Chapter 35: Will This End?

Gendo Ikari was not the only individual in NERV the men behind SEELE were in contact with. The destruction of Maelstrom was supposed to signal the end of the Angels and allow their plans to progress without difficulties. Recent developments and growing suspicion surrounding Gendo however made many of them wonder what could possibly keep them from immediately claiming their end goal.

To their fortune, the three MAGI technicians were given the information necessary to prepare for what would otherwise place them all in jeopardy. The attempts at manipulation they were subject to would not go unanswered and they would remain on favorable ground the further they went. All of it was thanks to the information presented to them from their newest assistant.

The 01 Monolith congratulated, "You have done well Mitsuru Wakatake. Whatever your reasons for joining us, they will be the benefit of us all."

Mitsuru raised his head before locking his arms behind his back as he acknowledged his part in what he prepared, "This is what I was meant to fulfill all along. The promise of Instrumentality is more than I ever imagined."

The 12 Monolith asked, "And you say that we will be met with resistance? If we are to expect your information to be true, then you must have knowledge of who is orchestrating the response."

Mitsuru turned his head to the Monolith answering, "There are agents from the Japanese government within NERV headquarters. Led by Kyoya Kenzaki."

The 07 Monolith observed, "How fitting. The one who attempted to free himself of the Legion programming."

The 08 Monolith added, "It is fortunate we did not rely on him so much. He had a purpose to fulfill and now he can be dealt with."

Prepared to reiterate his loyalty to SEELE, Mitsuru returned his attention to the leader of the monoliths asking, "Is that what you want from me? To kill him?"

The 01 Monolith corrected, "If it is necessary. You will find that there are many more of us waiting to activate than you may have expected."

Willing to accept that he would not hear anything else for the moment, Mitsuru smiled before he told the gathering, "You have certainly surprised me as well as my assumptions of Kyoya. I look forward to seeing just how far your reach has gone."

The 03 Monolith warned, "There is little you will be able to achieve now. Instrumentality is at hand. And we will make sure every one of our pieces remains loyal to our cause. Including you."

The 01 Monolith concluded, "Let it be known that we will see great things happening soon. With the volunteering and discoveries we make going forward, the end is very much in sight now."

The holograms of the monoliths faded from existence before Mitsuru turned to follow the MAGI technicians out as he recited his evaluation of the achievement, "No more suffering. And no more questioning of the human condition."

Mitsuru's head rang as he forced himself up from the floor. His pursuit of Kyoya brought him into a struggle he hoped would have been easier to deal with, but he ultimately proved to be more clever than he expected. It forced him to strike Kaede as he tried to find Hajime but was held back long enough to keep him from catching up. His efforts were not in vain however as he had a chance to see what his pursuit gave him.

Mitsuru heard Kyoya's last words before a gun shot him in the head and left a puddle of blood on the floor. He looked around to see the destruction that had been achieved with means he did not initially understand but accepted them all the same. More importantly he had a chance to meet face to face with the agent SEELE sent to end Kyoya's life.

As soon as the sound stopped ringing through his ears, Mitsuru looked up to greet, "Well, I am fortunate to finally see you fulfill your purpose."

Hawk withdrew his gun as he told him, "I was not looking forward to it. But the Instrumentality of humanity must be achieved now."

Mitsuru walked past Kyoya's corpse agreeing, "It is remarkable what sort of information he was able to acquire. It was because of him that we have seen so much suffering and confusion. All he ever did in the end was validate SEELE."

Hawk turned to the halls he came down as he announced, "Once we find Gendo Ikari, we will be successful. It will only be a question of how long now."

Preparing to fulfill his new purpose within the depths of NERV, Mitsuru followed behind Hawk agreeing, "The lies that have impeded us before will be heard for the last time."

What hopes SEELE had of seeing Instrumentality achieved were forced to see another roadblock. Gendo Ikari not only had the foresight to protect himself from the Legion program but threatened to virtually undo everything they were hoping to achieve. No matter how secure anything was, nothing would be able to survive the ignition of an N2 mine.

Everything that happened seemed to contradict what SEELE was capable of and caused Mitsuru to ask, "We foresaw so much but we're not able to adequately prepare for such an ultimatum?"

Hawk watched the corridors to keep watch of anyone making their way towards him answering, "Legion was made to answer every situation we could foresee. If we had more time we would have had the entire facility under our control long ago."

Satsuki added, "The good commander believes he can maintain Instrumentality on his own terms. This confirms he is capable of achieving it, we only need to extract the information from him."

With the ultimate goal still out of their reach, Hawk reminded, "We may have been able to achieve this much but we needed to secure Adam."

Satsuki agreed while reviewing, "We all thought the good commander was ready to cooperate with us. Unfortunately, we still manage to find those who believe our aspirations should be in their hands rather than everyone."

Mitsuru thought about another development that occurred against the Angel Arael, "Now we do not even have the Lance of Longinus to control Lilith. Our options have run thin and that makes our hold fragile."

Seeing Mitsuru's frustration made Hawk try to ease him reminding, "The only scenario that could jeopardize us now is if the Fifth Child finds Adam before us. Our situation has been the sum of many complications and gambits to achieve our ends. All we are facing now is another delay."

Looking down the hall to see the Japanese military establishing its hold over NERV, Mitsuru took a heavy breath before accepting, "So long as we clear our remaining obstacles, we will have the last word on where we end this web of deceit."

As four days passed, Mitsuru and the others learned just what sort of obstacle SEELE would have. It was a comparably unimpressive one especially compared to Maelstrom before it, but the new Angel was not a sight anyone had been anticipating. As simply another piece of NERV surviving its recent invasion, Mitsuru was fortunate to find himself as a mere spectator instead of another piece in this complicated game both organizations were attempting to outmaneuver each other with.

Approaching the edges of Tokyo-3 Maelstrom left its mark, the Angel Zefon raised its left fist and thrust it into the first building he found. It crumbled down before Zefon stepped back and used its core to build a sphere of energy before firing into the distance. A trail of destruction was left as the path for Zefon to take as it began its walk towards the location of its goal.

The sight of such devastation left much of NERV in shock at what just appeared. The last Angel was not destroyed and they were left in a compromised situation even after repairing the Eva units. Being forced on the defensive was an action no one was hoping for and became an ultimate test of the occupants within NERV.

Takeshi looked around before turning to Fuyutsuki asking, "What the Hell is this?! All of the invading Angels are supposed to be destroyed!"

Fuyutsuki remained indifferent to the revelation as he explained, "The commander told me as such. It would seem we are all trapped now."

Shigeru reminded them how serious the situation was as he reported, "It's making its way further into the city! Nothing is interrupting it!"

The warning made Takeshi look up at the screen while he forced himself to remain calm against the impending danger. This Angel was indeed advancing but there was an opportunity for him to respond to this creature's appearance. Without the necessary permission to handle the situation himself, he was left trying to imagine who would be left to defend what he accomplished.

As though someone heard Takeshi's thoughts, one of his men made his way up to him and reported, "We have a message from the Prime Minister sir! He is appointing you as emergency commander of NERV!"

Takeshi turned around as he realized what sort of responsibility he was being tasked with. He knew NERV might have served a purpose after removing Gendo Ikari from power, but taking it on himself was the last thing he was expecting. In any other situation he would have approached this more diplomatically, but he also knew the people he was hoping to negotiate with.

Realizing he had no time to debate the merit of his situation made Takeshi sigh before reluctantly accepting, "Tell him I accept full responsibility for the position. I will begin right away." Turning to the main screen he announced, "All personnel! If you want to survive this scenario, you will cooperate with my orders! Now what do we have to respond to that thing with?"

Makoto answered, "We have Unit-02 and Unit-04 as potential units to engage the enemy. It will be dependent on which pilots we can get to cooperate with us."

Takeshi ordered, "Get them both now! Send them out there and send what we have to stop this!"

Seeing Takeshi's urgency on display made Fuyutsuki smirk as he asked, "You believe it will be easy to command this place?"

Fuyutsuki's question made Takeshi remain focused on the screen as he dismissed, "By the time this is over, you will see how much more efficiently I will make this place the best chance for survival the human race."

Shinji could not believe what he was looking at as he saw the burning trench recently formed. What he believed was another response from SEELE turned out to be the last appearance he was hoping for. Despite everything he understood from previous explanations, he saw Zefon making its way through Tokyo-3 and brushing aside what little remained in its way.

He looked outside Hajime's car stating, "That... That can't... be right..."

Hajime made a hard turn as he avoided being locked into the upcoming traffic and corrected, "We can never tell what's going to happen with absolute certainty. I honestly thought we would hear from Kyoya about this by now."

Shinji received little assurance from that observation as he clenched his hands and asked, "Does this always have to happen? When does it end?"

The pair of questions were answered as Hajime parked into an alley, "NERV will be able to respond. It's all a question of how you plan on coming out of this."

Being told about his freedom caused Shinji to shake his head before asking, "How? I don't even want to do anything! Everything can just die for all I care! Let Kaworu do it for all I care!"

Hajime stepped out of his car and took Shinji by the arm asking him, "Do you think that's what Kaworu wants? He might not have been completely honest with you but caring about you is the only thing that makes sense at this point."

Despite what doubts he had about everyone around him, there was little Shinji could do to deny what Hajime observed. If he was willing to let all of human existence die he would be denying the affections of one of the few people who ever cared about him. It was not until after realizing what his line of thinking was doing that he found himself wondering how much he actually valued the people around him. He then found himself wondering how he could have the capacity to care about what others thought about him if his misery had taken hold of him this much.

Unable to keep his confusion silent any longer, Shinji stated, "It's just wrong. I've been nothing but a burden to everyone. I don't even matter right now and that thing is supposed to be what I was meant to fight."

Hajime did not need to turn around to know Zefon was the subject Shinji was talking about. Be it from a lack of communication or the development of NERV'S occupation, neither of them could see any way to reconcile what was troubling him right now. All of this looked over both of them under the last obstacle they or the human race hoped to see again.

He sighed realizing how Shinji's survival instincts were still refusing to kick in as he told him, "Not everyone dismisses you Shinji. It's your choice if you want to abandon them."

While the words were as sincere as Hajime could manage, they only made Shinji step away and fall to the ground as he looked up in the air with the car supporting him. Hajime knew this was the best he could manage with Shinji's current state and turned to face the destruction spreading in front of him. He was fortunate to find his way out of Zefon's path but knew this would force both of them to contemplate their place in a conflict that was going to stretch on longer than they ever hoped.

Keeping sight of the Angel above him, Shinji asked, "How is Kaworu going to even handle one of them?"

Looking up to Zefon making its progress through the city, Hajime reluctantly answered, "I know your concern. We might be finding out the hard way soon enough. Now where is that thing headed?"

Shinji could see Hajime using a small device in his hand but could not make sense of what he was looking at. The destruction Zefon left in its wake was still coming closer to the location of Hajime's car but did little to stop his rapid work. It was a short few seconds before he would finally discover what the purpose of the device as soon as he saw him look at the screen intently.

Hajime gritted his teeth cursing, "God damn it… She better be following the evacuation…"

Unsure who Shinji was referring to, he asked, "Who?"

The question made Hajime breath before revealing, "We went through all this work to get her out of NERV and she could be a casualty with the way the Angel is headed."

It was the only thing Shinji needed to hear for him to piece anything together. The apartment complex Misato Katsuragi occupied was in danger from an Angel attack after avoiding the paths of so many before. Just this fact alone made him widen his eyes as he realized what his neglect and self-deprecation was achieving.

One of the few individuals he could say he ever had any respect for was in serious danger from the incoming disaster. This realization caused him to clench his fists as he realized what his inaction was threatening. More than anything he regretted ever saying the earlier things he said to Hajime as though he had just thrown away the last chance he had to make everything right with Misato.

Against what sense he had left, desperation had taken its full hold over Shinji in his desire to take back everything he said. He threw his door open before throwing himself out and into the alleyways where he began his sprint. He did not even heed what calls came from Hajime as he realized the boy he tried to protect was throwing himself into danger.

"What is the meaning of this Ikari?"

"You have placed us all in danger!"

"Your reports said we would be facing the last Angel! You only needed to deal with the Fifth Child before our preparations could be complete!"

"None of us will gain anything from this stunt of yours!"

"How can you be so petty to believe this is worth any risk?"

There were only a few times Gendo ever heard the gathering of SEELE so excitable but knew everything that was causing them to be so wrought with fear. It was a satisfying feeling for him to see the men supposed to be his superiors coming to him out of desperation but knew it was far from enough. He only had SEELE in his hands now and he needed to begin to manipulate them.

With this in mind, Gendo explained, "I gave you all the translation of the Book of Shemaiah that we had. Not the complete text."

The 04 Monolith called out the omission, "You held back such a crucial piece of it all this time?! How many are left?!"

Gendo answered, "More than this one. Assuming we will survive this attack."

There was no audible sound of frustration from any of the monoliths but Gendo knew there must have been several who were not happy to receive such a cryptic answer from him. The imposing nature they once had in him were lost as he found SEELE at his mercy. There was clearly deliberation among them he did not have a chance to hear but he knew they were struggling to imagine how they could regain what leverage they once had.

Even the 01 Monolith spoke against the continued secrecy as it demanded, "Enough of this! You will surrender the information now Ikari! Or you will not be included any further in our plans!"

Gendo raised his head to remind, "You know that I am necessary. It is my life that will determine how soon you discover Adam and keep it out of the hands of the Angels."

The 01 Monolith continued its attempt to negotiate with Gendo as it asked, "What will it take then Ikari? What sort of demand are you trying to achieve?"

With the same look of focus, Gendo looked up to the monolith and answered, "Instrumentality will be done on my terms. I may be surrounded by your agents, but I will hold the final say when it happens."

Another long silence passed between Gendo and the SEELE monoliths before the 04 Monolith pointed out, "Whatever you are hoping to achieve, it will be meaningless in the grand scheme of it all Ikari."

The 05 Monolith agreed, "You may be able to claim you are the one who achieved it, but it will mean nothing afterwards."

Gendo remained committed to his offer and warned, "And I am the one with the upper hand in all of this. If Instrumentality will be achieved, it will be because I made it possible."

The 01 Monolith finally accepted, "None of us understand how you have survived after all this time, but you will lose your command of NERV if you intend to remain here."

While there was a temptation to boast about his achievement, Gendo humbly accepted, "You forced me to resign myself here. But that is all I was hoping for when this ended."

The 07 Monolith added another condition, "This will only be acceptable if you surrender the remainder of the text now Ikari. If we are going to be prepared for future attacks, we need your cooperation."

Gendo knew there was no point reminding SEELE of what power he had over them as he answered, "I would if it were possible. The copy of the text has been destroyed. All of it has been committed to my memory."

Another long pause came over the gathering as the SEELE monoliths discovered another advantage Gendo had over them. The negotiation was long and difficult but the ground had finally been established. Gendo Ikari had SEELE at his bidding despite the occupation of NERV and he would be able to call for Instrumentality when he wanted it to be done. With everything that had been established, the motivations between the two were unclear as ever but now made the subject of Instrumentality's achievement as only a matter of time.

As though desperate to ensure he had no sense of superiority over them, the 11 Monolith condemned, "You have gone to great lengths to achieve this Ikari. None of this would have been necessary if you had not withheld this from us."

Unmoved by the accusation, Gendo assured, "The end will be the same. NERV is already in a position where it can effectively run on its own. The people here know their purpose and will soon never want another one."

The 01 Monolith made its final demand as the only motion it could make, "For the sake of preparation Ikari, you will answer now. How many Angels remain?"

Watching TV was the only thing Misato was interested in doing right now and she was not even permitted that luxury. She was treated to a black screen and all the other electronic appliances being cut off from working. Judging from the familiar crashes and eruptions outside, she had a suspicion of what was causing all of this.

Looking to confirm the source of the loud noises, Misato forced herself up for the first time in what felt like forever and made her way across the littered floor to her windows. She looked out the window and discovered how right she was. The Angel Zefon stomped its way through Tokyo-3 along the path it burned for itself while tossing its disproportionately sized fists to both sides in its advance.

Misato knew she should have felt fear overwhelm her in this situation but at best only found herself acknowledging the threat. The devastation left by Maelstrom was already enough but her life was threatened just by remaining where she was. She knew this danger was coming to claim her but she could not even bring herself to fear for her life.

"What good am I now anyway?" Misato asked herself. There was no one around to hear her. At least no one who would have been able to understand her.

She remembered that Pen Pen was still with her and waiting for whatever decision Misato would make to protect them both. Remembering that her only roommate was a penguin that did not even understand human emotions left Misato realizing just how detached she was. It took her a few seconds to remember that there were people who feared her loss if she did nothing to save herself.

Her mother, Kyoya, Asuka, Koji, Hajime, Shinji. The last one stung her as Misato came to determine what would happen if she did die. Everyone might miss her for a while, she would not be able to change the life of anyone, but life would move on. Even some people like Shinji might be pleased that at this point he would not have to meet her face to face again.

Misato brought a hand to her stomach as she remembered another factor that made her reconsider her fatalistic view of where she was now. There were those alive she surrounded herself with and now there was life inside her. She was condemning someone who was not even born into the world because of her willingness to approach someone so close and give her complete trust. She could not decide if it was regret for how she felt or if she was physically sick from symptoms.

Whatever the reason was for her feeling sick right now, there was one thing Misato remembered that made her extinguish what hope she had for allowing herself to live as she heard her mother resonate, 'No. I don't think you can handle a baby.'

As though she hoped her mother could hear her, Misato determined, "That says all I need." Turning away from the advance of Zefon's rampage, she found herself talking to Pen Pen explaining further, "I never deserved anything nice that happened to me. I really thought things could have been better. Here I am. Stuck here. And I can't even get drunk."

Misato hoped for some sort of reaction but only saw Pen Pen tilt his head before laying on his back. She was not sure if he was resigned to his fate like she was, but Misato could not tell what good it would be at this point. The more she thought about it, the more she began to hope the Angel would crush her to death.

'So that's it? This is what your life is worth? Your life is worth so little? It's incredible you let yourself live after all this time.'

It might have been her mother, Ritsuko, or someone else she might have considered to be a friend once. All that was clear to Misato was she heard the scorn of someone that no longer had any respect for her. It was what she would hear in life and it was what she would hear in death. She was a terrible excuse for a supporting figure and she had done nothing to make anyone's life better in the end.

"Yeah. Misato Katsuragi. Missed by no one. A burden to everyone."

It seemed to be the perfect answer for her as she considered all the pain she caused in life. If anything her death and the loss of her baby here would be a mercy more than anything. Misato felt herself tear at the sort of print on life she would leave behind and there seemed to be no apparent way for her to change what might happen.

Turning to see the Angel continue its march to her location, Misato resigned herself to the gate coming as she asked, "If it's a mercy for everyone then what good is my life?"

There was no way Shinji could describe the fear he was feeling as soon as he discovered where Zefon was headed. By all accounts he should not have even cared about what was happening if he had any sense of ill will. He was thankful Hajime was there to keep guard over him but his seemingly irrational fear was the only thing that was driving him forward.

As soon as he came upon a pile of rubble, Shinji found himself stuck in place while Hajime called out, "What are you hoping you can achieve?"

Shinji turned around to remind, "Miss Misato is still out there! She might be in trouble!"

Hajime found himself amazed at the sight of Shinji's current state. It was not so long ago that he did not even want to look at Misato or anyone else for that matter. Now with another danger threatening the human race, it seemed to bring context to what sort of danger she might have been in.

Looking at the path of destruction Zefon was leaving behind, Hajime observed, "I take it this is making you worry about her?"

While Shinji found himself alarmed by the softening noise of Zefon's advance, he still found himself able to piece together his reasoning for his rush to Misato's apartment by answering, "I did this to her and I need to make it right! She deserves to live more than I do!"

Grabbing him by the shoulder, Hajime tried to stop his rush by making him remember everything he had demonstrated before, "Tell me what it is Shinji. What does she matter to you?"

Hajime could not argue he wanted to see Misato suffer either, he received confirmation of how dedicated Shinji was as he pulled himself out of his grasp and was told, "She's a better person than me and I hurt her so much already! I have to save her!"

While it was difficult for Hajime to argue against Shinji's intentions, he still denied the approach by reminding, "You won't be able to do anything if you're dead. You don't have Unit-01, you're only throwing your life in danger this way."

Shinji felt his stomach sink as he realized how right Hajime was. The newest Angel did little to distinguish itself from the others but still towered over him and any other person he could think of. He had no strength necessary to even think of preventing the monster's advance towards Misato's location.

Realizing that his only hope for keeping everything from going wrong came from Misato escaping the area was not an assuring idea. It was enough to make Shinji fall to the ground on his knees while Zefon slammed its first into another building in its advance. It did not hit Misato's apartment complex but it was only a matter of time before the destruction found its way towards her.

Being forced to accept that such danger seemed to be completely out of his control made Shinji fall to his knees. What was meant to be an act of mercy instead earned disdain from him as he considered what Hajime was able to achieve. Just when it seemed like he was willing to care about Misato again and what might happen to her, he was forced to witness her life being completely at the mercy of the Angel.

Seeing the Angel continue its advance made Shinji struggle through the building stress before asking, "What am I supposed to do? How is Miss Misato going to survive? Is it really going to end like this?"

Hajime wanted to assure Shinji that Misato would never allow herself to be placed in this sort of danger but caught himself from doing so. He knew Shinji was not the sort of person who would accept an optimistic scenario with things the way they were now. It was even worse when he considered what sort of state he left Misato in the last time he left her.

The situation left him to regret that he did not force himself into Shinji's state of mind earlier where he might have had a chance to give way to some progress. It was all too late now and he was being forced to be a spectator to the ongoing destruction in front of him. He knew the Eva units were more than likely to respond but who could say if they would arrive in time or not make Misato's apartment collateral damage?

He was not willing to answer any of Shinji's questions but Hajime still took the opportunity to pray, "Misato please tell me you are strong enough to make it through this..."

Misato did not know how anyone could have expected that she was willing to live through this sort of disaster. She found herself smirking at the idea when she decided it could be applied in more than one way. Whether it was her life or everyone around her, reaching up to this point seemed like the perfect ending for where she could end up. It even made sense considering how miserable she had been for a good chunk of her life.

As much as she hoped for an end to the suffering, seeing Pen Pen across from her made Misato confirm, "All the way to the end, I'll be hurting everyone I ever cared about. And to think you're the last one I'll ever get to say that to."

Eventually the sound of destruction became so great that Misato struggled to even think about what was happening right now. She turned around and noticed that Zefon was indeed making its way towards her and closer than ever before. All she wanted now was to have her hope granted as the Angel would send its wrath in her direction. Whether it was punishment for everything she had done or just vengeance in the name of Second Impact, she was content to allow whatever came next to be her judgement.

It was another few steps before Zefon stood across from Misato's apartment complex and began to grant her wish. It raised its hand and prepared for a mighty throw that would claim another building in wake of its advance. It was an even shorter amount of time before a deafening crash made its approach toward it.

A/N: You probably know the drill by now, Zefon is another Angel from Decisive Battle in Tokyo-3. Not much of a follow-up to the insanity that Maelstrom was but it fulfills the scenario I have in mind. I also thought it was important to set up the sense of realization Shinji would have and frame Misato's state of mind I set up in the previous chapter.

So recently I received a guest review that made me confirm what I might have risked with this story's progression. I guess I really did let this drag on more than I should have. I have to admit that when I set up the structure for this story, I was really worried about whether or not I was portraying things as realistically or in character as I could have.

If it's any conciliation, I can tell you this much for future chapters: Chapter 37 is when Shinji and Misato will begin to get back together. For the situation about their kid: It might be hard to imagine but I actually don't plan on having either scenario you suspect play out. This is just me trying to give some sense of assurance that continuing forward will have some sense of payoff and I'm sorry if I lost your interest as a reader.

I promise that the story will continue as planned once the proceeding chapters are ready. I will try to provide satisfactory answers for what caused it next time. I hope to see you all then.