I want to be the one to shoot that lousy father in the head."

Ritsuko nodded but didn't say anything. "You and everyone in this room."

Misato turned and saw that Mari was still waiting for them by the door. "Let's get going then. We have an Angel to kill." Misato took one last glance at the red room. "I'm sorry that you're going to be used as a tool for a bit longer, but please… Hold on just a little bit longer, Shinji. I'll get you out of there soon. I promise."

As Ritsuko watched Misato walk towards the door, she quickly walked over to Kaji, "You're going to stay here and make sure that nothing goes wrong with the system. If something happens, you know how to contact me through encrypted channels."

He smiled, "Of course." Kaji had to blink when she discreetly handed him a pistol in a way both Misato and Mari wouldn't notice. "And this is?"

She leaned in and lowered her voice so that only he could hear her. "If something were to happen, and he was to get released…" She took a quick glance at Misato who seemed to be busy talking with Mari, something about her age. "If it's not really him, you need to finish him. This has a specialized prototype bullet that should, in theory, be able to eliminate him."

"So…" he quickly placed the gun into his back pocket so that the two in the doorway wouldn't notice. "This is your way of getting back at me for bringing Misato in too soon without talking to you first… Okay. I'll be sure to hold down the fort."

He forced himself to keep his smile on his face. "But you have to give me credit, it was lucky that I brought Misato into the plan this soon. With her help, it'll be easier to get Mari into Unit 01's cage."

Ritsuko didn't say anything as she walked past him and towards the other two.

She explained to them that Kaji will watch over and hold the ground just in case someone tries to mess with the System if Mari did activate Unit 01. And this would also help them make sure that Gendo didn't do anything else to Shinji without them knowing during the battle.

None of them argued back.

But Kaji wasn't listening to her. He had his hand on the gun in his back pocket, wondering why it felt heavy.

Before the door closed, Misato called out, "Ryoji."

His head went up. She rarely called him by his first name.

"If anything happens to him, I'm going to put a bullet through that thick head of yours and have your remains cremated. They'll never find your body nor know what happened to you. That's a promise."

END OF FLASHBACK

Kaji looked at the gun in his hand as he stood alone in the room filled with the ambient sound of the monitors and fans filling the room. He's only been looking at this gun as soon as he was left alone in this room. He took out the magazine to see there was only one single red crystallized tip bullet in it.

If Shinji woke up and it wasn't him but an Angel, he's going to have to put this bullet through him…

He sighed.

Even if this wasn't Shinji, he couldn't let Misato be the one to put a bullet through Shinji's head… He couldn't let her witness Shinji's death, even if it wasn't really Shinji. Kaji knew that if she were to either witness or be the one to kill Shinji, she'll never recover from it.

If he was the one to kill Shinji and out of her presence, however, at the very least, Misato would have someone to hate. A drive to keep her going instead of hating herself for taking Shinji's Life.

He placed the magazine back into the gun. "She meant every word when she said that she'll put a bullet through me." Kaji knew her long enough to know when she was kidding and when she wasn't.

However, he still had a role to play.

But… while he was used to taking the lives of adults, this will be the first time he'll be taking the life of a child in his entire career.

"No," he shook his head. "If that's the case, it won't be him… it'll be an Angel. So it won't be a child I'll be killing."

Kaji glanced over to the red room containing the sarcophagus. He didn't want to admit it, but looking at the sarcophagus made the gun in his hand feel heavier than before.

---

Misato had to keep a good poker face to prevent those two men from catching on. On the inside, she was screaming with joy. "Well, I guess you did make it work! We're counting on you to hold out until we can at least get Rei out there for backup. "

Ritsuko had to restrain herself from releasing a sigh of relief. She was worried this wouldn't work and would have to fall back on their backup plan for Unit 02 to handle the Angel. But the fact that Unit 01 was launched means that Maria was successful.

She kept up the charade, "How? Maya, did you activate the Dummy System?"

Maya frantically shook her head, "No! I'm not sure what happened! Unit 01 is moving to the surface of the Geofront!"

Misato gritted her teeth, "Whoever's in Unit 01 must know that it'll never make it to the surface of Tokyo-3 in time." She bit her finger as doubt crept up to her mind… Is she doing the right thing by trusting in them? There was very little she knew about their 'Operation'...

Misato shook her head.

She can't get cold feet now. She had to do this. Whatever those three were planning didn't matter. She just needs to play her part…

"For Shinji."

Gendo turned to Fuyutsuki trying to see if he knew anything about this, but the elder man's face told him all he needed to know. None of them knew how Unit 01 would activate unless… "Is he awake?"

The Commander took out his phone and noticed that the observation room of the secret quarantine area was empty with the video feed still showing the sarcophagus with Shinji still inside it. Unhurt. "Good. He is safe." He let out a small sigh of relief. But there was still one crucial matter. "Then how is this possible? Who is piloting Unit 01?"

Ritsuko noticed that Gendo checked his phone and could almost see the visible confusion behind his shades. She had to give credit where it was due. "Kaji, good call on making the false video of the room."

Makoto turned, "The second wave of N2 mines is ready to launch!"

"Don't wait on my orders," Misato yelled, "just launch them!" "We just have to delay it as best as we can!"

---

The Tenth Angel flew through the lake outside of Tokyo-3 as the rains of bullets came down on it. But its AT-Field was still strong enough to allow it to move unhinged. None of the defense weaponry was able to pierce through its AT-Field.

Reminding them they were mere flies to its might.

From all directions, missiles containing the N2 mines came crashing towards the Angel's AT-Field, exploding on contact.

---

The civilians heading to the train line leading to the shelters, who were unfortunate to be this close to the battle, all froze and braced themselves against the shockwave of the N2 mine's explosions.

Toji covered Hikari, who was no longer holding onto Pen-Pen, as he decided to walk on his own, with his body until the shockwave disappeared. Once the shockwave started to disappear, the two and everyone around them all looked up to the explosion in awe.

Hikari grasped Toji's hand while looking up at the explosion at them. "Please… be safe Asuka… Rei…" Her eyes met his. "Do… you still want to become a Pilot after seeing what you'll have to go up against?"

Toji turned his hand to grasp hers as well. "Dammit. That was too close!" He looked back up at the explosion above them that started to clear up. "I wish I could help. I'm not going to be able to protect Hikari from things like that while I'm here!"

Kensuke broke the two out of their thoughts, "Let's get going! Come on, this way!" He was a few steps away from the two, waving the towel at them, allowing others like the two to break out of the trance.

Pen-Pen managed to get behind Hikari and pushed her forward. "Wark!"

She stumbled a bit. She would've lost her footing if it wasn't for Toji still holding onto her hand. Toji said, "You okay?" Hikari nodded. "Good. Then let's get going. And you, bird!" He pointed towards Pen-Pen using his other hand. "Don't ever do that to Hikari again, got it?"

Pen-Pen shrugged, "Wark!" He did what he wanted to do and finally got them to move. He waddled forward towards Kensuke.

He grumbled and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "Damn that bird." Toji's eyes met Hikari's who starred back.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" she asked.

There was only a stern, confident look that stared back at her, "I know so." "Because if they fail, there's no way that they can ever look Shinji in the eye."

He tightened his hand on Hikari's, "I…I'll protect you and my sister and Kensuke. One way or another, I'll protect you all. I promise." "Let's go!"

---

The announcer in NERV reported, "The second wave of N2 mines had no effect."

Aoba said over the phone, "That's fine. The evacuation of civilians is top priority!"

Hyuga reported, "The third wave of N2 mines has been authorized. Sending them out now!" It was futile based on the previous attempts, but they had to keep trying dammit!

Misato walked over to Maya, "What's the status of the Pilots?" This was taking too long!

She responded, "They've just come out of the lockers and are on their way to the EVA cages!"

---

Both Asuka and Rei, having changed into their plugsuits with Asuka being on her spare after what happened to her previous one, were sprinting to their cages.

They had to move fast! The Angel was close. They could even feel the shockwave from the Angel's attacks even from here.

They finally made it to the area where the hallway split into two different directions. Left to Unit 00 and right to Unit 02. Asuka looked at Rei, "First… I'll see you up there. I'll get my Unit 02 working one way or another. If I'm late, you just have to hold out until I get there." "Don't you die out there until I do."

Rei nodded, "Of course, Asuka. However, do not keep me waiting for too long."

"Huh… Is that another joke you've made?"

"Yes…" There was a small smile on Rei's face, "Yes I suppose it is."

"You're finally learning First." Asuka gave her one last wave with one hand while the other held onto the SDAT that was locked to the waist of her plugsuit. "I'll see you after the battle is over." She broke into a run for Unit 02's cage. "I'm coming, Unit 02. Don't you think I'm done with you. I'm done running away."

Rei watched her retreating figure until Asuka took a turn and finally disappeared from her view. "I trust in you, Asuka." She had complete faith that Asuka would not let her face the Angel alone. After all, what would Shinji think of her if she did?

"And yes, I shall see you after this."

---

The third wave of the N2 missiles did nothing to the Angels like the ones from before. It continued to block everything that was thrown at it with its AT-Field. There was nothing NERV and the military could throw at it to stop this monster.

Another glow ignited from its mask as the Tenth Angel fired another attack, this time taking out the rest of the weapons with one attack. Giant cross-like explosions took the place where all of them were stationed.

The Angel soon hovered over the hole leading down to the Geo Front, unwrapping its bandage-like tendrils.

It started to descend.

---

This was not good. Not good at all.

Aoba turned to inform everyone of the worst possible outcome, "The target is infiltrating the Geofront!"

The Angel was literally at their front doorstep.

Hyuga gave the good news that they needed to hear, "Unit 01 has moved to the Geofront and is ready to engage on the target!"

"I have confirmation!" Maya turned from her seat, "There is indeed a Pilot within Unit 01!"

Misato had to play her part, "Can we establish a communication with Unit 01?" She knew the Fourth Child would not want to talk to anyone in NERV. She couldn't remember the specific due to the time constraint of the situation, "Something about, 'it's not time yet'?"

Misato shook her head. "Whatever. Just have to do my role in this… for Shinji."

Maya turned, "The two-way link has been cut, there's nothing we can do to communicate with whoever's Piloting Unit 01."

"So…" she glared into the monitor in front of them. "The Pilot wants to fight alone." "Well this is it, Mari, show us what you've got. We're counting on you."

Gendo ordered, "Send out a signal. Have the Dummy System activated." He needed to be in control of the situation with Unit 01, dammit!

Ritsuko was worried when she heard that. This was the one crucial component she was most worried about. She wasn't sure if the Dummy System could be used after Mari activated Unit 01. If the Dummy System took control then-

"It's no use!" Aoba reported, "The activation code for the Dummy System is being rejected!"

Gendo's jaw tightened in frustration.

She had to resist releasing a big sigh of relief. "There's one danger down." She noticed that Maya was giving her a weird look. When she looked over to Maya's monitor to see what she was worried about, Ritsuko immediately knew.

"Misato," Ritsuko said. Misato noticed that there was a hint of disappointment in her voice? "You may need to head down to Unit 02's cage. The Second Child managed to activate her EVA but is still having issues. She can't get a high enough synchronization to pilot it." "As expected." But she didn't say the last part.

Ritsuko didn't want to antagonize Misato in any way. Plus, this was an expected result. After the result from today's test this morning, what were they expecting? It was a miracle that Asuka managed to get a high enough synchronization to activate Unit 02.

The Colonel looked to the ground, "Asuka…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking up to the Commander. "Sir, permission to go to Unit 02 to handle the situation there."

Gendo, who now went to his usual sitting position, gazed down at the Colonel below him.

Someone was able to hijack Unit 01 right under their noses. The only reason why they won't increase the LCL pressure as they did with Unit 02 and the Second Child is because they needed an EVA right now to intercept the Angel. They needed this… interloper against this Angel for now.

Even after the Angel has been eliminated, and that's a BIG if, there's a chance this person was able to set up a program that will reject anything that will separate them from Unit 01.

And Unit 00 by itself may not be enough to stop and retrieve Unit 01 after the battle was over.

They need Unit 02.

"Approved."

Misato bowed, "Thank you!"

"MISATO!" Ritsuko ran to her and slipped something into Misato's jacket while being able to hide it from Gendo's gazing glare. "If it doesn't work, it could be best to place Pilot Shikinami into a nearby shelter instead."

"Ritsuko…" Misato gave her a small smile and nodded. "Of course."

"Ritsuko," Gendo's eyes narrowed at her strange action.

---

Mari smiled as she prepared herself. She managed to locate herself on the surface of the Geofront with all sorts of weapons she could get. She managed to make a little camp near where the Angel would descend.

She moved her arms, "A bit stiff but overall this feels amazing!" "You feel amazing, Ms. Yui." "Smells amazing too!"

Mari noticed that the machine behind her was twitching for a bit before shutting down. "Heh, so you've tried to use that, but it's no use when you've pissed off your wife… Thank you, Ms. Yui."

She clenched and unclenched her hands as Unit 01 mimicked her movement. "The lag time isn't too bad like with Unit 05, but it makes sense. It was an incomplete EVA."

She sat down and grasped the controls. "The last fifth defense parameter will be breached soon. I better take care of this quickly, or the Headquarters with the Puppy will all go poof!" She fixed her glasses and grinned, "Let's do this, Ms. Yui."

Unit 01 quickly grabbed the two rifles next to it and aimed towards the hole in the fake sky. As soon as the masked face of the Angel's emerged from the dust cloud, Unit 01 quickly put pressure on the triggers, unleashing a barrage against the Angel. But it proceeded to float down without a care about the attack as it blocked everything with its AT-Field.

It expanded the AT-Field forward, causing the rain fire to be blocked halfway to their main target.

Mari placed her hand on their back, surprised that the Angel was blocking everything, "Damn. Its AT-Field is too strong!" She wasn't going to make any progress at this rate. She needed something more direct.

Unit 01 threw away the guns. It stomped down on a weapon's case, causing a different type of weapon to jump out. After grabbing the weapon she said, "Let's try this then!"

Mari charged forward with the weapon that was in the shape of a gun. Right before jumping forward, the weapon unsheathed its retracted blade. Mari screamed in the air as Unit 01 slammed down on the Angel while holding the weapon like a spear.

The Angel managed to block the attack with its overwhelming AT-Field that extended over the majority of the Geofront. But the pressure from Unit 01's attack managed to still push it towards the ground.

Unit 01's eyes glowed as the blade managed to pierce through a layer of the AT-Field, causing it to shatter like glass.

"That's more like it!"

The EVA then stood on top of the surface layer of the AT-Field while drawing back the bladed weapon. It was slammed down, piercing through another layer, and managed to lodge itself into the next.

"That's two down!" Letting go of the weapon, Unit 01 drew back its leg and stomped on it, piercing through multiple layers in one go.

Only one more layer remained.

Mari blinked when she saw more miniature AT-Fields forming around the Angel's face. On instinct, she quickly grabbed the spear-like weapon.

Then the AT-Fields fired towards her, pushing Unit 01 away from it. The EVA was kept being pushed back across the Geo Front until it was able to finally find its footing. Unit 01 was able to hold back the AT-Field by generating its own. While releasing a roar, Mari cut away the AT-Field with one large vertical swing, shattering it.

As the shattered AT-Field harmlessly rained down around her, Mari said, "Heh, not bad. But it'll take more than that to…-" Her eyes widened as she saw another attack coming from above.

"OH SHIT!" She quickly dodged to the left, rolling on the ground. The impact caused a creator to form right next to her.

"Damn, you're good," Mari said with a smirk. Unit 01 got back up. "Ms. Yui, this is going to be tough."

She charged in with the same weapon in hand.

This was going to be much harder than she originally thought.

---

Maya turned and reported, "Unit 00 ready to launch!"

Gendo nodded. "Good. Finally some good news." "Launch EVA Unit 00!"

---

Ayanami nodded within Unit 00 as she was approved to launch. She was also just debriefed that someone was able to activate and synchronize with Unit 01. They were currently intercepting the Angel. Whoever they were, they were able to do the impossible and pilot Unit 01.

Her current main objective was to provide support and help intercept the Angel with Unit 01.

"I will figure out who you are… You will not bring shame to Shinji's name using Unit 01." Rei felt her EVA being moved to the nearby launch pad.

Rei looked to the side in the direction where Unit 02's cage was. She didn't receive any update in regards to Unit 02, but she trusted in her. "Do not keep me waiting too long, Asuka."

Unit 00 was launched to the surface.

---

Asuka gritted her teeth as she tried to synchronize with Unit 02.

It was active, but it wouldn't move. The Entry Pod was emitting its red hue but was showing the outside surroundings of Unit 02's cage. It wasn't being held like with Unit 01, there was room for her to move her EVA to make sure it was working. But, she could barely feel her EVA, let alone move it.

"Damn it! Move! Move! Come on MOVE! Mo-" Her breath stopped as more visions from the events showed once more.

CRUSH

The blood showed up on her hands as the crushing noise of the metal repeated in her ears. "No… I… It's not…It's… my fault-…" She shook her head, "I need to face the fact. I'm not going… to run away anymore."

CRUSH

The LCL around her turned cold.

Her hands shook as the blood in her hands started to deepen around her fingers. She could feel them through the plugsuit like before. "I… Shinji… I… I need to… I need to…" She shook her head. "I… I can do this." Asuka placed her hand on the SDAT on her waist, feeling the warmth emitting on it.

"I'm sorry I won't be able to… cook for you. And…"

Asuka immediately yanked the SDAT off her waist and placed it over her chest, clasping it with both her hands. "This again? Fine, bring it. If I can get through this…" She closed her eyes, "I can do it."

"I'm sorry I won't be able to keep… my promise to train with you and play… music with you."

The memory of the time in the apartment flashed before the eyes where he was happy and the two promised to play music together. The time she saw his genuine smile. She… She wanted to see it again. She wanted to hear him play again.

The times they shared meals together in the apartment.

The times they would talk about anything in the apartment.

The times they would walk to school together and enjoy their everyday life.

The laughs that they shared.

The normal day she came to enjoy.

Asuka remembered everything she's lost. Everything she's taken for granted. And she would never have it back.

It was gone forever.

"And I…like…you… and good-bye."

And it was all her fault.

CRUSH

She saw the memory of Unit 02 crushing the Entry Plug with both of its hands, then his hand sticking out of the wreckage. She shook her head, "No… Shinji… I…" "Damn it, I can't do this. Idiot Shinji, I'm sorry. I can't do this. I thought I could, but I can't. Damn it. I'm sorry I can't-"

"ASUKA!" Misato yelled through the comm, breaking Asuka from her thoughts. Misato's been trying to get her attention for quite some time but Asuka was too lost in her mind to hear her.

Asuka blinked and turned to the side, showing Misato's face on the screen. She was in the observation room? "Misato? What-...what are you-?"

Misato quickly grabbed onto the microphone, "I've ordered everyone to leave so it's just you and me. I'll launch the EVA when we get you working!"

"What are you talking about? I… I can't pilot Unit 02. I'm… I'm a mess Misato. I can't… I can't pilot Unit 02 after-"

"Asuka," Misato said, "I'm going to say something. And I need you to hear me out okay?" She didn't know if this was the correct decision to do this. But she had to do something! "I just found out about this right before the battle so I didn't have a chance to say it before."

And it wasn't right to keep this from her.

The redhead got worried, "You're… You're not going to tell me you're pregnant, are you? And use that as an excuse?"

"What?" Misato blinked in confusion before shaking her head. "NO! Listen. Asuka. This is important. I wish I could've told you this sooner but I couldn't."

"Then get on with it!"

The Colonel took a deep breath as she remembered the words of the paper that was wrapped around the drive that was discretely given to her by Ritsuko before Misato came here.

"If she can't get the EVA to move, tell her what you believe. Trust in what you believe."

"Shinji's not dead. He's alive."

Asuka blinked, allowing what she heard to settle in. "He's alive-..." Her eyes became filled with anger as she held the SDAT on her chest tighter, "You LIAR! He's dead!" Her voice rose, "I SAW HIS ARM! HE WASN'T MOVING! HE'S DEAD!"

How dare she lie to her?! Misato was supposed to be on her side! Not lie to her to try to get her pilot Unit 02.

Misato shook her head, "Asuka, I'm not lying. I would never lie to you about this. I saw him. I saw Shinji. He's in a secret basement of NERV held by Commander Ikari."

"This is some twisted shit you're making up Katsuragi. You being pregnant would've been a better excuse." Asuka was pissed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "The Idiot's dead! I would know because his blood is on my hands!"

"ASUKA!" Misato screamed, causing Asuka to freeze. She never yelled at her like that before. "Please. I'm not lying to you. Shinji's alive…" She inputted the drive into a nearby terminal and brought up a separate picture on the monitor, showing a comatose Shinji with a respirator and an eye patch over his left eye.

Asuka couldn't believe it. Shinji was not dead. He was-

"No… No, this is some sort of a trick!"

Because if he was alive, then what was the point of everything she went through throughout the week? What was the point of the pain she had to endure?

What was the point of any of this?

"That's some nice photo-" Asuka noticed the pulse display on the bottom left, "-video editing you've got there. Did you get Agent Kaji to make it? Do you think I would believe some sort of sick trick like this?"

"Asuka," Misato looked at the keyboard before her. How can she get her to believe her? She knew that making Asuka believe in Shinji being alive would be hard. But how can she go about doing this?

"I'm sorry Misato," Asuka said, "but I can't-" She froze when she remembered the promise with Rei. How she would not leave her alone and would soon join her on the battlefield.

She's not going to break a promise.

She can't give up. Not now. But-

"First… I'm coming. I just… Damn it. I can at least activate Unit 02 now. But I can't move due to my sync ratio being so low. But why?"

"Asuka…" Misato said, breaking Asuka out of her trance. "Shinji… he's not dead. That's all I can say. I wish I could take you there right now to where he is." Misato finally looked back up at the monitor before her, meeting Asuka's eyes, "But we don't have time for that. So, please… trust me when I say… Shinji's alive."

Asuka looked at the SDAT in her hand. She took a deep breath, "Idiot Shinji…"

Now that she thought about it, she knew that Misato would never lie to her like that… not unless she had a death wish. But it was just so hard to believe her words when she knew that she killed him.

But… Misato would never like something about this…

"He's dead."

He's alive.

"I… I killed him."

She didn't kill him.

"He's dead."

He's alive.

"Misato has to be trying to trick me."

Misato is telling the truth.

Asuka gritted her teeth. She didn't know what to believe in! If… if Misato was telling the truth, then what has the past week all been for? The time she's spent wallowing in her self-pity?

The pain she had to go through… Was it all for nothing?

Shinji's voice broke her out of her thoughts, "This isn't your fault…- and remember, no matter what, I don't blame you."

"Idiot Shinji… I'm trying. I'm really trying but-" Asuka froze when she noticed something on the monitor showing Shinji's unconscious face. "Misato… is this a recording or a live feed?" "Did his eyebrow just twitch?"

"Um, it's a live feed, why?" Misato looked down at the drive. "This should be allowing us to see what's happening to Shinji through an encrypted live feed."

"You promise? You'd better not be lying." She let go of one of the hands holding on to the SDAT. "Or I swear I'm going to make you pay."

"Yes. I promise."

Asuka leaned forward and placed the hand on the edge of the Entry Plug where the video of Shinji's unconscious face was being shown. Asuka, for some reason, felt even more drawn to it now. Her entire body was screaming at her that it was Shinji that she was seeing.

The SDAT on her chest grew warmer. Almost telling her that… the video being shown to her was real.

"Idiot Shinji… he's alive… he's alive… HE'S ALIVE!" Asuka clenched her hand that was on the monitor before sitting back down on her seat. She placed the SDAT back on her waist, locking it back onto her plugsuit.

Misato blinked. Just what sort of reaction was that? "Asuka-"

"Just shut up for a minute." Asuka closed her eyes. And placed her hands on the controls. She took a deep breath. Something felt different now. Unit 02 felt… lighter now.

Her voice was uncharacteristically calm given the situation but mixed with venom, "You said that that piece of degenerate shit Commander has him locked up somewhere? The Idiot… he's alive?"

"Do you want me to talk or not? But… if you're asking me that means-..." Misato nodded, "Yes. It's a long story, but the short answer is yes to both."

She opened her eyes and turned her head to the side once more to meet Misato's eyes, "And you promise that we'll see him after I take care of this Angel?"

"That's not a promise." Misato gave her a stern smile. "That's a given."

"Okay," Asuka nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate again. "The Idiot… Shinji… He's really alive?" She had to ask again to make sure.

"Yes, Asuka." There was warmth in Misato's voice, "Shinji's alive. And I just found out about it not too long ago." "I'll tell you as much as you need me to, Asuka." "Shinji's alive."

"Okay." She closed her eyes. "He's… alive…"

"Yes, Asuka. He's alive."

She took a deep breath. "Shinji's alive… It's that no good of a father that made me go through this pain when he was alive. I'm going to make him pay. I'm going to make him pay!"

She shook her head. "But first… the Angel."

Asuka tightened her eyes closed as she concentrated harder.

But it wasn't working.

She still can't synchronize with her Unit 02 despite trusting that Shinji was alive. It was still her fault that he got hurt.

"Damn it… I'm pathetic." "I… I can't-"

She heard Misato say, "Asuka. You need to do this. If you don't, then who's going to protect Shinji? Are you just going to let him die? He's alive and you can see him again! He protected you and now it's your turn to protect him! Come on Asuka, you can do this! He's alive and that should be all that matters! Don't you want to see him again?"

Misato's voice got louder, almost screaming, "Because you won't be able to if you can't protect him from this Angel!"

"She's right." Asuka took another deep breath, placing her hand on top of the SDAT once again. "I'm… It's my turn to protect you. I don't care about anything else. The pain… nothing. I just want to see you again."

The door that didn't open before… It was finally moving. Whatever was holding the door was no longer there.

…No.

She was holding it back. Her guilt of killing Shinji was holding her back. She knew that now. She tried to fight it before, but she wasn't enough. She needed help.

But maybe, if she was given enough time to fight against it, she might've been able to overcome it with time.

However, that was neither here nor there.

It didn't matter how much Asuka suffered due to the lie about Shinji's death. It no longer mattered. None of it did… not anymore.

Shinji's alive… And that's all that mattered to Asuka.

"Idiot Shinji… I'm going to see you again." Her eyes opened with the full fire in her eyes that was once thought was lost. "I'm going to see you again. And when I do, I'm going to beat your stupid ass for making me go through this…"

The LCL around her was no longer cold.

"And I'm going to make everything right. That's a promise!"

The colors around her started to brighten.

"I'm going to save your stupid ass this time!"

She started to feel more of her Unit 02.

"I'm going to see you again!"

The red hue in her Entry Plug all cleared up, revealing a clear view of her surroundings. She clenched and unclenched her hand as Unit 02 mimicked her movements.

Misato smiled, "Asuka! You've done it!"

Asuka turned her head to the screen. She didn't care about being able to pilot Unit 02 now. All she wanted was to destroy the Angel so that she can see the Idiot again as soon as possible and - "After we deal with the Angel and see the Idiot, we'll bash that sadistic goat-faced shit excuse for a father's head in."

Misato laughed, "Yea! That's what I like to hear! If you were older, I would drink with you on that." She started to enter the necessary procedure to launch Unit 02. "Give it hell Asuka. After the Angel's been dealt with, I swear I'll get you to see Shinji, no matter what. I promise."

… "Oh right." Misato almost forgot, "Oh, and there's something else you need to know."

"More?"

"Just know that we have an ally who's piloting Unit 01. I don't know how nor do I care at this point. Just trust her for now. And her identity must be kept a secret for now. I'll give you a signal if she can no longer be trusted."

"Wha-"

"There's no time! Just trust me on this too!" Misato smashed the last key, "EVA Unit 02 Launching!"

Unit 02 was moved to the launch pad before going up to the Geofront, the connection to Misato was cut off. During the lift-up, Asuka wondered out loud, "An ally that can pilot Unit 01? But how? What the hell Misato? And trust her?"

She groaned, "Fine, I already trust when you say that the Idiot's alive, guess I can trust you on this too…"

No… This wasn't trust, she knew that Shinji was alive.

Asuka put her hands together and put her head on top of it as if she was praying. "Idiot Shinji… you're alive… you're alive..." A single teardrop slid down her cheek, "Idiot Shinji, I'll… I'll make things right after this."

She tightened her hands together. "After all of this, we'll train together and play music together as we promised. I'll finally give you the special meal I've practiced. And… I want to taste your food again. And… And… we'll… we'll talk about that day."

Asuka's eyes opened now filled with even more fire and determination. If anyone were to try to stop her, they'd better be ready to face her unbridled wrath.

"First-... Rei," she still remembered her promise to Rei, "you'd better still be alive."

Asuka placed her hand on the SDAT on her waist. "Idiot Shinji, wait for me." Then she placed both hands on the controls, ready to face the battle ahead of her.

No one, not even an Angel, is going to stop Asuka from seeing the Idiot again.

---

Author's Notes: Thank you for reading and making it this far! And sorry about the length and/or if it dragged on. Hopefully, it wasn't too bad haha.

Thank you to all for your reviews in the last chapter! MooseTrack101, AsteroidOdin, Greg242, Alfredo12StarLegionaire, LetsPilot, AirGuitar035, calborghete, YourBlandestNightmare, tomdj1701, Guest Reviewers, zipper0, ThyDevoutBeliever, engel17white, atare, Oscar Carrillo.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! If not, I'll work extra to deliver on the next one! (Especially on the landing with this setup)

Take care!