Author's Note: Thank you all for your support. Sorry in advance for the long chapter. And apologies for the spelling and grammar errors that you may come across.

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.

Mari grunted as Unit 01 was forced back by the Angel's AT-Field for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Damn it!" She cursed as she saw the broken pieces of the weapon she's been using against the Angel land next to her.

It didn't help that it felt like the Angel was playing with her. No matter what she tried to do with Unit 01, despite being able to pierce through the barrier, was never able to land any of her attacks and was always pushed away. All her assaults always ended in being forced on the defensive.

But why?

With Unit 01 she should be capable of doing more. She knew this wasn't Unit 01's full potential. Why was she having such a hard time to-?

"Ms. Yui, is it because you don't fully trust me?"

She shook her head. This wasn't the time to think about that. She needed to eliminate the Angel with the cards she currently has. "I should just be thankful that I can pilot Unit 01, for now."

She took out Unit 01's Progressive Knife. "This won't be enough, but I have to make do with this."

Mari jumped up towards the Tenth Angel and landed on top of its AT-Field as Unit 01 slammed the knife down onto the barrier. Instead of shattering the field upon contact, the most it did was create a small crack around the area of contact.

She clicked her tongue, "I knew it… I need more firepower. Maybe I can try punching it?"

The Angel retracted two of its many tendrils. "Huh?"

The AT-Field quickly dropped as the two of the bandaged-like arms shot out. Unit 01 was barely able to dodge one and block the other just in time, but the brute force of the attack managed to push it back.

Mari managed to recover in the air as Unit 01 did a quick backflip, landing on its feet. "Damn, you're strong." Sweats started to form around her head. "That was dangerously close. I have to be more careful- SHIT!"

She forced herself to lunge to the side to narrowly dodge another attack. However, the Angel managed to sneak in one of its arms, hitting the plug knife out of Unit 01's hand.

Mari saw one more of those bandaged arms being shot towards Unit 01's head.

She quickly held out her hand and generated Unit 01's AT-Field in front of her to block the attack. But it penetrated through the shield with ease as it proceeded unhindered to the path of its target.

"Ah… shit!" were the only words that came out of Mari's mouth before she gritted her teeth to brace herself for a world of pain.

CLANG!

A shot was crashed towards the tendril, diverting its path from Unit 01 and forcing the attack to miss Unit 01's face by a hair. Soon the Tenth Angel was met with a single shot to its mask before a barrage of ammunition was fired towards it.

Mari used her chance to quickly grab the Progressive Knife from the ground and jump back, creating more space between her and the Angel. "Back up is here?" She turned towards the direction of where the cover fire was being provided.

"Unit 00? The Clone?"

If Rei didn't intervene when she did, Unit 01 would have become immobile, which they couldn't afford right now.

She managed to retrieve a few long-range weaponry. Next to her was the large sniper rifle she used to deflect the Angel's attack on Unit 01. She was currently using two automatic rifles on hand and unloading everything she had against it.

The Angel fired out its AT-Field, blocking the attack halfway like it did before against Unit 01.

Once the dust cloud, created by the cover fire by Unit 00, settled, it revealed the Angel completely unharmed by that attack. It turned its attention towards Unit 00. The holes in its mask started to glow.

"TAKE THIS!" Mari yelled as Unit 01 threw the Progressive Knife the AT-Filed with a quick flow up, landing a knee strike against the butt of the handle. The reinforced attack managed to penetrate through the shield.

She quickly grabbed the knife in the air and collided with the side of the Angel's mask to push the head away. She managed to divert the attack that was fired from the mask.

Rei could feel and hear the wind distort next to Unit 00 as the blast went past her. She grunted as a large cross-shaped explosion appeared a short distance away from behind her. While it was still a great distance away, it was still strong enough to send a shockwave throughout the entirety of the Geo Front.

Unit 00 had to drop one of its rifles and grab onto the floor to prevent itself from being flown away.

When the blast settled down, she looked around her and realized that the attack sent all of her remaining weapons away as well. All she had now was on Unit 00's hand. "This is… difficult." "Asuka… I am waiting. I trust you will be here."

Everyone in NERV had to grab onto their desk or onto a nearby wall to prevent themselves from falling as the building shook from the Angel's attack. Once the tremor stopped, Ritsuko took a few steps back to her original position, "Status on Unit 00! And Unit 01!"

Hyuga's fingers started to shake, "I… I… They're all." He shook his head and slapped himself. He can't freeze up now! He had a job to do! "The two EVA's are still functioning! They've received minimal damage from the attack!"

Gendo gritted his teeth. They were getting nowhere! They needed Unit 01 to destroy the Angel but the Unit itself didn't seem to be enough to defeat the Angel.

…That or the Pilot was incompetent to fully utilize Unit 01's maximum potential.

"Attempt to activate the Dummy System once more."

Maya turned, "It's no use! Unit 01 is still rejecting the activation signal to the Dummy System!"

Gendo slammed his hand on the desk.

He hated how little control he had over the situation. And he can't do anything about it.

Mari jumped away from the Angel as it shot another of its bandaged-like arms at her. She skipped back to dodge more attacks that were coming down to her.

She managed to get enough distance where the Angel stopped its assault and managed to get Unit 01 to land next to Unit 00.

She tried to open up a private connection. Once it was established she was the first to speak, "Are you one of the Ayanami Series?" Mari knew it was, but she needed to start the conversation between them somehow.

Rei's eyes narrowed and remained silent. "How does she know?" Why did she even accept the private channel to be opened between the two of them?

"Better not just be you as the backup for this."

She didn't answer. How should Rei go about answering this? Should she trust this mysterious person?

Her mission was to focus on supporting Unit 01 to eliminate the Angel.

But the words that came out of this mysterious person's mouth… It meant this person dangerously knew more than a normal person. Not only that, this person is able to pilot Unit 01 while she, herself, couldn't. How?

…

No…

That didn't matter.

That's something that can be sorted out after the battle. The Angel took higher priority.

Only one question still remained in Rei's mind, however, "Can she be trusted for this battle?"

"Listen," Mari said, almost as if she knew what Rei was thinking, "I know you don't trust me, and you don't have to. We just need to work together to take this thing out." Unit 01 readied itself to re-engage. "We can talk after."

Rei was hesitant at first, but her mission came first in this case. "Understood." Unit 00 aimed its remaining rifle at hand towards the Angel.

It seemed to be waiting for their next move.

"I shall expect you to provide me with answers once the Angel has been eliminated." She tightened her controls, "Until then, you have my support. I agree to the temporary alliance with you, but if you show any signs of distrust or deceit, I will not hesitate to terminate you and retrieve Unit 01."

Mari gave out a playful chuckle, "You really are different from her in the way you act and speak. But the mindset is more or less the same. It's cute."

That last comment caused the First Child's head to tilt in confusion, "What… does she mean by that?"

"Let's go!" Unit 01 charged forward, breaking Rei out of her thoughts.

The Angel threw out two of its arms at the incoming EVA. Mari hopped to the left to evade one and deflected the other attack before heading back in.

The AT-Field was generated to defend itself from the cover fire that was being provided by the other EVA. More AT-Fields were generated at its side and fired out towards Unit 01. Unit 00 can be dealt with later.

It knew the main threat at hand was with the incoming EVA, not the other.

Mari smirked as she tightened her grip on the plug knife with both of Unit 01's hands and met the AT-Fields that were shot towards her head-on. She managed to get into a stalemate.

CRACK

Small lines appeared around the area where the tip of the knife was making contact with the AT-Field. Mari gave out another roar as Unit 01 drew back its left hand as the hand clenched into a fist, shaking as she tried to gather strength in this one attack.

It then threw out its punch at the center of the cracks, breaking through the Angel's AT-Field with brute force. Mari smirked, "Now that's more like it!" She charged in.

Rei started targeting the rifle's aims to the ground next to Unit 01 and the AT-Field, causing a dust cloud to appear.

The Angel, now having a hard time seeing where Unit 01 was, barely managed to react in time as Unit 01 came out from the side trying to land a hit against its blind spot. It managed to generate an AT-Field inches away from itself, blocking the knife from penetrating its skin.

Unit 01 drew back its hand once more and threw out another punch towards the handle of the knife, forcing the blade to penetrate through the AT-Field and finally pierce through the Angel's thick skin in its right shoulder, blood spurting out from the wound.

Mari quickly kicked herself off of the Angel with the knife at hand to dodge the Angel's tendrils from cutting off her limbs. She backflipped away to dodge more attacks from the Angel and hid within the dust cloud that was still being maintained by Unit 00.

"Well, at least now we know that I can hurt it. I don't think I can get to its core at this rate, though." She bit her thumb, "Its defense is too strong." She also noticed something, "Did the Clone stop firing?"

"Unit 01's temporary Pilot," Rei's voice came through the private communication, "I have run out of ammunition. I will have to go look for the spares."

"Well shit." That means no more cover fire for a bit. Mari forced the EVA to move so that it wouldn't be caught by surprise. The dust clouds disappeared and the Angel slowly turned its body towards her. "Now or never!" She went in with the knife held out.

As she expected, however, the Angel still managed to block the attack with an AT-Field. "I gotta move fast…. Wait." Mari blinked as she noticed something in the top corner of her screen. "Huh?"

"ORYAH!"

The Angel was forced to the ground as it was attacked on its back by Unit 02 carrying a similar bladed weapon that Unit 01 was using before. The attack forced the Angel's to fall face-first on the ground. Though, the blade didn't manage to penetrate through its tough skin.

"Unit 02?" Mari was surprised at the newcomer managing to force the Angel to the ground. "Princess is here?" "So she managed to get Unit 02 going again, eh? Ms. Kyoko would most definitely be proud!" She shook her head.

"Focus on the Angel first!"

Mari released a roar as she forced the knife through the AT-Field and pierced the other shoulder. It wasn't the core, but it was good enough, they were slowly chipping away at the Angel. With Unit 02 here, it was only a matter of time before-

She didn't have time to bask in her small accomplishment.

Mari noticed the AT-Field appear in front of her before pushing her away. Unit 02 jumped back as the Angel's arms all came to surround it. The Angel was then met with more ammunition raining down on it.

Rei, using the extra rifle she managed to recover to provide some cover, watched as Unit 02 took a few jumps back to meet up with her. She heard Asuka say over the radio, "You didn't die on me until I got here, good."

There was a small smile that appeared on the First Child's face, "It is good to see you, Asuka. I was not sure if Unit 01's temporary Pilot and I would be enough to handle this Angel." Once the rifle was empty, she reloaded to get ready for the next round. Luckily she was able to find some spare magazines as well.

"Did you figure out who it is?"

"I have not. However, judging by the voice, the Pilot is female."

"That's fine. For now, we need to trust her."

"Trust?"

Asuka groaned, "Okay, I don't know if we really can trust her, but Misato told me to, so that's what I'm going to do."

"Colonel Misato informed you to trust the unknown Pilot? Then…" Rei nodded, "I shall trust in her judgment as well."

Mari groaned as Unit 01 landed on its back on the other side of the other two EVA Units with the Angel in the middle. "Ouch," she rubbed the back of her head, "That hurt."

She got back up and noticed that the Angel was slowly getting back up in the air. When she squinted she noticed that the Progressive Knife was still latched onto its shoulder. She clenched and unclenched the hand that held the knife before.

"Going to need another weapon here, or I'm going to have to brute force this."

"Hey, Thief," Mari heard Asuka join in the private channel between her and the Clone. "What's the situation with Unit 01? Can it still fight?" She assumed that the Clone invited the Second Child to this private chat.

"Huh… you're going to put the elimination of the Angel first before asking questions about me? That Colonel must've said something to her. Makes things simpler" Mari smirked, "Nice to meet you too Princess. Unfortunately, I don't have a weapon on me now. But Unit 01 can still fight."

Asuka paused. "Princess? Where have I heard that before? No... Don't think about that now." She shook her head, "Angel first. Then the Idiot. Then you can ask all the questions you want, Asuka. Or Misato's going to get it."

…Wait.

Shit…

She turned her head to Unit 00. Her focus was trying to eliminate the Angel and "trust" this Thief that she forgot to tell someone else about the Idiot.

Asuka needed to tell First about the Idiot, but-

"It is moving," Rei said as she started to fire towards the Angel that turned its attention to Unit 01.

The Angel hovered over the ground as it seemed to be assessing its current situation. To its east was Unit 01 which was ready to charge in at a moment's notice. And to its west were both Unit 00 and Unit 02 that were both ready to engage as well.

Seemingly after deciding on who to focus first, the Angel turned and it made its way towards Unit 01. The Angel immediately generated an AT-Field on its back, shielding itself from Unit 00's attack.

"Great, it's going in for Unit 01," Asuka ran in. "Cover me, First!" "I'll tell you after this. We can't get distracted right now. After this monster has been killed, I'll tell you, I promise."

The Angel was slowly getting out of range from her. Rei started to move forward as well but was lagging behind Unit 02 due to Unit 00, while repaired, still not being fully prepared for battle. "Understood."

Mari punched the palm of her hand as Unit 01 mimicked her movement. "Fine. Going for me first? Take out the most dangerous one first. Smart move." She grasped the controls, "But don't think I'll make it easy!"

Unit 01 charged forward to meet the enemy head-on. The Angel's face glowed as another beam fired from its mask. Mari quickly jumped up, barely dodging the large cross-shaped explosion that appeared behind her. Using the momentum from the shockwave of the blast, she came crashing down on the Angel.

It tried to fire its tendrils at the EVA but the attack was, instead, shot out to the ground beneath it. Unit 02 had landed an attack to the AT-Field on its back with enough force to cause the Angel to stumble in the air with the attack diverting downwards.

It quickly generated another AT-Field to block Unit 01's punch.

CRACK

The punch was strong enough to create a crack against all the layers of the AT-Field it generated to block it!

There was a low growl from the Angel as additional smaller AT-Fields shot out from its front and back, pushing both Units away from them. It straightened itself back up in the air.

Its mask was met with the same rain of fire as before. Unit 00 managed to get to its side and started to fire at it. The Angel sent out one of its arms against the EVA that was barely able to lunge out of the way as the arm grinded against the ground where Unit 00 once stood.

The Angel didn't notice Unit 01 had already got up to it and grabbed the knife on the shoulder, ripping it out of the Angel's shoulder. Unit 01, after landing on the ground in front of it, aiming for the core next.

"Take this!" Mari roared as she went in for the kill.

But the Progressive Knife broke on contact as the monster was able to shield its core by covering it with its rib-like structures around it.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me!" She grunted as the Angel managed to graze both of Unit 01's shoulders. Mari jumped backward to dodge the additional tendrils aimed at her, hitting the ground instead of her.

"Hey, Thief!" She noticed one object was thrown at her. Unit 01 quickly grabbed it to realize that it was one of Unit 02's dual Progressive Knives. "I expect it back after this is all over!"

Asuka quickly went in with the spear-like weapon in hand. The Angel now turned its attention towards Unit 02. She slid underneath the physical attack that came towards her and jumped away to dodge the other until she was met face to face with the Angel's AT-Field.

It turned its back towards her once more.

"Is… is this thing not taking me seriously?" Asuka smashed the tip of the blade against the shield again, but no luck. Lights reflected from the area of contact.

She was met at a standstill. "Come on! Just give it up! You're against the three of us! You're going to go down anyway, so just give up!" The shoulder armor opened up, firing spikes at the AT-Field in point-blank range, but it was still no use. They were held in place by the shield.

"Even at point-black?"

The Angel was forced to create a few new layers of AT-Fields in front of it Unit 01 came crashing against its AT-Field, but the outermost layer was already slashed.

"Don't you worry Princess, I always pay back what I owe with interest!" Mari screamed as she started to cleave through the layers that the Angel had made one by one. It was taking too much strength to try to brute force through the AT-Field all at once, so she'll just have to slash through them one at a time!

Soon the Angel was met once more with a barrage of bullets being shot towards it by Unit 00. It created other layers of AT-Field to block another attack.

Rei mumbled, "You will not kill Asuka."

There was a small glow of light in the Angel's mask, almost as if it was displaying that it was sick and tired of these childish games.

The Tenth Invader fired all its tendrils to the ground. They all shot out of the ground beneath all three EVA's, forcing them to disengage. Unit 01 blocked the attack using its knife but was still pushed back while Unit 02 quickly pushed itself away by using the Angel's AT-Field as leverage, barely dodging the attack through a backflip.

Unit 00's gun was cut in half. After stumbling back, Rei's eyes widened when noticed that the Angel turned towards her. The small light in the holes of its masks now glowing brightly. She held out both of Unit 00's hands and generated the AT-Field in front of her to block the attack.

Once the beam landed, the explosion appeared directly on Unit 00's AT-Field. The blast immediately shattered the AT-Field and burned both Unit 00's arms till it cooked to a dark brown color. The explosion sent Unit 00 flying. When the Unit landed on the ground, Rei gave out a muffled scream as the arms of her plugsuit started to glow red. She could feel the burn damage in her EVA being transmitted into her arms.

Both Asuka and Mari roared as their Units both charged back in on the opposite sides of the Angel. This time, instead of using an AT-Field, the Angel rose up the skies with its left group of arms twisting around each other as did the right group of arms. It soon shot out both of its arms, each one to the EVA's.

Both Unit 01's and Unit 02 tried to dodge, but the speed that the attack was coming towards them was at a much faster rate than before. They could almost hear the air being cut as their blades made contact with the attack. They tried to push on through but this attack was able to instantly break their weapons upon contact.

Both of them were thrown backward by the force and soon each was met with the Angel's AT-Field head-on, sending them further away.

Both Asuka and Mari cursed, "DAMN IT!"

Asuka landed on one of the fallen buildings with Mari landing on top of one of the makeshift mountains.

The three EVA's were down and the Angel unwrapped its arms as it hovered in the sky. All its previous minor injuries are starting to regenerate.

To the area of its front, Unit 00 lay flinching from the burns it received, while Unit 01 and 02 lay unmoving on the ground to its left and right, respectively.

It now turned its attention to Unit 00.

Ritsuko couldn't believe it. "Impossible… even with all three EVA's, they're no match against the Angel." He tightened her fist in her pocket. "Mari… You have to win. If you don't… whether our Operation is successful or not does not matter! We'll all be dead."

Gendo asked, "What is the status of the EVA's?" His hands that were in front of his mouth started to shake. Everything that they planned was going to be for naught!

Makoto turned, "Unit 00's arm received severe burns! They need to be treated! It won't be able to continue fighting."

Aoba added, "Unit 01 and Unit 02 are still operational but they're not moving."

Everyone heard the door open as Misato came rushing in, "Status-" She stopped as she saw the giant monitor in front of her, telling her everything she needed to know. Unit 00 may have lost the use of both of its arms. And both Unit 01 and Unit 02 were on the floor for the count.

And the worst of all, the Angel was floating in the air triumphantly.

Misato quickly changed her question, "What are the Pilots' statuses?" She walked over to Ritsuko as she heard Maya respond to her.

"They're all stable but-"

Ritsuko finished as she quickly placed her shaking hands in her pocket, "-But they all may be down for the count." She looked at her friend, "Misato." Then to the two leading Officers of NERV above them. "Our only option may be the self-destruction seque-"

"DAMN IT!" They all heard Asuka yell over the comm as Unit 02 forced itself up from the debris. Everyone turned to the monitor in hope and relief to see that the Second Child wasn't out of the fight yet.

Hyuga reported, "Unit 01 is also getting up!"

Asuka gritted her teeth, "I can't lose here. Not yet. I… I have to see him again." Unit 02 got up, pushing the debris around it aside. "Gah!" She held her shoulder in pain, causing her EVA to freeze. Her shoulder was dislocated. "Damn it." What should she do now? Can she fight with this injury?

Is… is this how the Angel is going to end things? Did she fail?

"No…" Asuka shook her head, "I'm going to save him. The Idiot is going to come back home with me!" She forced the dislocated shoulder back into its place by slamming it against the chair on the back, releasing a scream as she hunched over in pain.

After taking a deep breather, she glared at the Angel hovering in the air, "Idiot Shinji… I'm…I'm coming." She now held the SDAT that was still on her waist, "I'm going to protect you this time!"

A dark blue eye opened inside a pod as the owner weakly said, "A…Asuka."

Mari wiped off the blood dripping from her nose. She looked at the smeared blood on her hand, "That's not how you should treat a lady." She stood up and fixed her glasses as she stood up and watched the Angel slowly make its way towards Unit 00.

"It's now trying to take out the weakest of us, trying to dwindle our numbers one by one instead of going for the strongest first." Mari took a deep breath. This was getting dangerously close.

At this rate, they won't be able to defeat it. As long as that Angel stood, their plan won't work.

Unless…

"I have no choice. Unit 01 is a prototype EVA so it wasn't made for any Pilots to handle this, but I have to do this, not just for the Operation, but for our survival."

"Ms. Yui…" She tilted her head up and closed her eyes. "Please… help me." After a brief moment to breathe in the LCL around her, Mari clenched her fist and opened her eyes with determination. She looked to the Angel.

"Invert Mode. Secret Code: The Beast!"

The Entry Plug around her turned red as the circular holes on her plugsuit started to spin and glow green. She gritted as she wrapped her arms around herself, "This… is quite painful… like my body's about to be ripped apart… damn it. If I was going to use this mode…" She grunted again in pain as she hunched over, "Unit 02 would've been a far better… choice."

Hyuga watched in awe as Unit 01 started to… mutate? "EVA actually has functions like that?" He's never seen this! Not even in the manuals! And he's basically memorized it at this point!

Ritsuko slammed the desk next to Maya. She said, "That's too dangerous! Both Unit 00 and Unit 01 were designed without any Limiters! If the Pilot uses this function right now with Unit 01, they may never recover." "Mari… what are you doing? This wasn't part of the plan!"

Maya turned to her senior, "Dr. Akagi, what is happening? This… I've never seen anything like this before. All the readings are beyond the standard and we are unable to monitor the plug interior."

She took a deep breath to calm herself. Freaking out about this won't fix the situation. They needed to adapt to what is happening right now. "It's likely that the plug depth has reached negative values. This means that the pilot was fine with entering the contamination zone. But without the Limiters in place, there's no safeguard in place for the contamination zone."

Maya's eyes widened, "That… It's too dangerous! We have to stop it!"

Ritsuko ignored her assistant's suggestion. "I suspect she won't make it through the full five minutes once the internal timer starts." She took a quick glance at Misato who was watching the battle displayed on the monitor without saying a word. "Misato… If… if this doesn't work out. I'm sorry."

Misato clenched her uninjured hand, "Mari… I'm counting on you. For Asuka… For Shinji."

Both arms and legs muscles of Unit 01 started to pulse. The muscle was expanding and contracting. Eventually, the armor in its forearm was broken off by the constant pulsation of the muscles. Soon, the torso also started to contract and expand as well, but the armor around there managed to stay on.

"Bear it… Hang in there Unit 01… I'll endure this with you!"

Mari screamed as Unit 01 looked to the skies as the chest now expanded, breaking apart the chest plates, revealing its red core. The hands started to grow in size as well as the talons grew in their fingertips. Unit 01's eyes turned bright orange-red while the neon green armors and accents all now glowed a bright yellow color.

She could almost hear Yui say to her, "Why are you going this far?"

"I made… a promise…to you and I intend to keep it… after all… Nothing ventured…" Mari tried to stand back up and push through the pain, "Nothing… gained…"

Unit 01 went on all fours in pain, struggling through what it was going through. Its head raised towards the Angel as the mouth guard opened, revealing rows of red rectangular teeth-like structures. "For my promise."

The muscles around its body stopped pulsing as the muscles in its arms and legs were now almost an eighth size larger than before with its hands being about a quarter size bigger than originally. The torso went back to its original size.

"Right?!" Mari's eyes glowed neon green as she yelled alongside Unit 01's roaring, "Ms. Yui!"

The Umbilical Cable attached to the EVA's back was released, starting the counter for the Internal Batteries.

Active Time Remaining: 4:59:55

Like a beast hunting for its prey, Unit 01 rushed forward on all fours towards the Angel that lowered itself closer to the ground level now.

The Angel stopped its advance to Unit 00 and turned towards incoming the beast. It deployed its multi-layered AT-Field in response.

Mari used Unit 01's talons and its now enlarged muscles to dispose of all the layers with one long horizontal swing. That one swing managed to send a shockwave of its own towards the direction it was swung towards.

It quickly grabbed one of the bandaged-like arms while placing one of its legs onto the Angel's floating body. Unit 01 pulled, ripping one of the arms off and blood spurting out of the wound. The Angel tried to fly back and generate another AT-Field to push the beast away, but the shield was quickly shattered by a shockwave generating punch.

BOOM

Mari yelled, "Oh no! I'm not through with you yet!" Unit 01 quickly grabbed onto multiple of its arms and pulled it to the ground.

It used its talons to cut off the chunk of the tendrils in its hand as blood from the Angel sprayed all over the EVA. She jumped up and crashed down on the Angel, pushing it deeper into the ground. The holes in the Intruder's mask started to glow only for Unit 01 to kick the mask up, sending the attack into the false skies.

An upside-down cross-shaped explosion appeared, causing more debris from the city above them to fall down onto the Geo Front. The Angel quickly generated two AT-Fields, one on each side, and tried to crush Unit 01.

But the behemoth managed to grab a hold of the AT-Fields by extending out both of its arms. While both of the EVA's arms were preoccupied, the Angel made use of this opportunity. It retracted one of its arms and shot forward.

Mari grinned. Unit 01 turned its head to the side and opened its mouth, narrowly dodging the attack by the gaps between the opened mouth. It then bit down on the tendril.

While biting down, Mari said, "Don't try to get cheeky now!" She screamed as Unit 01 quickly raised its head up, ripping another of the Angel's arms off, and crushed the AT-Fields with ease with its bare hands.

Unit 01 stepped off and grabbed more of the arms. It pulled and started to spin the Angel in the air. "This is payback for playing with me earlier!" The force and speed of the spin almost generated a small typhoon as the Angel's arm slowly ripped apart from the pure force.

It was sent flying and crashed onto the newly fallen debris, leaving behind a trail of blood on its way.

Mari coughed as blood started to drip down her mouth. Shit, she can't be playing too much. She didn't have much time left!

Active Time Remaining: 03:02:23

The timer was useless. She could barely keep it together as it is. She needed to end this fast or she'll be in trouble!

"Come on…" She gripped down on the controls tighter "Faster!"

Unit 01 charged forward to the Angel. Mari noticed something on the side on her way to the Angel and quickly picked it up.

The Angel started to get back up and out of the dust cloud created by its crash. It saw that Unit 01 was coming towards it with something in its right hand. The Angel generated another AT-Field, this time covering all the way up to the false skies of the Geo Front.

Mari smirked, "Didn't anyone tell you size doesn't matter?" Unit 01 jumped high up into the air. "YEEHAW!" She drew back her left fist and punched forward as her EVA mimicked her movement to smash through the AT-Field.

The Angel fired all its two remaining tendrils at the EVA, but Mari was able to use all the enhanced limbs of Unit 01 to push the attacks aside while still holding onto her weapon closely to Unit 01. The Angel fired out multiple AT-Fields, only for the beast to smash through them by using its legs and talon.

Everything it sent out was either deflected or easily smashed through.

One last desperate AT-Field was generated directly in front of in its last attempt to block out the assault. But Unit 01 quickly used both of its feet and smashed through as it landed on top of the Angel, forcing it to the ground.

Unit 01 shoved a large, long gun barrel from the defense system, that was used against the Angel on the surface, into the hole of the mask that was reminiscent of a mouth.

Active Time Remaining: 02:10:55

Her grin widened with blood now dripping down her eyes and nose. The stress of this mode was slowly eating away at her.

"That point-blank attack from Unit 02 didn't work out from before. So how about something more intimate? All inside your mouth!" Unit 01 smashed into the handle of the gun and pulled the trigger, firing the gun directly inside the Angel. Holes lighting up with the gunfire and blood bursting out of them with each blast.

Mari kept pulling the triggers with one hand while the other reared back and smashed down to the core. But the Angel was able to quickly cover it with its bone-like rib structures, resulting in Unit 01's hand clashing onto the covering.

As Unit 01 drew back its hand, there were deep cracks forming across the surfaces of the bones. "Oh no, not this time!" Mari grabbed the top of the bone structures and pulled down, tearing the coverings off of the core with one move.

"ONE MORE!" Mari roared as did Unit 01. It drew its hand back while the other was still shooting the insides of the Angel's mouth and went in for the final attack to the exposed core.

…

Mari could feel the stress in her body releasing and everything turning dark around her as Unit 01 deactivated. The muscles decreased back to their original size with the talons retracting as EVA stood motionless.

She blinked in confusion, "Eh?"

The timer froze at 01:45:20

What just happened?

Kaji's focus on the gun in his hand was broken as the alarms started to blare in the room. "What…-?"

He quickly looked over to the monitor in front of him as it displayed the words:

SYSTEM DISENGAGING! ERROR ESTABLISHING CONTACT WITH THE ITEM

ERROR

ERROR

ERROR

He looked over to the red room as he saw steam blowing out of the sarcophagus as the locks released. "...This couldn't have happened at a worse time."

Kaji knew that the Angel wasn't dead, he still hadn't heard anything from Ritsuko and he could still feel the battle happening outside. If this was happening, he guessed that Mari was going to have issues with Unit 01. He could only pray that she'll be alright.

But based on the situation, Kaji knew what he may have to do. And he hated it. He took out his phone and sent an encrypted text to Ritsuko.

He looked at the gun in his hand.

"I'm sorry."

Everyone in NERV's Command room watched in awe at the raw power that Unit 01 displayed. It was as if Unit 01 was on a whole another level now! It was handling the Angel like a berserker manhandling its poor victim.

Now, they had a chance! Their victory was all but assured!

Ritsuko said, "So… this is the true power of the EVA? Of Unit 01?" Even she didn't expect this much of a disparity in strength. But… "Mari… you have to end this quickly. Your body won't hold out for much longer. And you need to have enough time to retreat once the battle is over."

Misato grasped her cross hanging on her neck as she looked on. "Go! Mari, you have to end this! Once this is over… we'll save Shinji. I'm holding you to it!"

Gendo did not like this at all. Whoever was piloting Unit 01 knew about the EVA's hidden feature that only a few members in NERV knew. While the person will be able to eliminate the Angel, what will their plan be next? Will they be supporting Gendo?

No…He had no other allies other than Fuyutsuki. In other words… This person may be a potential detriment to their scenario.

"Is this person connected to SEELE? Did the Committee manage to figure out the current situation and intervene? Did they manage to find someone who is capable of piloting Unit 01?"

Everyone watched as Unit 01 was about to deliver the final blow against the Angel. They were all cheering in their mind for this battle to finally end! For their survival, Unit 01 had to win! Everyone but the two leaders of NERV were screaming one word in their mind:

"GO!"

However, their expectations were all crushed once their only hope deactivated and stood motionless on top of the Angel.

Misato was the first to recover and yell, "What happened? Why did Unit 01 stop moving?"

Maya quickly looked over the scans, "It seems that Unit 01's connection with the Pilot has been cut!"

Ritsuko took out her phone with her back turned towards the Commander and saw the message from Kaji.

…

Her eyes widened and quickly looked up to the screen, "Not now!"

Misato eyed Ritsuko from the corner of her eyes. Her reaction… "Did something happen to Shinji? Ritsuko… I swear, if something happened, I'm not only going to shoot Kaji, but you too!"

No… She shook her head.

She needed to focus on the battle at hand. If the Angel wins, everything will be lost. She won't get the chance to shoot them… but most importantly, there will be no way to save Shinji.

But how will they get out of this? Without Unit 01 did they even have a chance?

Gendo quickly ordered their next steps, "Attempt to re-establish the connection between the Pilot and Unit 01!" He hated to admit it, but whether this person was an enemy or not, they needed Unit 01 to win this battle. "And attempt once more to reactivate the Dummy System. We need Unit 01 to be operational by any means necessary to win this battle!"

He handed Fuyutsuki his phone. "Professor," he quietly said, "I have an idea what may have happened, I need you to check on this while I deal with the matter at hand."

The elder man took the phone with a nod, knowing what his former student was asking him to do.

The NERV officers all worked to reactivate Unit 01 and acknowledged the order, "R-Right!" Whether it be through the Pilot or the Dummy System, they needed Unit 01.

Misato looked on in worry, "Please… Get back up."

Ritsuko knew that it was futile. All was lost. Their Operation. This battle. Their survival.

All of it was now gone.

She turned her head towards her friend with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, Misato."

Yui's condition rang in Mari's ears, "...As long as I can feel my son's presence, I'll believe in you. As long as I can feel his presence, I know that he's safe wherever Gendo put him. But the moment that disappears so is your connection with Unit 01."

…

"...Shit!"

Mari dropped down to the seat and smashed against the controls, knowing what must've happened. "I was so close! Damn it Kaji! You had one job! Make sure nothing goes wrong with the Puppy and the machine until this was all over." She put one finger up and pointed towards the rooftop of the Entry Plug, "YOU HAD ONE JOB!"

She felt immense pain in her left arm, "GAH!"

The Angel used this chance to quickly fire out one of its arms towards the EVA, cutting the left bicep and below clean off. Then it used its AT-Field to push Unit 01 away from it. As Unit 01 landed a distance away from it, the Angel slowly got back up as smoke emitted out of the holes in its mask.

Burn marks were present across its mask as it took out the large gun from its mouth by wrapping its arms around it and tossing it aside. Blood started to drip down from its eyes and mouth from the internal damage the EVA managed to inflict. The blood from the missing limbs were dripping less and less as the seconds passed. Its wounds started to close but the limbs weren't growing back.

The holes in its eyes glowed

It was most definitely angry.

Asuka could only watch the battle unfold in front of her. She knew that if she stepped in, she'd only get in the way. She hated it. It should be her to kill the Angel.

It should be her protecting Shinji, not this newcomer… this… this Thief. But the difference between her and this Thief was too much at this point. What can she even do? She'll only get in the way.

What was that form anyways? It made Unit 01 look like… a monster. A berserk beast tearing apart its prey…

She gritted her teeth in frustration. It should be her job to protect the Idiot. And she couldn't even do that.

She… she hated how much she had to entrust the elimination of this Angel to the Thief to see the Idiot agai-

Asuka noticed Unit 01's yellow lights all gave out as it stood motionless on top of the Angel. As she zoomed in she noticed that all the mutations reverted back.

"Wait. What just happened?"

She tried to open up a private communication link with Unit 01 again, but it was of no use. Nothing was getting through.

Asuka saw the Angel cut off Unit 01's arm and force it away using its AT Fields. Even after going through all that, it was still getting back up!

She gripped her controls tightly.

Rei watched as Unit 01 was thrown away. She couldn't believe it. Unit 01's Beast Mode was close but for some unknown reason, it was shut down before it could deliver the finishing blow. She looked at Unit 00's heavily burnt arms, barely about to move a finger.

She needed to complete the mission to eliminate the Angel. But how? She can barely move Unit 00's fingers, let alone hers.

Rei overheard Colonel Misato yell, "Asuka! What are you doing?!"

She quickly turned her attention towards Unit 02 which was charging in with its last remaining Progressive Knife. "Asuka-"

She heard her fellow Pilot say, "I'm finishing this mission, one way or another!"

"Damn it," she heard Misato curse.

She then heard the Commander order, "Rei, you are to retreat, immediately."

Colonel Misato added, "The Commander's right. Your safety takes priority. And you're in no condition to fight."

Rei bit her lips. Was she to fall back and leave Asuka alone to deal with this enemy?

Was she… going to lose someone else too?

The Angel hovered closer to the deactivated Unit 01. This beast was somehow able to push the Angel to the brink of death by itself. Even if it was no longer moving, it knew this one was too dangerous to be left alone.

It heard something jump from behind and generated an AT-Field in response.

Unit 02 landed on top of the AT-Field with its Progressive Knife, this time creating a crack along the surface. It was getting weaker, but still strong enough to fight.

Asuka cursed, "Damn it! Why don't you just give up?! You're practically at death's door right now."

The Angel pushed it away with its AT-Field.

"I'm not through with you!"

The Angel quickly turned while swinging one of its remaining arms at Unit 02. Asuka managed to predict this action and jumped over it. Once Unit 02 landed on the ground, she charged forward only to be pushed away by another AT-Field.

But that didn't stop her. Unit 02 quickly flipped over to land on its legs and charged forward once more, repeating this cycle a few more times.

Dodge the tendril.

Dash forward, trying to dodge the AT-Field but another one was quickly generated to push it back.

Recover.

Repeat.

"I'm not giving up. Not while I can still move!"

The Angel generated an AT-Field from above Unit 02 and crashed it down.

Asuka managed to evade it by rolling to the side but didn't see the second one incoming to move out of the way in time. She gritted her teeth as Unit 02 held out both of its hands and generated its own AT-Field to block the attack from crushing her. If the Angel was at its prime strength, it would've no doubt crushed Unit 02.

But this wasn't any better.

The Angel had her pinned. There was an opening for the Angel to attack her and she won't be able to react in time!

And that's what it did. It fired one of its arms towards Unit 02's head, underneath the AT-Fields.

All Asuka could do was grit her teeth, "No! Not here! Not now! I still-"

CLANG

A shot was fired towards the attack on an angle, sending it upwards, shattering both Unit 02's and the Angel's, allowing Asuka to jump back to create some distance.

Both Unit 02 and the Angel turned towards where the attack came from.

"First?!" Asuka's eyes widened in surprise. She shook her head and yelled, "What are you doing? You're in no condition to be fighting! Fall back!"

Misato slammed down on the desk, "What are you doing Rei? You're in no condition to fight!"

Even Ritsuko was surprised by this action. Rei was never the one to go against orders from her superiors, what changed?

Gendo's teeth grinded against each other in frustration.

Unit 00 was struggling to hold the sniper rifle up. It was a miracle it was able to aim correctly just in time to protect Unit 02. Rei was sweating from the pain.

"I cannot comply with that order. I will not leave Asuka alone with this Angel." Rei took aim as Unit 00 was barely able to keep the large rifle up. She repeated the training procedure when handling a gun to help her focus.

"Position the target at the center."

The target was locked on.

"And pull the switch."

The trigger was pulled, the recoil and the weakened arms sending the gun upwards as it was fired, almost causing Unit 00 to lose its balance.

The Angel blocked the attack aimed at its face with its AT-Field. Annoyed, the holes in its eyes started to glow.

And it generated another AT-Field to the side to block the knife that was thrown at it. Asuka roared as she kneed at the handle of the knife, finally managing to pierce the AT-Field. She then quickly used Unit 02's hand to push the head away, causing the attack to be diverted once more.

A large cross-shaped explosion appeared another distance away from Unit 00, but close enough to send the EVA flying.

Asuka was thrown away by the Angel's AT-Field. She screamed in frustration as Unit 02 landed on one of the fallen debris. "Damn it!"

The Angel turned once more towards Unit 01 and made its way to it. It was still a distance away, it needed to hurry up before Unit 01 had a chance to reactivate-

BOOM

A shot landed on its already burnt and blood dripping face. It turned to see that Unit 00 already had on its knees and shot at it, with both its arms bleeding and struggling to keep the gun up.

Rei heard Gendo order her once more, "Rei. That is enough. You are ordered to retreat."

"I cannot comply with your orders, if it requires leaving a friend, Commander. I am not a puppet who will blindly follow your orders to see another friend die."

She struggled to aim the gun once more, "If I leave, Asuka will be left alone to deal with the Angel." She tightened her control, "I will not leave her alone. This is not because anyone ordered me to. This is because I wish and want to help her."

Rei gritted her teeth and fired again, this time missing the target. It landed on the ground in front of the Angel. She'll not be able to continue using this weapon. But she wasn't done.

Not yet.

Unit 00 dropped the sniper rifle and struggled to stand up. It shakily drew out its Progressive Knife.

"I apologize, Misato. However, I cannot comply with the order to leave Asuka alone in the battlefield."

Ritsuko's eyes widened, "A direct confrontation with the Angel? In her state?"

Misato yelled, "Damn it Rei! Retreat! It won't do you any good if you die here!" As much as she hated to side with that asshole Commander, Rei's safety took priority. And if it was any other time, she would've been happy that Rei finally dropped Misato's job title.

Rei responded, "It will not benefit anyone else either if Asuka were to perish here as well."

"Of all times for you to disobey orders…" Misato clenched her cross. What can she do? If they try to increase the LCL pressure to knock Rei unconscious, she'll be left defenseless.

Gendo ordered, "Eject Unit 00's Entry Plug, now!"

Aoba nodded as he inputted in order to eject the pod, however… "It's no use! The signal is being rejected!"

Gendo hated this. Even though she could be replaced with another, the fact that 'this' Rei was being this disobedient could pose a problem in the future with the later generations. He noticed that Fuyutsuko leaned in next to his ears.

"Ikari…" He handed the Commander back his phone, revealing what he had discovered.

Unit 00's single eye glowed red.

Rei was thankful. It was supporting her in her time of need. Unlike before when it was rejecting her. It seems that now, it wanted to cooperate with her through this.

She said as she tightened her controls through the pain, "Thank you… Please… provide me with your strength a while longer. I wish to support Asuka."

Unit 00 limply charged in.

The Angel watched as the EVA that was barely holding onto the knife with both its hands came towards it. What can this barely functioning EVA hope to do while it could barely hold a weapon in its hands?

The holes in the Angel's masks glowed once more.

Asuka got back up, "Damn it. I can't give up here." She noticed Unit 00 dropped the long-ranged rifle. She overheard Misato ordering Rei to fall back, only to hear that cheesy line about not leaving her alone.

"Damn it First, of all times for you to think for yourself…" Her eyes widened when Unit 00 went towards the Angel. "What are you doing?! IDIOT!"

Unit 02 was about to rush in to help but was stopped when a private channel was opened. "Hey, Princess."

"That voice." Asuka scowled, "What do you want, Thief? And how did you manage to force your way to make a private channel?"

Mari smirked as she laid back on her hair with bloodstains still on her face, two dripping down her eyes like tears and one dripping down the side of her mouth. She held her tablet, which was used to establish the private connection with Unit 02, on hand.

"Not that important right now."

She didn't want to do this… But this was the only way.

"Listen, Princess, the way you are right now, you won't be able to beat the Angel."

She heard the redhead retort, "No shit, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up now."

"Good. After all, if you give up now, who's going to protect your Puppy? Your little Shinji?"

"M-My Little Shi… he's not my… And 'Puppy'? And how do you…" God, it was funny to hear the Princess all flustered like that. "So you know about him."

"Yes, I know about him. I want to help him and get him out of there too, but with the Angel here, we won't be able to do so."

"So what are you telling me to do? And be quick! I don't have time to dawdle in your little games."

Mari's smirk disappeared and was replaced with a serious one, "You need to make use of the EVA's hidden feature. Remember these words, 'Invert Mode. Secret Code: The Beast'. If you use that then you may have a chance."

"Is that what you used before? Why should I trust-"

"Because if you don't, the Puppy, your little Shinji, will die."

There was no response from Unit 02's Pilot.

"That mode is awful to maintain both physically and mentally. You need to be careful not to lose yourself to the EVA's natural instincts and wild nature. If you don't, you risk losing your sense of self."

"Okay… then what do I do?"

There was a small, genuine smile that appeared on Mari's face at the Princess' acceptance of her advice. "Since this will be your first time using this mode, focus on the reasoning you're fighting for. If you do, you may just have a chance to keep your sense of self this time around. It's always easier the second time onwards."

"...Got it."

"Oh, and before I forget, you'll only have five minutes for the battle. The mode solely depends on the Internal Battery."

"What?! And you tell me this now?!"

She shrugged, "Better now than never, right?"

"Grr… fine." The tablet in her hand went dead. Just in time too.

Mari dangled the hand holding the tablet to the side and placed the other over her head, "It's all in your hands now, Princess."

"Kaji, what the literal hell? What the hell happened?" She took out her phone from the same compartment where she put her tablet. There were no messages.

Her voice turned dark, her suspicion growing, "You'd better not do what I think you're going to do."

The sarcophagus opened as it vented out steam, covering the area in fog. A shadowy figure hidden by the steam could be seen rolling out of the pod with the tubes connected to the back detaching.

The figure weakly crawled, revealing a left hand of a black plugsuit as the first one to emerge from the fog.

He… he needed to get out there. Someone was calling for him. He needed to help. He needed to-

The figure heard something clock near his head.

Through the fog, he couldn't make out who it was, but he could feel something aimed at his head.

"Who are you?" That voice, he knew that voice.

Kaji tried to hold strong, but his hand that was holding the gun was shaking. Can he really do it? Can he take the life of a kid-?

No… He shook his head, it'll only have the face of a kid. It won't be human.

He knew that, so why was his hand shaking so much?

The fog cleared, revealing the child he knew Misato would kill to see again. The child that was the cause of so much grief… and the only one who can bring a true smile to Misato's face again.

This face… It was the face of Shinji Ikari.

The only major difference was the eye patch over his left eye. And he was in the black and gray version of his regular blue and white plugsuit and hairclip interceptors that Ritsuko had changed him into before sticking the poor boy in there. Lastly, instead of the "01" logo on the plugsuit, it had "TEST SUIT" in the text.

When the agent didn't receive a reply and instead got a confused look from the recently awakened child, Kaji asked again with a stern look, "Who are you?"

Shinji's one eye widened when he noticed what was being pointed at him. He froze. What was happening? Where was he? What was Mr. Kaji pointing at him with a gun?

And why did he feel so weak?

"Answer me. Are you Shinji Ikari?" Kaji's hand started to shake even more while his stoic face started to break. "Don't… don't look at me like that."

"I… um…" he laid there frozen, unsure what to say. "I…"

"Are you… Shinji Ikari?" Kaji needed to know, now! He couldn't risk this being an Angel. "Are you the Third Child? Who's living with Misato Katuragi, the Colonel of NERV? And the roommate of the Second Child, Asuka-"

"A-Asuka!" Shinji frantically looked around, "Where is she? Is she okay? Ugh!" He held his head with his left hand. "My head…"

That reaction froze the older man. What… what should he do? Was this good enough? Did this prove that it was Shinji?

But what if it was an Angel with Shinji's memories and playing into his emotions?

Did… did he risk this?

He shook his head.

No, he had to end this. He can't risk the entire humanity on a hunch, a maybe, that this is Shinji Ikari and not an Angel-

"Mr. Kaji," Shinji weakly said, breaking Kaji out of his thoughts. "Is Asuka okay? I… I didn't hurt her, right? With the last Angel, I… Is she okay?" He looked around the room once more, "I… I also heard her calling for me. Is she okay?"

"You're not asking about where you are, but where the little lady is… And heard her?" Kaji's trigger finger was pressed against the trigger, ready to end this. "Would an Angel be this worried about someone else other than itself?"

"Please," Shinji said, "I don't know what's happening, but please, tell me Asuka's okay. Ugh!" He held his head again in pain.

Ryoji looked at the gun in his hand.

He closed his eyes.

He couldn't do it, not while Shinji looked so helpless like that. He quickly put the weapon behind him and grabbed the Third Child's hands, "Let's get you up." Kaji managed to help Shinji onto his feet while pulling one of his arms around Kaji's shoulders.

The older man also wrapped his hand around Shinji's back to keep him steady.

"T-Thank you, Mr. Kaji. And I'm sorry for being a burden."

"Don't worry about it kid." "Why aren't you asking why I held you at gunpoint?"

Shinji looked around again, "I… I'm sorry to ask again, but is Asuka okay?"

"She's out there, fighting an Angel right now." "Ahh I see, too focused on your roommate to care about anything else right now, are you?"

"She's out there?" His eyes widened.

Kaji nodded, "There's a lot that's happened." He started to guide the two to the elevator near the entrance, "Let's get you out of here first."

"Mari… I hope this didn't mess anything up on your end."

Asuka watched as Unit 00 continued heading towards the Angel with a limp. It did not stand a chance. "Damn it, First!" She got up, "I'm not letting you be a hero and die out there for nothing."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Gotta be fast. No backing out now."

Asuka opened her eyes filled with determination as she yelled, "Secret Code: The Beast." She gently placed her hand on the SDAT, "I'm not going to let that monster touch you. I promise."

Her Entry Plug turned dark with smaller red crosses filling up the plug.

Across Asuka's plugsuit, the circular lock-like mechanism started to spin as it glowed neon green as did the green accents across her plugsuit. She grunted in pain as Unit 02 started to shed its armor and started to abandon its humanity.

Both of Unit 02's shoulder pylons ejected off as two cylinder-like restrictors painfully ejected out of each of the shoulders.

"This…" She gritted her teeth but her eyes. "This is… painful… But… Probably not as much as the Idiot went through…inside that Angel" Asuka hunched forward.

The screen in the Entry Plug started to distort as it now displayed the outside with a tilted red view. Asuka's eyes focused on her main target. "More… I know you're not done yet. I need you at full strength! Unit 02! I can handle it!"

Unit 02's torso started to elongate as more cylindrical restrictors came extruding out of its body across the back.

Maya said, "Unit 02's Limiters are now being removed from within their designated area! It's entering the same state as Unit 01 did! All the readings are also beyond standards!"

Ritsuko placed her hand on her pocket, "She's also risking contamination. Even though it won't be as bad as Unit 01 with the Limiters still attached to Unit 02, it's still dangerous."

She turned to the Doctor behind her, "We have to stop her!"

But her plea fell on deaf ears. Everyone was focused on the giant screen before them. This was their last hope… They just have to hope that the Second Child will be okay after this.

Misato's hand clenched, "Asuka… Project Rei…" "Hang in there… for Shinji."

Unit 02's Pilot flexed her fingers as she struggled to stay standing, "Remember… what that Thief said!" She grunted. "Focus… Remember… You're doing this to protect him. To protect the Idiot. You're… going to kill the Angel to protect him."

Unit 02 fell on all its four as the arms and legs started to elongate as well.

"Kill the Angel…"

Unit 02's eyes glowed a brighter neon green as it hunched up to look at the Angel. Its mouth fully opened as it released a bestial roar.

Asuka knew her Unit 02 was now ready.

"...To protect him!"

The Umbilical Cable ejected as the Internal Battery Timer started to count down.

Unit 02 jumped forward.

Rei hissed as Unit 00 was pushed back with both of its arms cut clean off by the Angel. Unit 00 sat up to see the injured Angel slowly making its way towards her, with the holes in its eyes glowing once more.

"Asuka…" her eyes started to close, accepting her fate, "I apologize. I suppose we won't be able to see each other again. Please… I hope you will take care of yourself."

She placed her hand to her chest, "And Shinji… I apologize for not being able to do more… I will be seeing you soon-"

"SHUT UP! YOU CAN APOLOGIZE ALL YOU WANT TO HIM WHEN YOU SEE HIM AFTER THIS!"

Rei's eyes shot open at Asuka's abrupt yelling through the private channel. Unit 02 broke through all the AT-Field that Angel generated with one slash of its claw and latched on top of the Angel's back. The talons digging into the Angel's thick skin.

The feral EVA pulled back, causing the beam to be shot upwards to the false sky as another upside-down cross-shaped explosion appeared with more debris falling down onto the underground base.

"Unit 02? A-Asuka," Rei asked, "what are you-... What do you mean by-?"

"Just shut up!" Asuka yelled as Unit 02 started to claw at the Angel while still managing to dodge the attack from the remaining arms of the Angel. "Don't think that you can just sacrifice yourself like a hero while thinking that's what the Idiot wants! Especially not when the Idiot is still alive!"

Rei froze. "Shinji… is alive? He is… no… that is not possible. Why would Asuka tell such lies? However… why would Asuka lie about such a thing… If Asuka is telling the truth, why did she wait this long to-"

"I wanted to tell you after the battle so that we can focus on killing this thing. But too late now!"

She could only watch as Unit 02 was pushed off by the Angel's AT-Field.

"What are you still doing here?" Asuka yelled as Unit 02 landed next to Unit 00. "Get to Unit 01 and tell the Thief that you know about the Idiot. She seems to know more than either of us, so get as much information from her as possible!"

No! She can't leave her to fight this Angel alone, "No, I shall-" Rei grunted as Unit 02 quickly kicked her Unit away before lunging to the side to dodge the long tendrils.

"You're no help here with your EVA Unit in that condition!" Unit 02 quickly jumped forward, slashing through the weaker AT-Field with one slash with its talon. It managed to latch onto the Angel's back again.

Asuka continued as Unit 02 started to claw at the Angel once more, "You'll be more help trying to get more information out of her! Just go before she gets away! I'll come to find you after!" Unit 02 opened its elongated jaws and bit down on the Angel's shoulders before using its weight to push the weakened invader to the ground.

"However-!"

"GO!"

Rei clenched the controls, forcing Unit 00 to stand back up. She… she'll trust Asuka. She'll believe in those words. She'll believe that Shinji is actually alive, but… that does not mean Rei still did not have any doubts in her mind.

However, Asuka was right. Rei needed to interrogate Unit 01's temporary Pilot as she did indeed seem to know a lot more than a normal person. She shall also confirm Asuka's statement.

"I shall do as you requested," Unit 00 struggled to get up, "But promise me that you will come back."

"Fine! Just go!" Unit 02 was pushed back again by the Angel's shields. It immediately jumped to the left to dodge the tendrils. Asuka growled as she charged back in.

The armless Unit 00 struggled to make its way to Unit 01 with a limp, taking the route around the battle so that she no longer got in Unit 02's way.

"What is it that you know… Unit 01's temporary Pilot? Is… Shinji truly alive?"

Asuka growled as she was pushed off the Angel again. She was forced to create the distance between her and the target to dodge the two tendrils that were repeatedly raining down on her EVA. She was lucky that the Angel was weakened by Unit 01's little episode, or she didn't know if she would've had a chance against this even in this state.

"Stop thinking so much!" She needs to focus.

"Kill the Angel… to protect Idiot Shinji!"

The Angel shot out one of its remaining arms at Unit 02. But she didn't care!

Asuka ducked down as Unit 02 mimicked her exact movement to dodge the attack as it went over them. It then used its mouth to quickly grab onto the tendril and pulled the Angel closer to it.

Unit 02, while holding onto the arm in its mouth, jumped up and slammed the Angel down to the ground, face first, using its weight. It pulled on the arm within its mouth, ripping it off of the Angel. Asuka moved over to the side as she grabbed the Angel's back using Unit 02's largemouth and started to drag around them across the ground before throwing the Angel.

"Remember… Kill… the Angel…" she started panting, taking quick deep breaths between each word. "To protect… Idiot…Shinji." Asuka roared as did her EVA before charging back against her target.

The Angel struggled to get up, blood dripping down from the clawed marks across its body and mask. It didn't even register to it as Unit 02 came crashing down onto it, its back now hitting the ground.

"This is where it all ends!" Unit 02 roared as it started to claw away against the exposed core as small cracks started to appear.

"I'm coming for you, Idiot Shinji!" The Evangelion clenched both its hands together and raised it high up to the sky to smash down against the core.

…

Everything turned dark.

"WHAT?!"

Her head quickly turned towards the timer displayed to her side.

88:88:88

Or, also known as, zero seconds remaining.

She was so focused on the battle that she forgot about the Internal Timer! "SHIT! OF ALL TIMES TO-GAH!"

The Angel quickly retracted its last remaining arm and shot up, cutting into the side of Unit 02's torso as it raised the EVA high up into the air. It quickly threw it to the ground before retracting the arm close to its body once more.

Mari, having whipped off the blood from her face, hummed as she laid on her back on the Entry Plug's chair with her legs swinging up in the air. She's been looking at her phone ever since her call with the Princess ended, wondering and suspicious as to why Kaji has yet to contact her or give her a message on the situation. Something must've happened or Ms. Yui wouldn't have cut off her connection with Unit 01.

She gave out a loud sigh and dropped her legs, "Dammit Kaji. You literally had one job."

Mari felt the Entry Plug be forcibly ejected, "Huh?" The LCL partially drained as the Entry Plug opened over her head.

She clenched her eyes as she covered the light invading the Entry Plug. It hurt to see the light from being inside a darkened room for a long period of time.

"So… you are indeed female."

Mari's vision focused as her eyes adjusted to the light of the outside world. She noticed a bruised-up replica of her former senior glaring at her. "Oh, nice to see you too Clone-... hmm… now that I think about it, I guess that's too close to home, wouldn't it?"

There was no response from Rei, only her cold, nonchalant glare.

"Geeze, fine. Would you lighten up?" Mari got up, "If you're here to see me means that we've either won or the Princess is out there fighting the Angel using that mode." A roar was heard before a loud BOOM echoed throughout the Geo Front. "And based on that, I would guess the latter."

"Is it true when Asuka stated you knew about Shinji's survival?"

Mari blinked, "Huh, that's the first thing you ask? Not about who I am? Or how I was able to Pilot Unit 01, or how I know about your origins?"

"I shall rephrase my question, what do you know about Shinji?"

"Okay, okay," Mari stretched, "Can you let me out of here first? As much as I love the smell of LCL, I also want to see what's happening to the battle." She placed her phone on her waist. "So much for waiting for either you or that doctor to follow up in case something went wrong."

Rei gave a small nod before getting to the ground using the small zipline. She waited patiently for this new Pilot to come down next to her. To her, Shinji's status took priority over all else.

"So, about the Puppy, what is it that you want to know?"

ROAR

Mari put her hand over her eyebrow as she looked at the battle. She whistled, "Well, would you look at that? Guess the Princess did have it in her after all."

Rei did have to admit. Asuka was fairing better by herself than she originally thought she'd be. She shook her head. She needed to focus. She made a promise to Asuka to confirm certain information.

"Is… Is Shinji alive?"

Mari didn't look at her as she quickly answered, "Yup. He's one hundred percent alive."

Alive? Shinji was alive? She… this newcomer had to be lying to her.

Rei asked, "How?"

"Do you want the long answer or the short answer? Well… That's a poor question to ask. Either way, you'll be asking for the long answer soon enough."

Rei tilted her head. What did she mean by that?

DING!

Mari quickly pulled out her phone, "About damn time!"

…

She almost dropped her phone before looming close to the screen, "HUH?!"

"What is it?"

Mari looked over to Rei with a confused smile, "Well… I guess you'll be getting your answers by seeing, not telling."

Rei's eyes twitched. Why… Why couldn't this girl just give her the answer to her question? Is… is this what being 'annoyed' feels like? "I believe I now know a portion of what it is like to talk to someone who does not answer your question the way you wish her to, Asuka."

Shinji couldn't tell where they were going. While his head wasn't hurting anymore after getting out of that weird red-lit room, he was still having a bit of a hard time orienting himself. He grabbed onto the navy blue coat that was over him, given to him by Kaji when they got to the military jeep.

Kaji, after getting him up to speed on his current situation with the previous Angel, being the Item, the battle with the current Angel, and everything else, explained that they had to get out of here as fast as possible and meet up with his friend.

But Shinji didn't care about that. All he cared about was one thing.

"Asuka… Are you okay?"

They were driving in a military jeep towards an unknown location. Shinji knew that this was still the Geo Front by the false sky that was slowly starting to dim with the trees around it. And most importantly, he couldn't forget this soil smell that Kaji got him to do for his watermelon farm.

He… he wanted to help both Asuka and Rei fight against the Angel, but he didn't know if he could while feeling this weak. But the fact that they were able to drive outside with minimal disturbance from battle meant that everything was going okay… right?

"Is…" Shinji asked, "Is Asuka okay? Did… did she win?"

Kaji didn't answer him. The fact that Shinji couldn't hear the battle going on in the distance meant that he was still recovering. Shinji shouldn't be worried about anyone else right now.

The poor kid needed a break. He needed rest. He shouldn't be worried about fighting, not anymore.

Kaji saw Unit 01 at a distance with Unit 00 next to it. He saw two figures jump down from Unit 01's Entry Plug.

The First Child was here too? This… could be problematic. He gave a quick text message to Mari.

"Subject is awake. I'm heading to Unit 01 now."

There was a brief silence before he received a text message back.

"Finally an update from you. That explains everything. Come quick."

There was nothing on Unit 00 and the First Child… but the fact that she didn't mention it probably meant that they're in the clear… right?

Shinji, whose head started to straighten, noticed both Unit 00 and Unit 01 in front of them. "But where's Unit 02?"

Kaji didn't respond as the two came closer to the two EVA's. The car stopped in front of Mari who was waiting for the two with her arms crossed.

"About damn time!" Mari walked over to Kaji who just gotten out of the car. She pulled on his ponytail, who let out a low yelp in pain, "Why didn't you tell me sooner about what happened?"

"Maria! I…-"

"No excuses-!" Her tone immediately changed when she noticed their guest, "Oh look," Mari leaned to the side to see their main objective for the Colonel getting out of the passenger seat with his hands in his pocket. "Hey there Puppy," she waved her other hand while giving him a big smile. "Remember me? Did you sleep well?"

Shinji blinked his one visible eye, "Oh um…" She looked familiar. Where did he see her again? That brown hair, the red glasses… the rooftop- his eyes widened in realization. "Parachute girl!... Right?"

Mari had to resist letting out a groan. The fact that he still didn't remember her from much earlier was a huge disappointment to her. Instead, she hid her dismay with a smile and a giggle, "So you do remember!" She pulled down Kaji's hair.

She gritted her teeth together with a grin as she let out a hard, "I'm. So. Happy!" while pulling on Kaji's hair on each word.

"Mari, please stop!" Kaji tried to resist and plead for his release. Even he could tell that she was using him as an outlet. But damn, this girl's grip was strong!

"S-Shinji?" Rei's voice caused everyone's attention to turn towards her. She didn't care about the fact that Agent Kaji was with them. She only cared about her fellow Pilot, seemingly returning from the dead.

Mari finally let the agent go and moved aside, allowing the First Child to see her friend long thought dead.

Shinji looked at her, "R-Rei? Um…" Unsure what to do, he gave out an awkward wave, "Hi…?"

She took a hesitant step forward, unsure if this was a dream or not. She shook her head. She needed to confirm. Right here, right now. Rei ran up to him and looked deep into his one available eye.

"Um… Sorry, but Rei, what are you doing?"

Minus the eyepatch, this… this was…

Water in her eyes slightly danced, "Shinji… you are… okay…" Rei quickly wrapped her arms around Shinji, bringing him into a tight hug.

Shinji was caught off guard by this action. Rei was never the person to do things like this. She usually kept a small distance and never got this physical, if ever. "Um Rei, what are you-"

"I was told you were eliminated with the Ninth Angel." He could feel her arms tightening around him, "I am… happy." Yes… this was feeling 'happy' was. "Yes… I am happy to see you alive."

He awkwardly returned the hug, "Um... yeah. I'm... happy to see you too, Rei."

Mari smirked as she saw the two reunite, "So, what's with the gun on the back?"

Kaji looked to the two reunited Pilots, "Do you really want to know?"

"No…" she shook her head, "As long as he's okay, I don't think I want to know."

Rei said, "Asuka would be even more delighted to see you as well. She has endured a lot of pain during your absence."

Shinji's main concern came back to him. "Asuka! Rei," he managed to push her back while still holding onto her shoulders, "Where's Asuka?"

ROAR

Everyone looked towards the battlefield as Unit 02 went on top of the Angel, preparing to deliver the final blow.

"Please Asuka," Rei got out of Shinji's grasp and took a step forward as she noticed how much the passage of time has passed, "End this before-"

Everyone watched in horror as Unit 02 deactivated and was thrown aside by the Angel.

Aoba turned as he confirmed everyone's fears, "Unit 02 has run out of power! She's a sitting duck out there!"

Misato's eyes widened, "No! ASUKA!"

Blood spewed out from Unit 02 as Asuka clenched her side in pain. "Damn it! I was so close! Why… why! I was so close!"

She could feel the Angel wrapping its arm around Unit 02.

"No! This can't be how it ends!"

"Move."

She needed to do something! Her attention went to the SDAT on her waist.

She's going to protect him!

"Damn it, move."

Because if she didn't, the Idiot's going to die.

"MOVE DAMN IT!"

She needed to do something so that she could see him again.

"MOVE!"

Asuka could feel Unit 02 being thrown up into the sky.

The Angel tilted its head up and opened its masked mouth into three positions, one top and two bottoms. However, parts of the bottom left mouth were dangling a bit from the scars it bore from its battle with Unit 01.

It held out its opened mouth. It was going to devour the EVA.

Shinji frantically rushed forward, "Asuka!" But fell to his knees when he lost his footing. Rei went down next to him, concerned for both him and Unit 02's Pilot.

"A-Asuka!" Shinji reached out, "No!"

"A-Asuka!"

"Idiot Shinji…" Asuka caressed the SDAT next to her once again and clenched her eyes closed. She then grabbed both controls and tried to move them, "MOVE DAMN YOU! I don't care if I lose myself. I don't care what happens to me! I just can't let the Idiot get hurt again. I… I'm going to see him again. So, move! I don't care what happens-"

She could feel her Unit 02 descent accelerating. Her eyes opened, revealing her former sapphire eyes that now glowed bright crimson red through the darkness of her Entry Plug.

"JUST MOVE!"

The four eyes of Unit 02 glowed red as it reactivated. It grabbed onto the Angel's mouths, both its hands on the top portion and its legs on each of the bottom parts of the mouth. The white armor accents that were still present started to emit a rainbow aura.

The Angel was trying to forcibly close its mouth with Unit 02 in the air but the reactivated Evangelion held strong.

"Unit 02 has reactivated!" Makoto said with a smile on his face.

Misato held her hand up with her fist. Not caring about what this entailed, yelled, "Go for it Asuka! Finish that Angel off once and for all! Do it for the ones you care about! Fight and win for those who you are protecting!" "DO IT FOR SHINJI!"

Ritsuko couldn't believe her eyes. Only Unit 01 should be able to enter this state based on its conditions. How was Unit 02 to do so as well? Was it… going berserk?

She mumbled, "What is happening to Unit 02?"

Gendo's eyes narrowed. This was NOT part of the scenario. However…

Fuyutsuki asked, "Ikari, is this something that we can adjust our scenario for?"

"Only if we play our cards right from this point forward. The scenario may not be lost, Professor… However, let us have our insurance ready as a precaution."

He nodded, "Agreed."

"You're not going to hurt him."

Asuka growled as her teeth started to sharpen every so slightly.

"You… you were going to eat me, weren't you?"

Unit 02 roared.

"Fine then!" Unit 02 pulled apart both of its hands as the top part of the Angel's mouth ripped apart in two with one motion. Using its weight, Unit 02 quickly brought the Angel to the ground, the bottom two of the mouth touching the soils first.

"You want to eat me? Then eat me!"

"Kill the Angel… to Protect Idiot Shinji!"

Unit 02 went on all fours as it started to crawl inside the Angel's mouth, ripping the side of the hole to fit its structure. The Angel forcibly closed its mouth as the EVA went inside. There was a small line gap in the top mask where it was ripped.

But that didn't matter now. This would be the end of it since the EVA foolishly came inside it, all it would have to do now was merge with it.

How gravely wrong it was.

Parts of its body started to bulge in and out, almost as if something was threatening to rip out of it. It started to struggle in the air in pain, almost howling as it did. Before long, Unit 02's claws pierced through the skin from the inside as it ripped through the back before crawling out of the hole it just made, covered in the Angel's blood. It jumped down with the Angel falling down behind it.

The injured monster started to twitch.

"Oh good, you're still alive!" She wasn't through with it yet.

Asuka went on all fours as she crawled to the Angel's deformed body.

"Kill the Angel… to Protect Idiot-!"

Unit 02 started to grab the back of the Angel's dismembered arms and pulled back, further ripping them apart. Mutilating the body even more.

"Kill the Angel… to Protect-"

The Angel could almost be heard screaming in anguish.

"Just shut up! Do you think I'd care after all the pain you and your kind put us-… put me through?!"

Unit 02 grabbed the body and turned it around so that the core and the damaged mask would face the now dimmed skies. The beast went down and grabbed the mask, pulling it. The Angel's head extended outward as it was forcibly pulled by Unit 02.

"Kill the Angel… to-"

It bit down on the mask -

"Kill the Angel."

-and devoured it.

"Kill the ANGEL!"

Kill.

KILL.

KILL!

Asuka did not feel her stomach churning as she felt a lump of flesh go down her throat through her EVA. It wasn't like the time in the apartment from the other day when she felt sick by the mere sight and thought of raw meat and her Unit chomping down at Unit 03.

Instead… She wanted more.

"KILL THE ANGEL!"

Eat.

Eat!

EAT!

Unit 02 went down to feast on the Angel's core and its remains.

It all tasted delicious to Asuka.

Maya puked to the floor next to her at the display that was shown to them. No one could blame her. They were all sickened by what they were witnessing.

Misato couldn't believe her eyes, "That's… That's not Asuka."

Ritsuko's eyes widened once a halo ring appeared on top of Unit 02's head, "It's…Could it have awakened? But how?"

The Colonel quickly turned to her friend, "You know what's happening with Unit 02? With Asuka?"

"I… am not sure if I'm being honest. But if I'm to say something that's closest to what this is… She's waking up."

"Who's she?"

They didn't have time to continue their discussion as armed guards came rushing in and aimed their guns at the two while surrounding them.

Misato demanded, "What's the meaning of this? What's going on?"

Gendo got up from his seat, "Colonel Katsuragi, from this point onwards, both you and Doctor Akagi are stripped of all your status with NERV. You two are charged with treason against NERV and humanity."

The two looked at each other before looking back up at the Commander. Ritsuko asked, "What do you mean?"

Fuyutsuki played Gendo's phone, showing a recording of their conversation with Kaji and Mari underground. "You, Dr. Akagi have brought multiple unauthorized people into a restricted area within NERV and have given one of our EVA's to an unknown assailant. As her partner in crime, Colonel Katsuragi, you will be held responsible as well. You two will be tried accordingly and punished swiftly."

He then played Kaji, retrieving the now conscious Shinji and escorting him to the elevator out of the room.

Misato let out a small sigh of relief, "Shinji… you're okay. At least you got out of this. Kaji, I'm trusting you to protect him." Now, all she needed to do was get out of this mess. But that was easier said than done.

Ritsuko's eyes almost bulged out as she stared at the Commander with a shocked expression.

How? She and Kaji made sure to hack into all the security to allow them to access that room without being noticed. Unless…

"There were hidden cameras that we didn't know about? Gendo… you never fully trusted me, did you?" She now glared at the man looking down at the man behind his shades.

Maya looked at Ritsuko, "D-Doctor Akagi, what… please tell me this isn't true." Much to her dismay, she didn't receive a response back.

The Commander held his hand out, "Take these two traitors away, their presence is no longer required here-"

"SIR!" Hyuga hastily said, "Unit 02! It's moving… to us!" Everyone in the room froze when they all heard those words.

Ritsuko said, "What can it want here? There's nothing else in here for Unit 02… No…" Her eyes widened as did both Gendo and Futyutsuki's in the realization of Unit 02's goal.

Unit 02 watched the bloodied remains of the Angel before them, breathing deeply as it watched its handiwork. It was covered in the leftover blood of the Angel with part of it dripping down its bestial mouth. The Angel…

Asuka grinned while panting heavily, "The Angel is dead."

No. This wasn't what was supposed to have happened.

"Now that the Angel's dead…I can-..." She tilted her head, "What… What was I fighting the… Angel for again?"

This is all wrong. Very wrong. What caused everything to go this… badly?

Asuka shook her head, "My… My goal was to eliminate the Angel, and I did just that…" Her head perked up. "Wait…"

There's… There's a way to fix this.

Unit 02 turned its attention towards the giant black pyramid structure. "I… I smell an Angel. There's another…" Her wild smirk widened.

Another prey.

If I can get to it, I can fix this. I just need one more try.

"Kill the Angel…" Asuka's own words repeated in her head as she got Unit 02 to take one big, limping step towards the structure.

This Angel isn't enough for Unit 02. I need that to fix this.

I need to get to the Angel.

Unit 02 went on all fours and lunged forward to its new target. The Angel that was located deep underground beneath NERV headquarters. The Second Angel that was restrained at the red cross.

Lilith.

Shinji and everyone around him watched in horror as Unit 02 devoured the Angel. It wasn't Asuka. It wasn't even a person! There's no way a person would do this!

The way it was moving was more of a feral beast than a human.

Shinji got to his feet with Rei's help, "That's… That's not Asuka. What's happening to her?"

Mari frowned as she fixed her glasses, the glare that reflected from the lenses hiding her eyes, "The Princess… is losing herself to the EVA."

Kaji scratched the back of his head, "This… doesn't look good for our plan now, does it?"

She crossed her arms, "The plan was shot the moment my connection with Unit 01 was cut. You couldn't even do your one job right." Before Kaji could reply, Mari continued, "But I can't blame you. Puppy woke up for some reason. In a way, that saves us some steps…-"

"Only to be forced to take ten steps back," Kaji finished for her.

Shinji turned to the two with Rei still supporting him, "Is… Is she going to be okay?"

Rei looked at him with a worried gaze, "Shinji, please do be careful. You should not be making any sudden movements in your current condition."

Mari looked at the other two Pilots, "Well-"

BOOM

Everyone froze when they heard a loud stomp. They all turned to see Unit 02 taking a step towards NERV Headquarters before getting all fours and rushing towards its new destination. Why was it going there? The most Mari expected was that Unit 02 would try to get out to Tokyo-3 and-

"SHIT!" Mari cursed in English. She turned to a surprised Kaji before speaking in Japanese again, "There's an Angel down there."

"And what would that matter? Asuka knows about the Angel contained down there, everyone in NERV does."

She punched in the back of his head, "You dense overgrown man-child! Do you not realize what this means? That's not the Princess. That's Unit 02's natural instinct taken over! She most likely forgot about the purpose of the Angel being contained there and can only think to act on the instinct of the EVA, which right now could be to just eat."

Mari pointed to the EVA, "Unit 02 grew an S2 Engine by devouring the Tenth Angel. Do you realize what can happen if she eats the Second Angel?"

Rei answered for the man, "Third Impact."

Shinji looked at her with a perplexed look, "B-But that's Asuka! She's not the type of person to start the Third Impact!"

"Just like you said before, Puppy," Mari said, "That's no longer the Princess. Unit 02's natural instincts took over." She bit her thumb covered in her plugsuit, "This is the absolute worst-case scenario."

Rei asked, "What do you suggest we do?"

"We need to get out of here. Make as much distance as possible," Mari said.

Kaji shook his head, "We won't make it very far."

"Then what do you suggest we do then, Mr. Agent?" She turned to him, "We don't have any means to stop her! Unit 00 is useless without its arms and Unit 01 is out the option-"

Rei said, "I shall Pilot Unit 01-"

"That's not going to work," Mari said, turning her eyes to the clone, "I've seen the recorded footage, you've failed Unit 01's activation not once, but twice. What makes you think you can even pilot it now?"

"Let me know how I can pilot it. You were able to pilot Unit 01."

"I can't anymore just as much as you can't, especially since the Puppy's awake."

"What does Shinji being awake have to do with anything related to piloting Unit 01?"

Mari sighed, "More than you think. And unfortunately, we can't do anything with our current situation being like this. It's all over."

Shinji turned her head towards Unit 02 that lunged forward to the NERV main building. He clenched and unclenched his hand. He… he can't let Asuka go through this. But how? He… he couldn't pilot again. Just a mere glance at Unit 01 reminded him of Unit 03, sending chills down his spine.

He can't do it. He… He can't pilot it.

Especially if it meant hurting Asuk-

Rei said, "It is not over. I shall do something. If I do not do anything, Asuka will be making a mistake. It is up to her friend to stop her from making one even if it means hurting her, is it not?"

Shinji turned his head towards her.

Mari said, "Listen, the only one who can pilot Unit 01 is Puppy, and look at him!" She pointed towards the Third Child, "He can barely stand! He's in no condition to-"

"I'll do it," Shinji finally spoke.

Now all eyes were on him.

Rei shook her head, "No, Shinji. There is no need for you to pilot any more. You have suffered enough."

"The Clo-... Blue's right," Mari should keep the First Child's true origins a secret for now, "You're in no condition to fight."

"But if I… If I don't do anything Asuka's going to make a big mistake…" His clenched his hand into a fist, "I can't let her go through with that!"

"But-"

Mari froze when Kaji placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let him go."

"Kaji-"

"Everyone has something that they have to do and can do, even in this situation," he eyed the desperate yet determined child. "If he wants to fight, that's his choice."

Gendo ordered the deactivation of Unit 02, ejection of the Entry Plug, and increasing the LCL pressure within the Plug, but Maya reported back the failure on all of those orders.

Misato took back what little power she had over the people before her and ordered everyone's evacuation. Both the Commander and Sub Commander let her be as they needed all hands on deck to contain and manage this situation.

Kaji continued, "You may disagree if this is the right choice or not, but I don't think we have the liberty to argue about that. He needs to make the decision here and now."

Mari wanted to argue, but couldn't. Because he was right. It was ultimately the Puppy's choice to pilot an EVA or not, despite his condition… She hated how the Puppy was their only hope in diverting the Third Impact.

BOOM

Unit 02 created a hole in the surface of the black structure. It released a roar before jumping in.

"Shinji," Kaji looked at him, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"I…" Shinji unclenched and clenched his hand one more time. "I…"

The older man said, "If you decide to back out now, no one will blame you. This is your choice. We will all respect it." He took out a cigarette and lit it with a lighter. "Not many people get the opportunity to choose, like you."

"Some of us are forced to fight despite the unfavorable odds, unable to choose our battle."

Misato was screaming for the barriers to be put up from inside the building, to try to slow down the berserk EVA's descent and buy as much time as possible. Ritsuko was working with Maya to try to deactivate the EVA while trying to get in contact with its Pilot.

"Some are unable to make a choice and face the problem without having the ability to change the end result."

Gendo and Fuyutsuki could only watch with her hands and teeth clenched at the inevitable outcome that was to come.

He continued, "Choices like these only come ever so rarely. So, Shinji." He took in the lit cigarette and blew out, "What do you want to do?"

Shinji closed his one eye and took a deep breath. His hand clenched into a fist that shook with determination. His available eye shot open.

"IT'S NO USE!" Hyuga yelled, "It just broke through the last barrier!"

Misato came over, "Where is it now?!"

Aoba's eyes widened as he shot up from his seat, "It's-"

The room shook as all the systems turned shut down with the lights dimming. The main monitor in front of them broke, revealing the berserk Unit 02. The debris from the ceiling also came down, fortunately barely missing all the remaining staff.

Its four red eyes glazed the room.

Asuka growled, "It's not here…" She sniffed the air as Unit 02 mimicked her action, "It's deeper underground."

"Kill the Angel."

I have to go deeper… Wait.

Unit 02 went forward on all fours, looking over all the frightened NERV officers other than the two leaders. Both Gendo and Fuyutsuki watched as the behemoth crawled towards them. The only emotion they were displaying was the gritting of their teeth, waiting in anticipation for what was to come next.

Ritsuko managed to get Maya out of her seat just in time to evade the falling debris. The two took a few steps back as the EVA came closer. Maya covered her mouth with her hands, trying to cover her scream. Ritsuko could only clench her hand on her assistance shoulder tighter.

Misato grabbed onto her cross, determined to face this head-on. "Asuka…you have to stop." She took a deep breath, "ASUKA!"

Her screams for the Second Child fell on deaf ears.

Unit 02, once it was close enough, stood up as it glared down towards them.

Gendo Ikari… You… You're the cause of all this, you pathetic excuse for a parent.

"You… I know you," Asuka said as she reached out with Unit 02 following the motion. It was going for the Commander and the Sub Commander.

Professor Fuyutsuki, you've failed me-

CRASH

Unit 02 didn't have a chance to grab the two leaders of NERV as Unit 01, the accents now glowing green, came crashing through the left wall. It grabbed the beast's head with its one remaining arm and slammed it against the wall on the other end, protecting the remaining people within the room.

Everyone's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of Unit 01. It was supposed to be deactivated! How did it reactivate and get here?

Ritsuko mumbled, "Mari…" She shook her head, "No…That's not her." Mari was not able to activate Unit 01 because Shinji was awake, according to Kaji's message. So who can be-... Her eyebrows started to raise as she realized who it actually was, "It's-"

Misato yelled with a mixture of worry and a smile on her face, "SHINJI?!"

She was confused if she should be happy or worried that Shinji came back to NERV to stop Asuka even though he was finally freed from his father's grasp. But he was their only hope now.

Shinji roared as he pulled Unit 02 to the giant hole in the front of the room. He kicked Unit 02 forward through the hole and lunged forward.

Rei, holding on to the coat that Shinji was wearing in her arms, was not happy. She knew what this feeling was. It was anger… She glared at Mari who was now laying down at the back of the car.

Mari, sensing the deadly gaze, said, "You have something to say, Blue?"

"Why have you allowed Shinji to pilot once more despite his weak condition?" She didn't miss a beat to reply.

With her thumb, Mari pointed towards Kaji, who was looking towards the black building over the horizon, "You should be asking him that, not me. And last I checked, you didn't do much more to stop him either."

"Because… I…"

"Because it's his choice, isn't it? Or is it because you just can't say 'no' to him?" There was no response, so Mari continued, "Either way, the best we can do is accommodate his request and decision, yea?"

She pointed towards Unit 00 which now had its Umbilical Cord disconnected. Mari said, "That's why I suggested he plug Unit 00's power cord into Unit 01 to charge as much as he could before making his descent to stop the Princess. We can only make sure he'll be ready to face the trial ahead."

The Umbilical Cord trailed to the hole on the outside of the black structure with the connection laying next to the newly made entrance. The length of the cable was unable to support the additional traveling Unit 01 had to do.

Mari said, "Hopefully, he managed to get a full charge before heading in."

"Do…" Rei looked over to the damaged pyramid, "Do you believe that Shinji will be able to stop Asuka… Unit 02 in time?"

Mari sat up and looked in the same direction as well, "We can only hope at this point." "Ms. Yui… you immediately knew it was him when he jumped in, allowing him to activate Unit 01… And I could immediately tell that he was regaining his strength when he touched the LCL…"

She fixed her glasses, "Is the Angel's blood within him reacting through the contact with the LCL?"

Shinji screamed once more as both Unit 01 and Unit 02 came crashing into a cage. He landed on top of the out-of-control EVA. At first, it hurt to move, but as he gradually continued to pilot, his energy was returning. He didn't know how nor did he care at this point.

He needed to stop Asuka… No, he needed to stop Unit 02, right now. This wasn't Asuka. She needed help!

Unit 01 pulled its arm back to land a punch but was kicked to the other side of the wall. He grunted as he hit the wall. He barely noticed Unit 02 lunging at him. He managed to grab Unit 02's head a distance away using his hand to push against its lower jaw. But that didn't stop the beast from clawing away against the remaining armor on Unit 01's chest

Shinji roared once more as he pushed the EVA Unit forward. He quickly turned Asuka's Unit around, having its back face towards him. He kicked it forward and lunged forward, eventually crashing onto one of the launch pads. "Ms. Misato!" He yelled over the open mic.

The Colonel's eyes widened, finally breaking out of her trance. She quickly ordered, "Release the lock!"

BUZZ

Unit 01 immediately kicked at the emergency launch button, forcing the pad to launch up. He held Unit 02's to the front, gliding against the wall as they were shot up.

The two were forced high up into the air, with the two behemoths soon crashing down. Shinji managed to hold Unit 02 down with its back still facing towards him. He needed to eject Asuka out of there right now.

Mari's words on how to handle this repeated in his head, "To stop her, you need to cut off connection with her and Unit 02. The easiest way would be to force eject her Entry Plug. You'll need to smash and pull through this one specific spot on the back. It's small so you'll have to really look for it."

He was frantically looking for the manual ejection switch, "Where is it? Where?!"

"GET OFF ME YOU MONSTER!" Asuka's voice roared through the comm.

"Monster?" Shinji froze at that accusation. His hands trembled as he let go of the controls. He placed his hand on the eye patch, remembering Kaji's words from when he was getting him out of the secret underground lab.

"Unfortunately, the Angel managed to infect your body. It managed to take root within you, hence the eyepatch. That's why you were kept in containment for a bit and-..."

He never really thought about the implications of those words until now. He was thinking about Asuka's safety, not his own. But now that she called him a monster, all he could do was freeze up and let Kaji's words soak in.

"The Angel in my body… I'm… a Monster?"

Sensing Unit 01's hesitation, Unit 02 quickly got the upper hand in strength as it landed a fierce backhanded punch to Unit 01's face. As the EVA fell to the floor, Asuka got up and grabbed Unit 01's arm.

No… it wasn't Unit 01 to her.

It was some sort of purple-colored beast… and it smelled like an… Angel. "I don't know… what you are, but you're an Angel… A damn monster I have to kill."

"Kill the Angel!"

Yui… I'll make things right. I promise. Please… forgive me.

Unit 02's mouth opened as it bit down on Unit 01's remaining arm and pulled it off of the body.

Shinji screamed in pain as he held his hand in agony, "Asuka…" He pleaded. "Please… stop." Everything went dark as Unit 01 deactivated, the internal timer reading:

88:88:88

The beastial EVA tossed the limb up in the air and caught it with its open mouth, swallowing it whole. "That… was good… wait… what…" She placed her hand on her chest, "What is this feeling?"

Unit 02 froze.

This… This is Lilith. I have forgotten. Unit 01 is… Yes…this will be just enough. Asuka…

You can sleep now. Mamma will handle things from here.

Asuka's eyes opened, looking up at the ceiling of her room covered in a cold sweat. "Ugh…" She sat up and held her head, "My head's throbbing… What was I dreaming about again?" She looked at the clock on the counter, it was nine in the morning.

"I woke up this early on a no school day." She groaned. "Well, no use going back to sleep." She smelled the food in the air. "Mind as well get breakfast."

She got up and opened the door to see Misato with her head on the table. Asuka walked up as she asked, "Hangover again?"

"Morning to you too," she groaned and waved her hand. "God, I just want this to end." A glass of water landed next to the guardian. "Thanks, Rei."

"It is no problem," Rei responded. "Though, I do believe Asuka did warn you this may happen if you resumed drinking last night."

"Don't remind me," another groan from Misato. "But I didn't have work today, I couldn't let a rare opportunity like that pass up."

Rei, having noticed that Asuka had joined them, said, "Good morning, Asuka."

"Oh that's right, she stayed the night."

How could Asuka have forgotten? They were having the dinner party at Misato's place instead of Rei's. It was just the five of them with the two stooges and Hikari. The three classmates left shortly after the meal was completed, unable to see Misato's drunken state.

Rei, however, was not as fortunate.

"Morning to you too, First," she greeted. "Did you sleep well on the couch last night?"

There was a nod, "It was sufficient. Thank you for allowing me to stay the night. I was unsure if any rides were available by the time dinner was completed."

"Don't worry about it. None of us wanted you to head out alone at night. We're not heartless, you know." Asuka sat down across from Misato with Rei taking her place next to her.

Asuka placed her hand on her head. Something felt… off. Like she… forgot something… but what? Her stomach growled.

"Hey, Third," she turned with her hand resting on the chair, "When's breakfast going to be ready?"

"S-Sorry," Shinji turned from the kitchen with two dishes in his hands, "Th-They're done." He placed one in front of Asuka and one in front of Misato. "I'll get yours soon, Rei."

Rei gave a small smile, "Thank you, Shinji."

There was a low groan from Misato, "Thanks Shinji."

Something was tugging at Asuka's chest the moment saw him. Even more so the moment he said something… but what? And why? All she could do was stare at him. Why did looking at him make her want to-

Just as he turned to retrieve Rei's portion, out of instinct, Asuka immediately reached out and grabbed his arm, surprising everyone at the table.

Confused and surprised by her sudden action, Shinji asked, "D-Do you need anything else?"

Asuka didn't answer but kept a gaze upon her hand that was holding onto him. For some reason, the fact that she was able to grab a hold of him brought a strange calmness to her… almost as if this confirmed to her that this was real.

"Of course this is. Why wouldn't it be?"

"A-Asuka? Is something the matter?"

She shook her head, "Nothing, Third." She let him go, "Just get me a glass of juice or something. I'm thirsty. And… this looks good."

"Sure! And t-thanks!" Shinji responded with a smile.

Asuka grabbed her fork.

Rei asked, "Is everything okay with you, Asuka?"

"Everything's fine, don't worry."

She took one bite of the meal in front of her, almost bringing tears to her eyes. "Damn, this is good. Why does it feel like I haven't had this in a long time?"

She saw Shinji bring Rei her portion and gave Asuka her drink. When he was close again, she felt something in her chest again. She was still unable to figure out what this was.

She shook her head, "If it was important, I'm sure it'll come to me eventually."

Don't worry about anything. When you wake up, it'll be a world where you'll finally be safe and happy, like this one.

A bright white and yellow color halo appeared over Unit 02's head as it started to float up into the air.

Mari jumped off the seat when she saw this, "Wait what? Unit 02 only ate a piece of Unit 01 and is ascending with just that? How? The only way would be… Lilith… But I thought Unit 01 was… Damn it…" She shook her head in frustration. "This is so confusing."

Her fists started to shake as she narrowed her attention to the fallen Unit 01, "Ms. Yui, please, do something."

Rei took a few steps forward while clutching the coat in her arms tighter, "No Asuka… this is not who you are. Please… remember."

Kaji dropped the cigarette to the floor and stomped on the remains, "So, it turned out to be Unit 02 that awakened first before the other Units were ready… SEELE won't be quiet about this.." He looked over to the side and noticed a group of people coming out of one of the entrances. "Misato… I'm sorry. We tried…"

The NERV crew that came with both Misato and Ritsuko, which consisted of Maya, Hyuga, and Aoba, all watched as Unit 02 ascended to the night skies while it left behind the deactivated and defeated Unit 01 on the ground.

The chest plates of Unit 02 were forced off, exposing the red core. The halo ring over its head turned red and grew larger as multiple layers of differently shaded red and black circular halos appeared.

Ritsuko knew what was happening, "Breaking free of the human limits that restricted it, the EVA now returns to its original form. It has dissolved the curse humans have placed on it."

The ground beneath them started to shake as fissures started to appear around Tokyo-3. The hole within the halo-filled sky started to devour the building and ground beneath it. Screams could be heard as more buildings were sucked up to the skies.

Unit 02's whole body started to emit a rainbow aura as beams of lights, reminiscent of wings, emitted from its core and body.

"And has exceeded humans to transform into a near-Godlike the huge waves of complementarity, it spins Heaven, Earth, and all creation together, transforming itself into a condensed energy form. It's doing that to grant the wish of one human being. Just for that…"

Gendo and Fuyutsuki watched from a distance on another side of the Geo Front. Their hands were clenched as the two were figuring out their next move.

The Sub Commander was the first to say, "To think, the Second Child alone was able to awaken Unit 02 to this height…" "Kyoko… just what was your plan with this specific one out of all the Shikinami Series?"

"Both you and I know, Professor, that it takes at least two souls to awaken an EVA. This means, there's a secret in which we both don't know about Unit 02…"

"Yes… but the scenario… Will we be able to recover from this?"

"What happened today doesn't mean our plan is all for naught." His eyes went to Unit 01, being the only one to notice it twitch.

Ritsuko continued as the world around them started to turn red, "This is the birth of a new life that transcends the logos of this world."

Unit 02 started to get covered in the dark energy it created, no longer emitting the rainbow aura from before. Its four red eyes, which managed to glow through the energy, stared down at the ground below.

"The cost of it is the elimination of older life."

Misato clenched her cross while she looked on in fear and worry, "Those wings…" She knew them. "Just like fifteen years ago."

"Yes. It's the continuation of the Second Impact. The Third Impact has begun." Ritsuko's voice weakened as she declared, "The world is about to end."

Shinji wrapped himself in his arms as Asuka's words slowly ate away at him. "I'm a monster… I'm a monster… I'm…"

"Asuka could've gotten hurt. I couldn't see that happen to her." His own words to Misato during Unit 03's activation day repeated in his head.

"I… What can I even do? I hurt her… and she called me a monster. She… she wants me dead."

"You should be happy. Not many people get the chance to make the choices like you did." Misato's words to him that day echoed in the Entry Plug.

"Ms. Misato… But I…- Does my choice really matter? Maybe… it's better if I don't do anything. What can a monster like me even do? It's all over."

"It is not over. I shall do something. If I do not do anything, Asuka will be making a mistake. It is up to her friend to stop her from making one even if it means hurting her, is it not?"

"Rei… I… But to her… I'm a monster. I'm not her friend." His grip around himself tightened. All he wanted to do was run away and hide. He didn't want to do this anymore-

"But if I… If I don't do anything Asuka's going to make a bad mistake…" His own words argued against him. "I can't let her go through with that!"

His head popped up, "That's right…" Shinji's grip on himself weakened. "Even if I'm a monster... I… I can't let her go through with that. I… I can't run away."

Kaji's words now started to urge him forward, "Everyone has something that they have to do and can do, even in this situation…"

Shinji shook his head and grabbed the controls in front of him. "I mustn't run away."

"...Not many people get the opportunity to choose like you. Some of us are forced to fight despite the unfavorable odds, unable to choose our battle. Some are unable to make a choice and face the problem without having the ability to change the end result."

He closed his one available eye. "I mustn't run away."

"Choices like these only come ever so rarely. So Shinji. What do you want to do?"

"I… I may be a monster to her… But… I can't run away… I… I'm going to stop her from making a mistake. Asuka…" Shinji took a deep breath before opening his one eye which now glowed an angry red color. "I'm not going to run away!"

Unit 01's red eyes opened. It forced its body to raise up to get back on its feet despite missing both arms.

Maya couldn't believe what she was seeing, "It's moving? But it should be at the end of its active time limit."

Misato turned her attention to Unit 01, "Is… Is it still Shinji? Or has Unit 01 gone berserk?" They could not deal with another rogue EVA right now.

"I don't know," Ritsuko said. Everyone watched as Unit 01's accented armor now glowed orange-red. This was similar yet different from Unit 02. "What on Earth is happening with Unit 01?"

Unit 01 opened its mouth and roared towards Unit 02's ascended state in the sky. It took one step forward. With another roar, both eyes glowed, firing a beam of light towards the being in the center of the Third Impact.

But the blast was blocked by an AT-Field generated by Unit 02. Its attention now went to Unit 01.

Yui, stop! Don't you see? With this, I can fix everything. I can make it all better!

Another beam was fired against the AT-Field, meeting the same result like the one from before.

Unit 01 released another roar as Shinji finally yelled over the open mic, "Asuka!"

Misato, after the shockwave from the attack ceased, took a step forward with hope and a faint smile appearing on her face. "Shinji!" Everything was not lost after all!

"Ms. Misato, please stand back!" Shinji yelled Unit 01 bent down, getting ready to jump towards it.

Just give me a little more ti-

"Go Shinji! You have to-!"

Misato didn't have the time to finish as a red spear pierced through the red-ringed sky and penetrated through Unit 02's chest. The glow on Unit 02 died down as the red sky shattered, revealing the true night sky that loomed over Tokyo-3.

The now deactivated EVA fell from the sky as the spear pierced through the ground. Unit 02 lay in the middle of the weapon as it was preventing the large behemoth from completely falling to the ground.

Shinji's eyes widened as he quietly said, "No… Asuka…"

No one could believe what just happened. The Third Impact… was it stopped?

"What on Earth happened?" Misato asked, knowing that no one knew the answer. Everyone looked to the skies as an EVA with a halo ring over its head descended onto the earth.

Mark 06 loomed over the sleeping Unit 02, "Now… it's time for you to sleep. There is no longer any need to correct something that is not correctable." Kaworu's eyes narrowed towards Unit 02, "You have ensured that there is no longer any room for his happiness with your selfishness. I have seen them."

The new EVA kept its head towards the fallen Unit 02 as it touched the ground next to it. "You, who do not belong here, have doomed him to forever be-"

Mark 06, with one motion, nonchalantly held its hand out to the side, generating an AT-Field and stopped the angry Unit 01 in its place. It was almost as if Mark 06's Pilot was expecting this to have happened.

"YOU HURT HER!" Shinji screamed as his eyes glowed an even brighter crimson red and a red light illuminated behind his eye patch. A halo ring appeared on top of Unit 01's head.

"Your reaction to this action never changes, Shinji Ikari," Kaworu quietly said with a small frown. "I am sorry, however, this was a necessary event that had to have happened if I am to bring a true smile to your face. This is something I will not fail on." His eyes narrowed while a small smile appeared at the same time, "Not this time."

Unit 01 roared against the AT-Field, shaking the ground beneath it. It recreated both of its arms made out of its AT-Field, ready to fight against this new enemy. It clashed both of its newly generated hands against the Field.

Only those who were present to witness this battle, and those hiding in the shadows, knew of the true outcome with the truth of this event hidden for the next fourteen years.

SEELE 01 said, "It seems that our assumptions were correct. Unit 02 was altered from the original scope by Kyoko Zeppelin Shikinami, also known as Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu. However, just because Unit 02 awakened does not mean all is lost. In fact, all could not be better."

All the SEELE obelisks' number markings glowed brighter. All of them all said at the same time, "For all is right in the world. The Final Hour is nigh."

Author's Note: Thank you for reading this big jumble of words! Hope it wasn't too bad of a read.

I really didn't mean for it to get this long. I was tempted to split this into two parts, but at the same time, I didn't want to drag this part out longer than it should. I can just hope that I landed well enough with this.

I hope I didn't go too little with Unit 01's "the beast" mode design. I wanted to keep it simple but have it have a more of a 'berserker' feel to it while having Unit 02 be more 'feral'. Not sure if I got that across, especially with the fighting styles.

But if you made it this far, thanks again!

And thank you to all who left a review for the previous chapter: MooseTracks101, ThyDevoutBeliever, Alfredo12StarLegionaire, Greg242, LetsPilot, zipper0, Guest, sz, Jim D. Zas, AirGuitar035, calborghete, , YourBlandestNightmare, dyinglittelstar, tomdj1701, engel17white, ErrorDataExpunged, and everyone else who may have reviewed through Discord separately!

Hope you all enjoyed this long jumble of a chapter!

Take care.