A New Cause

by Traitor of All Traitors

Where the madness ended, a new darkness will begin, one that leads to light…if those that are tasked with leading the way can endure the wrath of those that stand against them…as well as each other. The Angels descend, the dead talk, myths and legends come to life, and judgment comes to more than just Japan. All of the world isn't safe…but is it in any greater danger than before?

30. Whole and Broken

Creation began on 09-25-16

Creation ended on 10-13-16

Neon Genesis Evangelion

A New Cause: Whole and Broken

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger from the previous chapter, but I wanted to leave you hanging until this chapter was posted.

The next day, as she sat against the trunk of the tree in the backyard, Mana thought about the most trivial thing to think about this year. Of all the things she could've thought of, she thought about Halloween, the one night of every year where people dressed like aliens and fairy princesses and got free candy and try to scare each other into having nightmares. But these weren't why she thought about it. The reason she thought about Halloween was because of how safe it could be or just different because of the actions of Death chasing bad guys.

The best-case scenario was people being able to enjoy the night. The worst-case scenario was people having to celebrate the holiday before the sun goes down and some crazies tried something that would try something that would attract the Grim Reaper of the Restorative to come after them. She couldn't think of a neutral-case scenario where nothing went wrong or where anything went right.

A breeze came around the tree and swept her hair in its path.

"The weather isn't as warm as it used to be," she sighed, laying her head back against the trunk, closing her eyes. "And it's quieter here than it was in the States. I guess the people around here should really praise Death, the Endgame more for his role in clearing out the criminal elements that usually run rampant because of the corruption within the law."

She ignored the world around her as she focused only on the quiet. She didn't even hear the sounds of horse hooves on the pavement.

-x-

Climbing off the saddle and then helping his passenger off, Death walked over to the front door of the Asagi home.

"It's been so long," she told the horseman and his ghostly twin brother. "What do I say to them?"

Death turned to face her and expressed, "Just…say what's in your heart."

He then knocked on the front door instead of ringing the bell. The sound of footsteps that weren't the little girl's could be heard and he recognized them as the elder Asagi.

"Who is it?" They heard him speak behind the door.

"Death, the Endgame and Mako," Death answered, "and the one who was taken from you long ago."

The sound of the locks being undone came and the door opened, revealing the elder, who looked at the horseman and his ghost infant twin…and then at the woman behind them.

"Ah," Miroku gasped quietly; he couldn't believe it, felt that he should disbelieve what he was seeing. "Himeko? Is…is it really you?"

The woman stepped closer to the elder stood before him.

"Papa," she greeted him, almost feeling like she were going to cry.

Miroku feared this was some kind of dream or hallucination, that if he dared to touch her, she would disappear in front of him.

Himeko took his fear from him by just reaching out and hugging him. She didn't disappear, was not an illusion or a trick of his mind. She was here, alive once again.

"Miroku?" They heard Mordecai's voice and footsteps as he came from the living room area. "Is there something wrong? I was going to check up on… My God."

Himeko let go of her father and looked at her husband. He had only aged slightly in the years she'd been dead, but he, like her father, hadn't changed that much.

"Mordecai," she uttered.

Death could see how much her presence was affecting Mordecai by the pacing of his heartbeat. Not only that, but the smell of his blood heating and the way his eyes stared at her, trying not to blink for fear that she was a trick of some sort. This mortal man was feeling his passion for the woman that became his wife and the mother of his daughter all over again. And then, he saw him embrace her in a hug, choking on tears that were falling from eyes.

"You're here," he cried as she held him. "You're really here."

"Yes, I'm here," she assured him. "Is…is Mana here? I really want to see her."

Death sniffed the air and pointed to the nearby kitchen window that showed the backyard.

The three adults and horseman and ghost infant could only assume that young Mana would react positively to the return of her mother.

-x-

Mana, still sitting against the tree, tried to decide what would be nice for dinner tonight. Either something Asian or something discovered during the years spent living in the States. Maybe Italian or even Mexican if Asian cuisine was not an option for dinner.

"Mana?" She heard her grandfather call out to her, and she opened her eyes from her minor doze, seeing the elderly man and her father as they came out of the house.

"Yes?" She asked as she got off the grass.

"We'll be having a dinner guest tonight," he told her.

"Death, the Endgame?"

"Actually," her father uttered, wiping away remnants of tears; she had no idea that he'd been crying earlier, "it's who he and his brother brought back with them."

The two primary men in her life then stood aside to allow someone she hadn't seen to walk in between them to see Mana.

At first, the girl thought that it was Death, just trying to keep her in suspense for a little longer, but then got a better look at them. If she hadn't seen her in the family photos, she thought she wouldn't have believed her eyes. She looked exactly as she had prior to her death, dressed in a dress and coat that she didn't take her for wearing (but had to assume were what was available at the time). It was like seeing herself all grown up, but with dark hair instead of blond.

As she slowly walked over to her, Mana mouthed, unsure if she could trust her own voice, "Mommy?"

Himeko, glad to be seeing her daughter in the flesh for the first time in many years, but unsure if she could trust her own voice, as well, mouthed, "It's really me, Mana." as she lowered to her knees to meet her height.

Neither of them could hold back their tears as the daughter just ran into her mother's open arms.

"He did it," Mana cried, referring to Death. "He said he'd bring you back…and he did just that."

"Yes," Himeko agreed with her, holding her closely. "Yes, he did."

Mana looked over at her father and grandfather, then past them…at Death, the Endgame, who looked at the four of them in their moment. There was something about his facial expression right now that was very human and almost as unusual as his abilities that were beyond anything mere mortals could achieve in their lives. It looked like a trace of happiness…but there was something else that was off, like he wanted to smile, but just couldn't. She suspected that what the horseman was feeling was likely a feeling of envy; although he brought her family back together, he felt the bitter reality of his own past creeping up on him.

Death looked at their bond, something that was worth what he went through to get it fixed, and gave Mana a reassuring nod.

"Thank you, Death, the Endgame," she praised him. "Thank you."

Even as a tear of blood escaped from his left eye, Death harbored neither her or her family any animosity or ill will, and nodded again. He was the Restorative Horseman of Death, a hunter of the damned, an alpha predator that chose the souls of the guilty as his prey. And yet, he did the very opposite of his position, and returned a soul to life and returned it to a broken family made whole. He had murdered kidnappers and helped to return the victims to their homes and loved ones, and he could admit that helping the good people of this world helped him feel better about his own hopes of a new life where he could truly live…and know how to be happy, something Shinji Ikari's very existence had been deprived of.

He then walked away to let this family made whole enjoy the moment a while longer.

Mako followed him and wanted to know how he felt doing this.

"You okay, brother?" He asked, seeing him wiped the small trail of blood from under his eye.

"They were broken, Mako," he expressed. "A family made broken long ago. But now they're whole again. I'm…I'm actually quite happy to have seen this family made whole."

"You feel happy for Mana?"

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"It feels good to do good…even if your methods are not accepted by others. You make me proud of your success. You always make me proud of everything you do to help others."

"Thank you, Mako."

The horseman turned around to return to the backyard, but found his way back blocked by none other than Mana herself, standing in front of him.

"Will you two be staying for dinner this evening?" She asked them, wiping away her tears.

Death nodded that they would be staying for dinner.

-x-

"…So, I take it that SEELE was displeased with the theft of Unit-03?" Fuyutsuki asked Chansu in his office, meeting him after his meeting with the council to explain the unexpected happenings that occurred earlier in the base.

"Among other things," Chansu responded. "The theft of Unit-03, the discovery of Death, the Endgame facing and defeating a horseman that hails from Hell, literally, and how an Angel was inside the base the whole time and masquerading as one of the Eva pilots. I don't know which fact they're angry about more than the others, the Eva theft, the Angel we have in custody…or Death himself."

"What did they say to do about the Angel? Did they even try to deny knowing what he was?"

"They ordered that it be dealt with, immediately and indefinitely…which is why we're to let the Second Child and Unit-02 handle the situation while it's still small. And yes, they did all but deny knowing that he was an Angel."

"Is that a wise decision?"

Chansu looked at the elder and asked him, "What would you have done with this Angel?"

"I'm sure my suggestions wouldn't matter."

"If it were truly up to me, I would've handed this Angel over to the Horseman of Death. Not back to SEELE, not over to Gendo, and certainly not to Ms. Soryu."

"Why him, though? We're still reviewing the footage and some are still puzzled by what Death did when facing the Angel with the intention of killing him."

"Why do anything, anymore? Why commit blackmail? Why go to war with someone that's somewhere else? Why desire someone romantically when you know that they can't or won't be yours? Why hand the Angel over to the Horseman of Death, you ask? Because he could deal with the problem so that we don't have to do it ourselves. We keep our hands clean of the matter while he dirties his hands."

"But there are the other Angels, and he and the other horsemen protect them from harm. Why despise this Angel? Why not protect him instead?"

"What was it that the Second Child said when she was running from the Horseman of War? That this Angel was some sort of a false creature? Not a real one?"

"Yes, she did report something of that sort. Maybe this Angel has nothing to do with whatever was written in that book belonging to Ms. Asagi."

"Either way, we shall see to it that the Angel is dealt with."

-x-

"…I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet, Death," went Miroku to the horseman as he found him on the roof of the house. "Of course, you're often always quiet, but I don't think you've been this type of quiet."

"It is a time of rejoice with loved ones, so silence is necessary for those to revel in the joy of one of their own returned to them."

"Mana and her father are undeniably happy to have Himeko returned. Just as I am happy to have her back. Happiness is meant to be shared."

"Still, I didn't wish to speak much during the Italian meal. There was much to be conversed about between mother and daughter."

"So…will you be heading off in search of indelible sins again?"

As he was sitting on the roof, Death got up and stood in front of the elder.

"Indelible…inerasable… Other ways to say 'unforgivable'. It makes me want to put an end to the madness that exists before it becomes inescapable for everyone left. And it makes me question the reason I do what I do: Why kill those that kill and harm others? I kill for the sake of the good people who deserve a happy future."

"You kill to end the the killing and so that the good people may survive?"

"Yeah. Yes. To end the killing. To end the raping, the kidnapping and human trafficking and so on. Too much of these evils have run rampant and unchecked for far too long. They've left nothing but despair in their wake for everyone else. They're a…disturbance, a sickness that knows no boundaries. They're a plague that needs to be cut down at their roots. And I will cut them down to make sure they can't spread as much as they have already."

"You are something else entirely, Death, the Endgame."

"So I've been told at least four times. Until we meet again, sir. Good night."

Death then jumped off the roof and onto the street below where his horse awaited him.

Rumi reared up and then galloped away from the walled homes.

-x-

"Mother Gaia," went Conquest to the Earth Goddess as she assisted several of the men and in the caverns as they prepared several large pots of pasta sauce.

"Yes, Conquest?" She asked him as she stopped stirring the sauce to taste the flavor. "This may need more paprika."

"About the Seed of Life, Adam," Conquest clarified his reason for speaking to her at the moment. "What will you do with him until his soul has been restored to him?"

After adding more of the suggested ingredient and resuming the stirring of the sauce some more, she told him, "I'm keeping Adam in a safe place until I hear from my brothers and sister. Adam can't so much as talk, let alone cause unintentional trouble without his soul."

"And…when shall you hear from them?"

"It should be another day or two. Maybe a week from today."

Conquest bowed his head to her.

"Shall I assist you in anything?" He offered.

"No thank you, Conquest. I'm fine. Uh, maybe you can assist Ms. Greyson. She hasn't seen you much in the last month."

"So, the Poison Master does offer his services to that woman from the ruins of New York where he found her thirteen years ago," one of the older women helping in the preparation of the sauce expressed, only understanding that the White Rider was somewhat of a concealed mystery when it came to this woman he returned with years ago from the United States and declared that he was going to help her get out of this corrupt life she was in.

"Hey, there," Gaia defended the oldest of the Four Horsemen. "It's not something either one is proud of, but there is no lust in what they do. There is no satisfaction to be acquired. To walk away from a corrupted life takes one step at a time to enable one to turn away completely."

The woman bowed her head to both of them in apology, and then Conquest left them to their cooking.

-x-

Mana never let her mother out of her sight. In truth, she feared doing so, as if doing so would make her return to life seem like nothing more than a dream she would be forced to wake up from. Even as she was asleep, she didn't let go of her as she sat on the sofa.

"How are you two doing?" Himeko heard Mordecai as he quietly stepped into the living room.

"We're doing alright," she told him. "She's so unyielding."

"Well…we did just get you back because of one of the Four Horsemen of the Restorative. He said he would bring you back…and he did."

As he sat across the sofa from them, Himeko chuckled and expressed, "Death is broken…and scattered in who he once was…but that part of him that does what he does is from his most human need, which is hope."

"A broken boy…forever hopeful?"

"A broken man…that was denied hope…and is slowly getting it back in death."

Mordecai then placed his right hand on his wife's left shoulder and caressed it.

"Were we broken a little?" He asked her. "When that night happened…and I wasn't there?"

She knew what he was talking about, and how they were each robbed of more than a decade of time away from each other.

"Yes, we were broken," she confessed, "but we held on. Like a puzzle missing some of its pieces, we held out until the pieces could be found and made the picture whole again. Still, even what is broken is still good."

She raised her left hand to his right hand and held it.

"We're whole," she told him.

"Yes, we are," he agreed with her.

-x-

"…You ladies really disgusted with your sins," Death told the corpses of the twenty-seven prostitutes and drug mules that either brought dangerous drug like cocaine and heroin or just offered themselves up to men and ended up spreading disease, now writing a new message on the walls in their blood for the local authorities to discover whenever they could. "Next comes the men and then comes the hammer that lands on the nail."

Since he was in States, South Dakota, to be precise, he was catching up on the work he started on back in Japan. He was getting back into what made him the talk of most of the world as the Horseman of Death. Too much time had passed during the period spent rescuing the soul of Mana Asagi's mother and restoring her to life, which could've allowed the sinners of mankind to replenish their numbers, regroup and rebuild or expand. The sooner he cleansed the lands of them, the better the innocent would be in the future of the healed world.

Now, as he stepped out of the underground warehouse and gentlemen's club, the horseman quickly left before the police came and found his handiwork and cleaned up his bloody mess. He had claimed only fifty-three sinners tonight…and still had a long list of serial killers, kidnappers, pedophiles and drug dealers to go before he could get closer to ending the sinning and cruelty. To commit the greatest sin that was murder…in order to end the sinning committed by others so that the innocent could survive. This was something Death wouldn't allow anyone to stop him from doing, simply because he chose to.

"No, let me go!" He heard a female voice yell out in the night, and he ran across building rooftops to the source, coming to an alleyway where he saw a light-skinned man attacking a dark-skinned woman that was probably a little older than Death appeared.

He jumped off the roof and landed in front of them, catching their attention.

The man, dressed in ripped jeans and a burgundy hoodie, saw him and recognized him as the dead boy from Japan with a large body count that evoked much fear.

The girl, wearing a yellow, short-sleeved shirt and pants and carrying a blue gym bag, recognized him, too, but had read the newspapers on most of his victims being just murderers and rapists.

Death looked at the girl…and then pointed at her before gesturing for her to leave.

"Thanks," she praised him and quickly ran behind the man and past the horseman.

"Do people like you ever consider turning yourselves in to avoid seeing me?" Death asked him, raising up his right hand, holding his sickle. "Do you know what awaits you at the end of your life of sin? It ain't always fire and brimstone that for you fools. Sometimes, it's just worse than being burned for eternity. Sometimes, the crimes you commit are committed upon you so that you know how it feels to suffer the way your victims did. You starve someone, you get starved worse. You rape a little girl, you know what it feels like to be stuck in the backside with something much worse than a piece of flesh. And there's darkness, too. Inescapable. That's what awaits you."

"Oh, really?" The guy responded, quickly removing something from his hoodie, revealing it to be a pistol. "Well, then, I'm bound to be remembered in Hell for getting rid of you."

Bang, bang, bang! He fired three bullets at Death's chest, but Death, despite having been shot at before in the past (even with a bullet-proof vest on under his clothes), didn't stagger backwards or anything.

"You know, I'm getting real tired of you gun-toting fools thinking that knives and bullets can stop me. Don't you know the old saying about how nothing stops Death from entering your home when he comes knocking? Well, I'm knocking at your door…and nothing's going to stop me from coming in and claiming your irredeemable soul."

Raising his sickle over his head, Death approached him with the intent to tear him him to pieces.

The man shot him again and again until the gun ran empty…and he kept pulling the trigger, regardless.

"Aah…aaaaahh!" He screamed as Death closed the gap between them; he never saw a white light beyond the glistening of the horseman's blade.

-x-

Mana awoke to the next morning and found herself not only in the living room, but by herself, something she was uncomfortable with at the moment.

"Mommy? Daddy?" She spoke, but got no answer, and got off the sofa.

She stepped into the kitchen and breathed a breath of relief at the sight in front of her: Her mother was at the stove preparing eggs and pancakes.

"Good morning, Mana," she greeted her daughter as she turned around to face her. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Mm-hmm."

Himeko looked back at the stove behind her and explained that she hadn't done any cooking in a long time and was trying to pick up her skills in the kitchen.

"I thought you'd be taking it easy," Mana suggested to her as she sat at the table. "Just relaxing."

"Oh, I am relaxing, sweetie. I intend to spend the whole day relaxing with you."

"Don't forget about me, Himeko," went Miroku to them as he stepped into the kitchen; he had been upstairs for a while, brushing his teeth. "Also, we may have to take you clothes shopping; we couldn't throw away any of your clothes from long ago, but they're probably worn out and faded."

True to his words, Himeko was dressed in a green dress that had faded from a darker green that had a small, blue shawl covering the shoulders that had also faded from a darker blue. While it didn't have any holes or rips, its discolorations were an obvious sign that it had aged past its good days. There was no doubt that all of her clothes were in a similar state of age.

"Maybe after Mordecai has found stable employment," she told him, not wanting to add more to the list of things to do.

"Actually, Grandfather could buy you new clothes, Mommy," said Mana to her; her father wasn't the only working man around the house while she was growing up.

"Oh, I'm unable to talk my way out of this," Himeko sighed, and then took a slice of string cheese and took a bite out of it. "Mmm…"

Mana suspected that, due to be brought back to life, her mother was still breaking in her restored body and all of its functions, which included the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. If she had to try and compare the resurrection to something she had read in a book or on the Internet or seen on television long ago, it would have to be from the Hellraiser franchise, since the first two films and the original novella featured people that had been displaced and deprived of the basic pleasures available to them, such as touch and taste. She wouldn't fault her mother for indulging on such basic pleasures, as she had been deprived of them for a long time, and last night was probably the first time she had eaten since her resurrection…and dinner was meant to have good taste.

-x-

"…I hope you're enjoying what little time you have left, you freak," Kaworu looked up from his cell and saw Asuka looking down at him through the dense glass, smirking. "You won't have long to live by the time Unit-02 is repaired."

"Unit-02 was damaged?" Kaworu asked her.

"Only minor damage, but that will be undone in another day or so. After which, I will use it to kill you. What do you think of that?"

"Why not just hand me over to the horsemen? Why not hand me over to Death himself? I've already admitted to being afraid of him."

"And have him steal the glory? I don't think so."

Kaworu didn't like the way this girl said what she said to him at all. There was something about her that seemed, while not as dangerous as the Horseman of Death that was once the Third Child, very savage. It was like there was a pit or something in her that wouldn't be satisfied until she killed someone that stood in her way. And it didn't even matter who it was that stood in her way.

"Just another day or so," she repeated, "and you're dead. Killed by me. And I'll be the best."

-x-

Having a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door of the hotel room came in handy for Death, since the last sinner he dispatched was a money launderer that had just walked out of the bathroom when he got his head severed from his body. Once the deed was done, Death looked over at a nearby suitcase by the bed and decided to open it up to see its contents. Simply out of curiosity.

"Now, this was part of what got you killed in the first place," he uttered to the headless corpse, revealing the suitcase was stacked with cash, taken from the drug dealers he laundered for. "This is quite an hourly wage for someone like you. Five-million dollars here. Heh-heh, and I know just what to do with it."

Death closed the case and then walked over to the bathroom; he intended to take advantage of the luxurious amenities this sinner afforded himself before he went to Hell. And once he was cleaned up a little, this dead guy's confiscated fortune would be put to different use.

-x-

Yui had begun the extension of the Dummy System after harvesting enough of her boys' genetic material to begin cloning them. Once SEELE had heard of the Unit-03 theft and how the measures they had intended to subdue the Restorative Horseman of Death had failed and he made off with an important part of the Unit-03 core that had been installed in Unit-01, they demanded the Dummy System she was working on be accelerated and the cloning done en masse, as they had to accelerate the production of additional Evangelions to compensate for the loss.

He was broken when he took out his vengeance upon us, she thought as she stood in front of eight tanks where eight pairs of eyeballs were looking aimlessly around the large chamber they were all in. And now he's breaking up everything we've done.

Underneath each tank was the tag with the designation Third Child with a number after it, numbering from at least two to nine. With the new advancements in the cloning technology, it would be at least two days before these subjects were out of the tanks and the next batch were made.

Things are getting out of control, she thought, leaving the chamber and returning to the one where the rejuvenated corpse of Shinji resided. We need to put an end to this as soon as possible, even if it means that we have to eliminate the horseman that Shinji has become.

It wasn't an easy choice for her to consider, but she still had to believe in her ideal of a brighter future for all mankind that could be promised with Instrumentality. If anyone disagreed with her, then they were an obstacle that needed to be dealt with for the greater good.

"…And on other news today, another series of brutal murders hit the South Dakota streets last night, marking the presence of the infamous Horseman of Death who has decided to clean house," a male voice on the radio announced, catching Yui's attention. "Several messages were found at the crime scenes, written in the blood of the victims, all convicted drug dealers, prostitutes, human traffickers, money launderers and kidnappers. In addition, several people from the lower-class communities around South Dakota have claimed to receive money left on their doorsteps by the horseman, presumably taken from the victims."

"This is new," Yui expressed; she never expected a dead boy to steal money from the people he murdered…and just give it to people from the lower-class communities. Why not just keep the money?

"…A woman from one of the lower-class neighborhoods was interviewed and we got this statement," the male voice continued.

"I was just waking up to the day and beginning my morning ritual when I heard something outside my house," another female voice uttered on the radio. "I decided to look out my window and I saw a strange boy running to this white unicorn after leaving something on my doorstep. I don't know why he would leave money he took from his victims on everyone's doorsteps, but everyone I knew had bills to pay and we weren't making enough, despite the long hours we put in. I just paid off my daughter's medical care with the money he left on my doorstep, and I must say that I am grateful to the horseman. Plus, what was a drug dealer or serial killer going to do with the money? They were dead. What can the dead do with money that those still alive and in need can do with it?"

"Her statement and several others have gone into similar details on how the horseman left the money he took from off his murder victims, totaling in about almost three-million dollars used to resolve financial matters," the male voice returned to speaking. "The bills ranging from housing rent, food, medication, tuition, even gambling debts, all paid off using the funds this Death, the Endgame left the people to use. It now raises the question of whether or not he will going after the criminal underworld for more than their lives. Will he be after their financial resources like a supernatural Robin Hood? Taking from the criminally wealthy that could be murdered by him and giving to the innocent poor?"

Even Yui had to ponder the possibility that Death would continue this wherever he could…and against whoever he could take wealth from that was bad so that other people could use it.

"Tax the rich," a new female voice said, "feed the poor…till there are no rich no more."

-x-

All Hei-Bai could say after hearing the news on the radio from the United States about the latest exploits of Death, the Endgame and his crusade against the guilty of the world was that he was stunned by this unexpected charity provided by the use of the criminals' money. As twisted as it seemed, it made sense to have the dead give their funds to the people still alive, even if it all came from illegal activities that caused others to suffer.

"Drug money, blood money, human trafficking money," he said as looked out the window at the city in front of him. "Money is money, regardless of how it is obtained. It all depends on what it's used for."

It had been at least two hours since he received a new phone call from the new people in charge of reading his father's will, and he would have to wait until at least Halloween to hear what his father left him and Yui. Most likely, he left his son everything when he bothered to think about it. But he wouldn't know for sure until the will was read. He hated to wait, but hated being in the same place as Yui was even more.

Damn setbacks and delays, he thought, wondering if anyone would even be out for Halloween this year. If it's not one thing, it's another.

-x-

Some people just had to look up at the sky and say they saw a dragon flying around, like something out of a fairytale. Or even say they saw a pale horse with a horn on its head.

At least, that's what Misato was reading in the papers on the tablets because the USA couldn't get enough of the Horseman of Death. It was impressive how the dead boy just took money from the criminals he murdered…and gave it away to a bunch of poor people that needed some extra cash to pay their bills.

"Are we ready?" She asked Ritsuko, referring to Unit-02's activation after it was fully repaired three hours ago.

"Yeah," the faux-blond answered back.

Within the Entry Plug, Asuka begin the synchronization with Unit-02 with only one thing on her mind: The destruction of the Angel NERV had in their custody.

"Unit-02 is now activated," she heard someone say.

"Let's do this," she said.

-x-

Ripping the vault doors right off their hinges, Death could now access the stored drug money from the latest batch of drug dealers of Miami, intending to give it to the needy people elsewhere.

"And some think you're on someone's payroll half the time," went Mako to him as he grabbed a large bag to store the cash.

"Wealth is ignored," he told his brother. "The dead don't need it. Plus, I can be selective of the poor the money goes to. A homeless drug addict will not do good with it, just inject it into their veins. A good parent will pay their children's needs rather than service their own. An honest man will give to charity or what have you. A grandparent will likely setup a trust fund for their grandchildren in case something happens to them. Fall from their thrones, the guilty, filthy rich minority will. Rise from the ashes of agony, the innocent, insignificant majority must. All part of the path to salvation."

"Like the song says, too. Tax the rich, feed the poor…till there are no rich no more. But will the wealthy be inspired to do anything for the poor…or will you try to steal from the innocent rich?"

"They were either born into money or made honest livings. I won't kill innocent people unless they refuse to get out of my way, but I've never murdered a rich guy that didn't deserve it."

Now, with two large bags filled with the drug money, the horseman carried them out of the men's former, heavily-guarded penthouse apartment to go to the rooftop.

Rumi, in her dragon guise, was there waiting for him.

"Grrr…" She growled.

"More here than from the guy in South Dakota, Rumi," Death told her.

"Rrrraugh!"

Suddenly…

"Aah!" Death gasped, dropping the bags and falling to his knees, feeling an intense pain that wasn't like the suffering of the innocent lives he either saved from further disgrace or avenged. "Aahhh!"

"Aaahh!" Mako joined him in the mysterious suffering, falling to ground beside his younger twin's left side. "What is this?!"

-x-

"Aaah! Aah!" Conquest gasped as he fell in front of Gaia, unable to describe the pain he was feeling in his body.

Gaia lowered down to try and help him back up to his feet and into a nearby chair in the caverns. She, too was feeling an unusual discomfort in her body, but it was at a level lower than what her horsemen were experiencing (if any looked at her, they would've thought she looked a little under the weather, but in a mild way); she knew all her horsemen were suffering from this because she was also suffering from it, like someone somewhere was affecting them in a way that reached the heavens.

"Mother Gaia, is Mr. Conquest alright?" A little boy among the children she was looking after for the absentee parents of the week asked her.

"It's just a pain that will pass soon," she explained to him, gesturing with her right hand for him and the other eight children to stay back for their own safety. "Keep away for now."

The boy and his friends obliged and ran off.

War and Famine left the day before, she thought, praying that they, along with Death and Mako, were at least in isolated locations where they would be safe from potential enemies until this agony subsided.

-x-

War held the hilt of his sword as he knelt in front of the blade atop the roof of a building in New York's Manhattan borough, feeling like his skin was burning at the third degree.

"What is this mad agony?!" He wondered, trying to rise back to his feet, but couldn't.

-x-

He could've gone to watch over St. Luis, but he chose the South Pole where even the tiniest bit of microscopic life was nonexistent, and Famine was unable to stay afloat without his horse becoming a serpent adapted to aquatic environments. All he could feel was intense pain in all his limbs.

Then, as quickly as it came, it started to subside…and he was beginning to feel like he did before it started minutes ago.

"What was that?" He wondered.

-x-

"…Ahh…ahh…ahh…" Death panted as he no longer felt pain. "Mako?"

Mako, looking see-through, floated back up in front of the horseman and started looking a bit more solid in his appearance as his younger twin rose back to his feet.

"I'm okay," he told him. "What of you?"

"Like I've been shot in my arms and legs countless times," he answered, and picked up the bags and placed them Rumi's sides.

"But…we both saw what had transpired, didn't we? That was no illusion."

"No, it wasn't. That…false messenger of Heaven has been silenced. Tabris is one of the dead and fallen. This world has been made cleansed of his presence."

It was like getting a front row seat of the sin being committed, just like that night in Nagoya. They saw the red behemoth used by the redhead grab hold of Tabris' human disguise…and, just like a memory of a life that was never lived, she crushed him to death. And he didn't scream, didn't beg for mercy, not even smile that deranged smile.

"I wish I could say that I feel sorry for him to have died," Mako expressed, "but I don't."

"His soul was never truly his own," Death stated. "It was stolen by hands stained with blood and shackled in flesh that was as impure as they were. When the flesh could no longer serve its purpose as a vessel for the soul, the soul was free from their possession, able to escape from its chains."

As he climbed onto the saddle and grabbed the reins, Death looked over the streets below and couldn't help but feel he was a little cheated out of killing the false messenger himself. But he decided not to pay it any further mind, since he had other sinners to punish for their crimes that couldn't be forgiven. He was just a broken soul lost in the darkness with his twin as his sole companion…and looking to be whole like before.

"Come on, Rumi," he told his pale dragon as she spread her wings, "let's get this money to some needy people that can do some good with it."

As Mako disappeared, the pale dragon jumped off the rooftop and flew into the night sky.

To be continued…

A/N: So now the Asagi family has their formerly-deceased matriarch restored to them. What do you think so far?