Evangelion The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
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Disclaimer: Retcon punching like the Fist of the Fucking North Star
Author note: Well, hereÆs chapter 19, very late due to writerÆs block and my old comp dying. Oh and the disclaimer is just alerting you that IÆm probably going to be screwing with how Zeruel acts in this chapter, since I donÆt believe in rewrites, so if it doesnÆt fit, blame it on me being too bullheaded to copy-pasta the last chapter and fix it.
The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
Chapter 19 My Destruction is On Your Mind
By Marik Kurakashi
"This is getting out of hand." Misato said, as she watched the fight between Zeruel and Rei pick up. "How the hell can that thing do all that?"
"What, besides being an alien monstrosity bent on humanity's destruction?" Aoba asked which earned him a slap on the back of the head from Maya. "Ow!"
"Yes, beside that! It has to have bones or something solid to give it shape! It shouldn't be able to do that!" Misato was, of course, referring to Zeruel warping his body as though it were made of clay.
"Not necessarily." Gendo said, drawing attention to him. "Beyond the enormous regenerative abilities of the Angels, we have seen something similar to this before."
"The Angel of the Volcano I presume?" Fuyutsuki asked, drawing a nod from the Commander.
"I think we may have misidentified that Angel's capabilities," Gendo said, as he watched Rei attempt to outmaneuver Zeruel. "It wasn't rapid evolution, but really hyperactive re-adaptation."
"Say what?" Misato asked, drawing agreeing nods from the bridge crew.
"Not so much misidentified but dumbed down, I suppose." Fuyutsuki spotted the problem immediately when almost no one caught what was said.
ôVocabulary is a harsh mistress, yes.ö Gendo said curtly, before continuing his explanation. ôWhat I mean is that like that other Angel, this AngelÆs entire body seems to be more malleable and easier to shift and change as opposed to some of the others, which just regrew the bits we hacked off fast.ö
Blank stares greeted the Commander of NERV, who face-palmed due to not actually explaining anything to them.
ôHow to put this,ö he mumbled to himself before inspiration struck. ôAoba, you play video games a lot right?ö
ôUmà yes?ö Aoba seemed to hesitate, because he was afraid of getting fired for such hobbies.
ôWell, the Angel in the case is like a Boss character that keeps changing itself to throw off our methods of attack.ö God, Gendo hoped that was simple enough for them.
ôOh, why didnÆt you just say so?ö Aoba hit Makoto for that, with Maya having to do her best to keep a slap fight from breaking out.
ôNow, when you two are done goofing off,ö Misato started to order, but the idea of having to be told to do their jobs mortified them enough to stop their antics.
ôWeÆre on it maÆam.ö The Bridge Crew chorused together.
ôSometimes I wonder what itÆd be like if I had to tell them what to do all the time.ö Misato said as she turned towards the Commander. ôAnd then I realize that sounds positively nightmarish and that I shouldnÆt give myself the creeps like that.ö
ôItÆs not a healthy attitude to have,ö Fuyutsuki agreed, nodding his head slightly in agreement at how horrible itÆd be to not have the best and brightest at their beck and call.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Rei nodded her head in acknowledgement of the news she had just received. She had a theory on the ability possessed by Zeruel, but she was slightly off the mark. Still, his ability to shift and change at will was going to be a pain, so she decided to shut her mouth and fight.
As much as she wanted to talk reason into the alien being in front of her, the part of her that was Lilith knew it was futile. Of all of AdamÆs grotesque spawn, Zeruel was the mostly slavishly devoted with a fervor bordering on hysteria. The First Angel was his God, his everything, and could do no wrong in his eyes.
Too bad for the Angel of Might that his God had forsaken him for a human host, much as Lilith had done when she offered her gift of Life to Gendo.
Unit-00 shivered as Rei received a bit of LilithÆs memories, a side effect of her tearing free her soul from its cage. Zeruel took that as an opportunity to strike, lunging forward without a verbal note, with only the sound of his newly formed feet slamming against the Earth to herald his chargeà Shit, she had fallen into herself for a second there and got lost, as she hadnÆt even seen the transformation.
No words were exchanged as the modern day Titans clashed, the Earth trembling with every blow, the swiftness of Zeruel forcing Rei to abandon her weapon for the moment. Still, Rei was able to note that the Angel of Might had decided to go for big and intimidating instead of swift and sleek, which made him an easy target for the slighter Evangelion. Lightly, Unit-00 slid under a looping hook and slammed home a short uppercut to the body.
Stunned, Zeruel staggered backwards and was met with a flurry of punches. One out of every five thrown found a home, but did little damage as the Angel recovered his wits from the counter. An overhand right from him sent Rei skittering back, the fist easily smashing through the Earth below, forcing Unit-00 to skip and hop to avoid losing her footing.
With just a verbal noise of frustration, Rei had already recovered herself and lunged in once more.
It was an okay battle strategy, if you believed in going into every fight looking for one hit knock outs and such. Despite an even match in height, ZeruelÆs extra bulk gave him a decided power advantageà which was promptly wasted due to him conceding speed to the fly he was trying to swat. Not that Unit-00 lacked power, it just seemed that this Angel was the one model lacking a glass jaw, as he absorbed head shot after head shot and kept coming for more.
They came together in their ballet of death, a fist fight of mountains that stood as Gods and walked as men, their blows echoing off the surroundings in a staccato rhythm not unlike repeated cannon fire. Right hook to the face, left hook to the body, right uppercut to the chin, Rei felt her spirit soar as the blood rumbled through her veins in a torrent of unquenchable fire. Even if the monster felt no pain, the First Child knew he could feel frustration.
Under the din of their battle, she could hear his teeth grinding themselves to dustà assuming he had teeth of course.
Ah, she spaced again and had to punch away ZeruelÆs sudden left cross that seemed to be thrown from China. Using his off-balance posture, she darted forward and slammed Unit-00Æs right foot into his unguarded stomach, which sent the creature fumbling back and gasping for air. She stood hands at the ready for his next move.
This appeared to be laugh uproariously as though he had been told a really funny joke. Still, it didnÆt loosen the guard of Unit-00, still in its orange mode since Rei hadnÆt even really begun to fight. The massive maw of the Angel of Might closed into a feral grin, a sinister chuckle still dancing from his lips.
ôIt appears I underestimated you lot.ö Zeruel decided to try bantering again, more than likely to give him time to analyze their brief exchange. ôI had grown so disgusted by my brethren that I forgot that it wasnÆt that you got lucky, and more that you were actually skilled.ö
ôThat almost sounds like a compliment.ö Rei decided banter was good, as it left him possibly open for a swift attack.
ôMaybe it is, or maybe IÆm just sad because IÆll have to actually try to win now.ö He slouched his body forward a little, giving him an ape-like appearance. ôIt would have been more fun for me if I could just crush you and move on. Struggling is such a human trait after all.ö
ôSo is arrogance.ö And thus did Rei grow proud and spat in the eye of the Angel of Might.
ôHaughty bitch,ö he smiled despite his anger, mainly because he was going to enjoy stomping her into the ground for that.
Rei just gestured for him to bring it, signaling round two had just gotten underway.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Off in a small apartment somewhere in Tokyo-3, Kaworu took a seat on his couch, joined on the modest piece of furniture by Mari. The spartan layout of the apartment notwithstanding, it was a decent place to hang out at and relax. Kaworu closed his eyes for a second and sighed, something that seemed a bit off to Mari.
ôSomething wrong?ö She asked, only mildly concerned about his welfare. She was there to make sure no one else killed him after all, no one but her anyways.
ôJust feeling the battle going on.ö He answered, taking another deep breath before opening his eyes. ôItÆs Zeruel, isnÆt it?ö
ôYou should be able to tell, Adam.ö She teased, smirking at his glare as if daring him to do something. ôOh, sorry, youÆre æKaworu NagisaÆ now right?ö
ôI try to be anyways.ö He muttered, almost too low for her to hear. ôAnyways, I donÆt suppose you would know what the Commander has planned for me, would you?ö
ôOf course,ö she said with slight shrug. ôHell, I can even tell you, if you really want to know.ö
ôLet me be more specific: does he want me to pilot an Evangelion?ö
ôUnit-04 was generously donated to us by NERV-Nevada, and is being fixed by the good Doctor Akagi as we speak.ö
ôFixed?ö
ôOh you know, infinite power source, no cooling system. Overheat it once and kiss your ass goodbye.ö
ôAh, the S2 organ retrieved from ShamshelÆs corpse. So what about you, I doubt heÆs that paranoid about me that heÆd activate you just to threaten me.ö
ôNo, IÆm pretty sure the Commander would do that.ö
ôOkay, yeah. I can see him doing that.ö
ôThe simple reason is that IÆm to pilot the newly discovered Evangelion Unit-05.ö
ôBut there isnÆt a fifth unit...ö And as he finished, the true horror of it all dawned in his eyes.
ôYes, I have a machine soul inside of me.ö She smiled, showing off all of her very sharp teeth in a toothy grin that would make a shark scream in terror. ôWhich means, for all intents and purposes, I am Evangelion Unit-05.ö
ôYou are a very scary lady, you know that?ö
ôI am naught but the vessel of the Beast, were you expecting something else?ö
ôNo.ö He said quietly, almost feebly. ôI suppose not. Unlike me, you were created around the Beast to house it for the CommanderÆs purposes. Even if I wanted to, I can never just be the vessel of Adam.ö
ôWhat are you talking about?ö She hadnÆt expected the sudden downturn in his mood. Besides, him being morose meant she couldnÆt tease him without feeling bad about it.
ôThere wereà complications with my creation.ö He didnÆt mean to sound so evasive about it, but it was hard to talk about the root of his problems.
ôThe Commander did say as much when he briefed me,ö she held a pitying look for a brief flash of a second before it was gone. ôSo there is more than the soul of Adam and the body in there eh?ö
ôYes, there is I, Tabris inside here as well.ö He said, his voice ringing musically in an almost entirely different inflection than before.
ôWait, thereÆs another angel in there?ö Mari was clearly taken aback, since she hadnÆt heard of this beforehand.
ôThere is no need to be afraid. I mean you no harm and I do not wish to fight against humanity, only to observe and live.ö Tabris responded almost too easily, as if he was preparing to say this every day since Kaworu had come into existence.
ôIÆm not afraid; I just donÆt know what IÆm supposed to do.ö She blew out a sigh before standing. ôBut as long as you stay friendly, I wonÆt tell anyone. And I wonÆt have to because IÆll just kill you if you turn hostile.ö
ôYour terms areà acceptable I suppose.ö Tabris nodded before his head lolled back and then snapped forward. ôI hate when that happens.ö
ôKaworu?ö
ôItÆs okay Mari, Adam doesnÆt speak to people much, so itÆs me.ö
ôHow did that Angel get inside you? Possession shouldnÆt be possible as long as youÆre holding Adam.ö
ôHe kind of interrupted the part where they build the soul cage inside the vessel, so we are all really bonded instead of vessel and host.ö
ôDoes the Commander know?ö
ôProbably, though it may be a lot of guesswork on his end. Of course, if he does know, that means he somehow has arrested the Dead Sea Scrolls from Keel and the others.ö
ôWhat do those have to do with anything?ö
ôThe information written on them are actually a secret code, when deciphered allows the reader to gain knowledge on any subject they desire. I should know, Adam wrote them within the first few days of his arrival on this base Earth.ö He shivered as he thought of something. ôIf this is true, then Gendo Ikari is the scariest man alive.ö
ôThe gift of Knowledge AND the gift of Life?ö And even the Beast was afraid.
ôSadly, the final gift has been lost to the ether since time immemorial. Even if Lilith possessed it, she could not bestow it on another.ö
ôThe final giftà the gift of Wisdom I guess?ö
ôCorrect. Though if he ever did attain that, heÆd be encroaching on what some would say is the territory of God.ö
ôCreating life isnÆt enough?ö
ôMen create life by fucking a woman while sheÆs ovulating. By now, such an act is an ordinary miracle by now.ö
ôI suppose that is true.ö
ôIÆll have to have a one-on-one with the Commander sometime, itÆll proveà enlightening for us both.ö
ôAnd maybe youÆll get some one-on-one time with his son eh?ö She remembered that the dossier on him had mentioned a strange fascination with Shinji, so this may be prime teasing material.
ôThatÆd be more for Tabris than for me.ö He did cough and refuse to look her in the eyes anyways.
ôUh-huh.ö
Kaworu just let his shoulders sag as he let out a full body sigh. Today was going to be a long dayà
/-\ /-\ /-\
Rei rolled with a punch from Zeruel, bringing to bear her chaingun once more, the telltale whine sending the Angel scampering back. Rounds sliced through his flesh, but only served to annoy the purported Angel of Might, wounds fast closing as he tried to land a solid hit on his shiftier opponent. His mammoth fist tore into the ground, sending a huge clump of Earth flying into the gunfire, kicking up a cloud of dirt and allowing Zeruel to regroup.
"For his size, he moves pretty well." Rei whispered to herself, fingers flexing on her controls as she waited for his next move.
The familiar glow of the Angel's beam attack cut through the cloud, forcing the Evangelion to hastily defend itself from sudden beam. Rei's teeth gritted as she pushed her AT-field against the beam, doing her best to maintain her ground. Finding enough of the attack's momentum halted, the Evangelion then slipped the outer layers of its shield into the beam and expanded them, shattering the once imposing beam of death into harmless motes of light.
With the rhythm of the fight firmly in her grasp, Rei's following dodge could almost be called prescient. Her faithful steed moved with a grace that should not be possessed by such a giant, landing a kick to the elbow of the Angel. Before he could recover his defenses, Unit-00 slid in and blew its fellow giant back with a thundering shoulder charge.
Zeruel coughed slightly as he slipped back with the hit, eyes narrowing as he realized that he was far too slow to keep pace.
"So," he said; tone suddenly conversational. "Are you done with your warm-ups as well?"
"I've been waiting for you to get done," Rei said, rolling her eyes as she recognized the bravado for what it was. "I don't allow myself to get so lax as to need a warm-up. The luxury called lazy is not for someone like me."
"Hmph, I should have expected that of you." Zeruel said, widening his stance a little. "Never know who you have to stab in the back next, eh Lilith?!"
"Sorry, but she says she doesn't have words for an insect like you." Rei watched the Angel intently, not letting a single twitch go by without her noticing it. "And I find myself in agreement. Your attempts at banter only serve to show how weak you really are." Ooh, she hit right below the belt with that one.
"Talk is cheap eh? Well, I don't find myself in disagreement with you there," he said with an easy calm, before his body suddenly expanding to twice its previous size. "Then let's see how you like my actions!"
Predictably, Rei just chose to shoot him before he could do anything with his new bulk, and was thusly surprised when he exploded in a giant fireball. Before she could gain her wits to check and see if he was really dead, the now slimmed down Angel of Might came flying out of the smoke cloud and slammed both feet into the dome of Unit-00. The Evangelion staggered, but recovered to smash the Angel under the chin with the barrel of her chaingun.
Flipping with the hit, Zeruel kicked Unit-00 in the head again, dropping the Evangelion for the first time in their fight. Completing his flip, he landed lightly on his feet and began dancing on the balls of his feet. This proved prudent when it allowed him to avoid Rei's counter fire, zigzagging the bullets before he closed in. His grin glistened in the reflection off the helm of Unit-00 as he was poised to strike again.
To his shock, Rei managed to lower her gun and punch him from the air before he could register her movement.
Jaw crushed, face mangled, Zeruel flipped again and landed upon his feet. Not wasting a moment, he was back on the attack, charging in even faster. This time, he scored a quick kick to the ribs of the Evangelion, blocking her counter punch this time with a nifty cross block.
However, his kick didn't damage Unit-00, which dropped its weapon and bull rushed in, seizing the Angel and roughly slamming him to the ground. Seemingly not fazed by it at all, Zeruel managed to regain his feet and begin grappling with the Evangelion, the twin Titans exchanging close range blows. Punch for punch, elbow for elbow, and yes, knee for knee the two went, with the Angel of Might taking the worst of it.
In exchanging power for speed, he had now put himself into a situation where his opponent now had the strength advantage to muscle him around.
With great haste, he wrestled free from Unit-00's grasp and used his new found speed to separate from the larger Evangelion. This was beginning to get a little bit riskier, but he found it not unwelcomed. The Angel paced a little and considered his options.
By taking the speed advantage, he could hit the wretched Evangelion more than it could hit him. However, he was also more vulnerable to damage and he was slowly taxing his regeneration abilities with all the hits he had taken to fuck with her head. So as it were, they could no longer exchange blows or else he'd keel over dead in no time flat.
Zeruel juked left, dodging Unit-00's sudden lunging right, before diving forward to dodge the follow up side kick.
"Let's see how long she'll last shall we?" He whispered to himself, before he shot in and drilled the Evangelion in the temple with a left hook.
Sadly, the damage was negligible but he did succeed in further angering the pilot of the new-age Machine god. The desperate left right combo that followed was within his expectations, and was dodged with ease. He didn't, however, expect the thin piece of AT-field that wrapped around his neck and yanked him roughly into a violent knee to the stomach.
Dazed but not quite out of it, Zeruel managed to defend himself by forming a second face on his back and firing a beam of low intensity at the Evangelion's face in order to make her retreat. He regained his wind and wits on all fours, before springing up to block a charging kick with one to the chest of Unit-00. Momentum and a suddenly lack of discipline actually halted the charge since Rei didn't even bother to brace for a counter attack.
The Angel of Might could not savor his momentary victory as Unit-00 summarily drew a progressive knife and threw it into his eye.
"OW, MY FUCKING EYE! YOU BITCH!" He cleared her current range and drew the blade from his eye, blood gushing from the wound even as his regeneration sought to close the wound. In this brief break in the action, he noticed something was odd. Hadn't the Evangelion been a different color before?
"Why won't you just die already?" Rei was fucking pissed now, all of this Angel's useless struggling just served to infuriate her more. Her breathing was erratic and she just wanted him to die now.
She sounded mad, which to Zeruel's ears, was the sweetest of songs. If he had cracked her composure, there was no way for her to win now. A smile split his features even as his grotesque head wound finally closed.
"It's over," he said with confidence, plotting just how to win.
/-\ /-\ /-\
"Shinji, how are your preparations coming?" Maya asked over com, deciding to make sure that everything was still on track.
"Everything is fine," he replied with an uncharacteristic ease, not even being sarcastic when he said it. "Tell the guys in weapons they did a hell of a job on this rifle." As he spoke, Unit-01 was inspecting the new sniper rifle that NERV had developed for it.
"I'll pass it along," Maya responded, smiling a little. "Do you need an update on Rei?"
"Nah, I figure she's doing just fine." Shinji didn't seem too concerned, if only because he believed in the plan given out by Misato. "And me knowing what is happening will only cause me problems later."
"If you say so," Maya would allow him to have his privacy on that front. Her job wasn't to pry, but to make sure they weren't surprised by anything. "So, you seem to know a lot of how the Angels behave, so what can you glean from this one?"
"I don't know much, I haven't crossed fists with him yet." Shinji closed his eyes, as he focused on Zeruel. "But I can guess he's kind of arrogant, but not very bright. To duck our sensors is something that doesn't happen often, but he still ran headlong into our gauntlet."
"So you don't think he's that bright or at the very least he's not that cunning." Maya did her best to parse the layered talk from Shinji, but she wasn't confident that she did it right.
"More or less," he allowed, knowing he had been a little bit vague. "Though, Asuka and I have a pet theory that there are certain things that have shifted in the Angels from the start of our battles."
"Oh yeah?" She asked, raising her eyebrow a little.
"Well, it was her theory; I've just added my own observations."
"Go on."
"The way she sees it, the Angels have exhibited several layers of intelligence, depending on the circumstances." He sat back a little, and thought a bit. "Take Iruel for example, he had enough smarts to make a good pitch to ensure he got what he wanted. Sure, it was extremely advantageous to us and we lost nothing in accepting. Compare that to the first that sort of charged in blindly, there seems to be a certain level of intelligence growth."
"So what are you saying?"
"The Angels are growing in varying ways that aren't even consistent with each other. Their growth is chaotic and unchartable, even the things that seem to follow a pattern are being broken with the next one discovered."
"If I got it right, what you're saying is that the Angels are pretty diverse creatures that can't really be used to predict the next one."
"To simplify it, the Angels are pretty much like humans. That's what Asuka said anyways, and I'm inclined to agree."
"What."
"It's not even that unbelievable if you think about it." Shinji reached back and pulled a water bottle out from a hidden compartment and took a pull from it. "They all clearly have different stages of development and levels of intelligence. Even the unintelligible Fish Angel had enough smarts to figure out how to trap Unit-02 for example. It looks outright stupid next to Iruel, but that's because Iruel was clearly further along his development."
"So, they're people?"
"Like people, it's an important distinction to make. They're not quite human, just very similar and we can assign human like emotion and intelligence. If this is really correct, than we may have stumbled on another truly intelligent life form."
"Out to kill us."
"Of course they are; why wouldn't they be? Wouldn't need giant robots of questionable origins to fight them if they were friendly."
"Right."
"I'm sure we'll get this sorted out eventually."
"That sounds weird coming from you."
"Really? Asuka said the same thing."
/-\ /-\ /-\
Zeruel immediately shifted his body to a more balanced variant of strength and speed. He had been a bit foolish to have fought the balanced Evangelion with too much of either one. Not wasting anytime, he immediately exchanged blows with Rei, the thundering sound causing minor vibrations to be felt for miles around.
Unlike the beginning of the fisticuffs, the Angel of Might was giving as well as he was getting. Their speed and strength equal, all that was left was their determination. As the two Titans clashed fist to fist, the sound of their blows must have seemed as though the world was ending.
It was not of course, not as long as the Evangelion remained to stand in the way of the Angels.
Rei could feel the pain from the blows in the back of her mind, but her rage and frustration refused to allow her to slow down. Every blow thudded through her mind, flooding her with a dull ache that felt as though she would come apart any second now. But she refused to yield to such a thing as pain, refused to give an inch to this beast of an opponent.
This whole thing was unfair, another Angel capable of rational thought and all it sought was their death. Why was such a creature before them now after they had finally started to gain true understanding of their opponent? Why was it alive when Leliel and Iruel died?
Unit-00 jerked wildly and slipped a punch, before slamming its head home and crushing the left collarbone of Zeruel.
Such injuries were fleeting, however, and even now she could hear the shattered bone reshaping itself. The momentary advantage was pressed in any event, as she started bouncing punches off the face of the disoriented Angel. Damage, however, were not the reason for this barrage. She just wanted him to ache a little, and despair as he realized he couldn't win.
However, he stymied her again with a well timed counter, sending the Evangelion back on its heels once more. That one dazed her, just for a second, and she was on the defensive. His blows came in rapid succession and with sufficient force behind them that tanking them was not on the table. And at this range, her AT-field was useless since she needed it to keep him vulnerable.
Rei swiftly decided to ignore the mental dilemma and punch him in the face again, which seemed to be a fine defensive maneuver.
The Angel skipped back on his heels, not really hurt by the punch and allowing her the distance to open her defenses up again. He had to have been wearing her down by now; she had absorbed a lot of his blows without protecting herself. Again, he took advantage of his body's unique abilities and stretched his arm across the distance between her in a lightning fast punch.
It clipped off her guard but it halted any possible advance from her, meaning it was Zeruel's turn to attack. He shot forward, extending a kick to keep her in place before he caught up and slammed a high speed left cross into her guard, which was augmented by him increasing both the mass and density of the limb in question. The Evangelion's arms fell away, the guard blasted apart by the relentless onslaught.
A right cross to the face followed, dropping Unit-00 to its back.
Zeruel sought to press his advantage, but was stymied by Rei alertly kicking a leg up into his face. The Evangelion swung itself into a crouch and surged forward with a powerful left hook to the exposed body of the Angel. Ribs shattered under the force of the blow, staggering the monster once again. Rei followed with an overhand right that dropped the Angel outright, the satisfying sound of his jaw breaking again bringing a smile to her face.
Flat on his back, Zeruel pondered once more what had gone wrong. She was enraged but she was even fiercer if such a thing was possible. It was slowly becoming clear he couldn't match her in hand to hand, and even if he did land a big hit, she landed one that seemed a magnitude greater than his own. She was skilled, he could plainly see that, but he hadn't expected such a gulf.
Deep down in his heart, he began to despair that his mission was to end in the same abject miserable failure of his kin.
He was Zeruel! He was the Angel of Might and the strongest of them all! And yet here he lay, beaten down and afraid, openly afraid of dying. Noà not dying, he was afraid of failing Adam, his progenitor and the reason he was even here today.
There had to be a way past her defenses, he had already found purchase in her mind already. She was clearly angry and frustrated, so whatever he was doing was working. It was just having diminishing returns because she was beating the shit out of him even as he scored hits on her. He had to go beyond that, he had to start impairing her mind with more than anger.
If he could make her fear, or even better, begin to despair, then he had his ticket to victory.
"I hate you so much," Zeruel said as he finally regained his feet, jaw repaired. He wobbled a little; the pain was affecting him more than he thought.
"You've said as much before." Rei retorted, the Evangelion poised to pounce in an instant.
"No, this hatred is separate from the one I have for your foul guest." He didn't laugh, he didn't smile. He had finally calmed down enough to start using his head and stop letting his pride blind him. "I acknowledge you as a separate being and want you to know that I absolutely hate you." The air began to vibrate even as he glowed a faint orange, as he pulled back his AT-field and started rapidly shifting the frequency.
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual." She replied, even as she watched what he was doing carefully. He had been full of annoying surprises, and this looked to be no different.
"That is good," he whispered, before expanding his AT-field again, causing the hairs on the back of Rei's neck to rise. "Hate is a valuable emotion, it can sustain you. As it has sustained me since my birth."
"Because it is a convenient excuse, so when you do whatever you please, you can excuse your actions." Rei wasn't having his bullshit, especially since it sounded like he was about to launch into some pity party. "Not that you need an excuse, but from the sounds of it, hollow justification is all you really want."
"Speak all you want," he laughed, a mocking sound filled with malice. "But all I need from you now is to hear you scream."
Rei's vision exploded into odd shapes and colors and it seemed as if reality itself was ready to come apart at the seams. Zeruel shifted from his vaguely humanoid shape into a giant blob of black stuff with this weird mask face. He surged forward, only for Unit-00 to dodge and roughly seize him, before slamming the blob down to the ground.
The sudden movement only made her vision explode with further color and noise, giving Rei a brief bout of vertigo. She shook it off quickly though, and was able to defend his next lunge with some difficulty. Unit-00 swayed under the effects of Zeruel's weird attack, but remained standing.
Under no circumstance was she going to fall from a bit of lights and colors flying to and fro.
A sudden attack from the left was thwarted with a punch, a rear assault defused with a back kick. He came from the right and was foiled again, but her attacks lacked their usual oomph due to her confusion. She couldn't be certain it was him at all, so she conserved her energy by just throwing a limb out at him and knocking him over.
He attacked again and again, relentlessly with such swiftness it bordered on teleportation, and yet, his attacks were thwarted again and again. But the colors, the lights, and the attacks were eroding her sanity and control bit by bit. What began as a measured if sloppy defense was quickly slipping away into tiring desperation.
Rei's breath began to labor, but her defense remained solid, marking well her training for such a battle.
"Still you struggle even as your mind and eyes betray you," Zeruel taunted, being a little too smug as he observed Unit-00's slumped posture. "It is admirable, and all the more satisfying to know you squirm in that piece of garbage."
Unit-00's head suddenly snapped towards him, as if he had just given himself away.
"Do come on and try and find me, I know you'll fail." The Angel seemed a bit too confident in his safety, as though he had already won while his opponent still stood.
Then a familiar hexagonal shield shimmered to life in front of the Evangelion, which stopped the colors and lights swirling around it.
"Oh motherf-" He found it hard to complete his next sentence when Unit-00's fist hit him square in the face, backed by a metric ton of fuck you.
He did manage an impressive pirouette in the air before he landed flat on his back and cratered the ground. The Evangelion swiftly mounted its fallen enemy and began to rain down blows that quickly deepened the hole they were already in. Rei couldn't feel the impact in her arms, her nerves deadened by all of the fighting up to now.
It was still an impressive sight, her relentlessly pummeling her opponent when she was already this tired. The dull ache in her bones made it all seem so sluggish, and she couldn't tell if he was even taking damage or even alive after all this. It would all be over soon though, she'd kill this Angel and then she'd rest and forget about the anger this pest had stirred in her breast.
"It's almost over," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes and slowing her attacks by just a fraction of a second.
And then Zeruel swelled up and exploded in her face, the blast of air throwing her off him and sending the Evangelion flipping into the air.
"For you, it certainly is." He watched impassively as Unit-00 crashed into the ground, creating another crater. The regeneration was slow to heal the damage, but he could mask it with strategic morphing. Once more in his fully humanoid form, he stood and waited for his opponent to rise.
"You won't get passed me that easily," Rei said, slowly drawing the Evangelion to its feet once more. She probably couldn't win now, but that didn't mean she was done making this Angel work. "I stand here simply as the Vanguard, your lack of skills will only do in eventually. I fight so that others may take you down, your dependence on your strength will only bring you ruin."
"I don't need a lecture from you," he said, body finally ready for the final charge. "Besides, as long as I win, my strength was always right."
"And that is why you'll remain an idiot until you die." Rei said, her tone only slightly mocking. "But as it were, you have yet to win."
"You're right, you're still standing aren't you?" He sprang forward, rushing across the gap between them. "Then allow me to correct that oversight!"
They traded blows again, though they lacked some of the dazzling speed from before, but the power was still there. Unit-00 gave as good as it got, and even as Rei found it harder and hard to stay awake, it still stood firm in the face of Zeruel's offense. Hit after hit, the two traded punches, often simultaneously would the blows land.
At the five minute mark of this brutal exchange, Rei was nearly unconscious but her fighting spirit kept her steed in the battle. Though her punches lacked the thought and intelligent placement from before, they kept at least part of their bone smashing force. The pain was gone, she couldn't feel it anymore, and she could barely even tell if she was still standing.
Unit-00 and Zeruel landed another simultaneous blow and both combatants slumped to a knee.
His face was mush, and he could barely tell where he was anymore. His non-stabbed out eye was nearly swollen shut so he wasn't even certain she was still in front of him. Even now, he couldn't seem to close out the deal against the Evangelion, a fact that vexed him to no end. His reserves were being depleted by all the healing he had to do, which didn't bode well for his future battles.
Blood suddenly started gushing from his head as he sought to deflate the swelling. His eyesight clearing, he could see the Evangelion on a knee, just as he was, but that wasn't what held him in place. It was covered in dings and scrapes, but the armor was structurally intact.
"I don't believe this." He got to his feet and his foe did not match him. It would seem for all the lack of physical damage, he had managed to render the new-age machine god inert and unconscious. Though this technically meant he had won, he was not very happy about it. "In the end, I just outlasted her. No masterful final attack, no moment of triumph, she just passes out."
Time was not on his side though, he couldn't stand around and complain until she woke up. Shakily, he stumbled past her, pausing to make sure she wouldn't rise up and attack him again. Two more Evangelion were waiting for him, and he had to plan for them.
Zeruel had just put Rei out of sight when he felt something hit him in the right collarbone area. Pain and blood flooded out from the wound, and he could see his AT-field splintering from something hitting it. He collapsed to a knee again and spat up blood, eye darting around in disbelief he had been hit by something he couldn't see or sense.
Lines of orange sparked from the wound, and then there was a minor explosion that tore his arm off.
"Round 2 motherfucker." Shinji said, relaxing his finger off the trigger of his new rifle, content to watch the Angel fall.
End chapter 19
Teaser for chapter 20 "I Dare You to Tell Me to Walk Through Fire":
"Get up you big bitch," Shinji said, using the scope on his rifle to watch the Angel's movement. "That wasn't a fatal hit; so quit pouting like a prissy princess and get the fuck up already."
Zeruel drug himself up, taking care to reattach his arm instead of trying to grow a new one.
"That's right, come to daddy you little shit." The Third Child was more than willing to dish out the hurt on this Angel, more so now that it appeared to have beaten Rei.
"Where did that attack come from?" Zeruel looked about, but still could not find the origin of that shot.
"Come on and rush forward like the panicked git you are," Shinji said, beginning to make adjustments for his next attack. "You know you want to because you're stupid."
The Angel of Might started charging forth once more, gaining speed at a frightening interval.
"Nope." Shinji fired, nailing Zeruel in the left knee, toppling the beast into a pitched roll that sent him tumbling head over feet. "You're messing with the King of the Bastards son, and there is no way I am not going to fuck you up."
Author Note: And we're finally done. Took roughly a nine month period filled with ups and downs. Ah well, let's see how long chapter 20 takes. Later.
Author note: Well, hereÆs chapter 19, very late due to writerÆs block and my old comp dying. Oh and the disclaimer is just alerting you that IÆm probably going to be screwing with how Zeruel acts in this chapter, since I donÆt believe in rewrites, so if it doesnÆt fit, blame it on me being too bullheaded to copy-pasta the last chapter and fix it.
The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
Chapter 19 My Destruction is On Your Mind
By Marik Kurakashi
"This is getting out of hand." Misato said, as she watched the fight between Zeruel and Rei pick up. "How the hell can that thing do all that?"
"What, besides being an alien monstrosity bent on humanity's destruction?" Aoba asked which earned him a slap on the back of the head from Maya. "Ow!"
"Yes, beside that! It has to have bones or something solid to give it shape! It shouldn't be able to do that!" Misato was, of course, referring to Zeruel warping his body as though it were made of clay.
"Not necessarily." Gendo said, drawing attention to him. "Beyond the enormous regenerative abilities of the Angels, we have seen something similar to this before."
"The Angel of the Volcano I presume?" Fuyutsuki asked, drawing a nod from the Commander.
"I think we may have misidentified that Angel's capabilities," Gendo said, as he watched Rei attempt to outmaneuver Zeruel. "It wasn't rapid evolution, but really hyperactive re-adaptation."
"Say what?" Misato asked, drawing agreeing nods from the bridge crew.
"Not so much misidentified but dumbed down, I suppose." Fuyutsuki spotted the problem immediately when almost no one caught what was said.
ôVocabulary is a harsh mistress, yes.ö Gendo said curtly, before continuing his explanation. ôWhat I mean is that like that other Angel, this AngelÆs entire body seems to be more malleable and easier to shift and change as opposed to some of the others, which just regrew the bits we hacked off fast.ö
Blank stares greeted the Commander of NERV, who face-palmed due to not actually explaining anything to them.
ôHow to put this,ö he mumbled to himself before inspiration struck. ôAoba, you play video games a lot right?ö
ôUmà yes?ö Aoba seemed to hesitate, because he was afraid of getting fired for such hobbies.
ôWell, the Angel in the case is like a Boss character that keeps changing itself to throw off our methods of attack.ö God, Gendo hoped that was simple enough for them.
ôOh, why didnÆt you just say so?ö Aoba hit Makoto for that, with Maya having to do her best to keep a slap fight from breaking out.
ôNow, when you two are done goofing off,ö Misato started to order, but the idea of having to be told to do their jobs mortified them enough to stop their antics.
ôWeÆre on it maÆam.ö The Bridge Crew chorused together.
ôSometimes I wonder what itÆd be like if I had to tell them what to do all the time.ö Misato said as she turned towards the Commander. ôAnd then I realize that sounds positively nightmarish and that I shouldnÆt give myself the creeps like that.ö
ôItÆs not a healthy attitude to have,ö Fuyutsuki agreed, nodding his head slightly in agreement at how horrible itÆd be to not have the best and brightest at their beck and call.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Rei nodded her head in acknowledgement of the news she had just received. She had a theory on the ability possessed by Zeruel, but she was slightly off the mark. Still, his ability to shift and change at will was going to be a pain, so she decided to shut her mouth and fight.
As much as she wanted to talk reason into the alien being in front of her, the part of her that was Lilith knew it was futile. Of all of AdamÆs grotesque spawn, Zeruel was the mostly slavishly devoted with a fervor bordering on hysteria. The First Angel was his God, his everything, and could do no wrong in his eyes.
Too bad for the Angel of Might that his God had forsaken him for a human host, much as Lilith had done when she offered her gift of Life to Gendo.
Unit-00 shivered as Rei received a bit of LilithÆs memories, a side effect of her tearing free her soul from its cage. Zeruel took that as an opportunity to strike, lunging forward without a verbal note, with only the sound of his newly formed feet slamming against the Earth to herald his chargeà Shit, she had fallen into herself for a second there and got lost, as she hadnÆt even seen the transformation.
No words were exchanged as the modern day Titans clashed, the Earth trembling with every blow, the swiftness of Zeruel forcing Rei to abandon her weapon for the moment. Still, Rei was able to note that the Angel of Might had decided to go for big and intimidating instead of swift and sleek, which made him an easy target for the slighter Evangelion. Lightly, Unit-00 slid under a looping hook and slammed home a short uppercut to the body.
Stunned, Zeruel staggered backwards and was met with a flurry of punches. One out of every five thrown found a home, but did little damage as the Angel recovered his wits from the counter. An overhand right from him sent Rei skittering back, the fist easily smashing through the Earth below, forcing Unit-00 to skip and hop to avoid losing her footing.
With just a verbal noise of frustration, Rei had already recovered herself and lunged in once more.
It was an okay battle strategy, if you believed in going into every fight looking for one hit knock outs and such. Despite an even match in height, ZeruelÆs extra bulk gave him a decided power advantageà which was promptly wasted due to him conceding speed to the fly he was trying to swat. Not that Unit-00 lacked power, it just seemed that this Angel was the one model lacking a glass jaw, as he absorbed head shot after head shot and kept coming for more.
They came together in their ballet of death, a fist fight of mountains that stood as Gods and walked as men, their blows echoing off the surroundings in a staccato rhythm not unlike repeated cannon fire. Right hook to the face, left hook to the body, right uppercut to the chin, Rei felt her spirit soar as the blood rumbled through her veins in a torrent of unquenchable fire. Even if the monster felt no pain, the First Child knew he could feel frustration.
Under the din of their battle, she could hear his teeth grinding themselves to dustà assuming he had teeth of course.
Ah, she spaced again and had to punch away ZeruelÆs sudden left cross that seemed to be thrown from China. Using his off-balance posture, she darted forward and slammed Unit-00Æs right foot into his unguarded stomach, which sent the creature fumbling back and gasping for air. She stood hands at the ready for his next move.
This appeared to be laugh uproariously as though he had been told a really funny joke. Still, it didnÆt loosen the guard of Unit-00, still in its orange mode since Rei hadnÆt even really begun to fight. The massive maw of the Angel of Might closed into a feral grin, a sinister chuckle still dancing from his lips.
ôIt appears I underestimated you lot.ö Zeruel decided to try bantering again, more than likely to give him time to analyze their brief exchange. ôI had grown so disgusted by my brethren that I forgot that it wasnÆt that you got lucky, and more that you were actually skilled.ö
ôThat almost sounds like a compliment.ö Rei decided banter was good, as it left him possibly open for a swift attack.
ôMaybe it is, or maybe IÆm just sad because IÆll have to actually try to win now.ö He slouched his body forward a little, giving him an ape-like appearance. ôIt would have been more fun for me if I could just crush you and move on. Struggling is such a human trait after all.ö
ôSo is arrogance.ö And thus did Rei grow proud and spat in the eye of the Angel of Might.
ôHaughty bitch,ö he smiled despite his anger, mainly because he was going to enjoy stomping her into the ground for that.
Rei just gestured for him to bring it, signaling round two had just gotten underway.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Off in a small apartment somewhere in Tokyo-3, Kaworu took a seat on his couch, joined on the modest piece of furniture by Mari. The spartan layout of the apartment notwithstanding, it was a decent place to hang out at and relax. Kaworu closed his eyes for a second and sighed, something that seemed a bit off to Mari.
ôSomething wrong?ö She asked, only mildly concerned about his welfare. She was there to make sure no one else killed him after all, no one but her anyways.
ôJust feeling the battle going on.ö He answered, taking another deep breath before opening his eyes. ôItÆs Zeruel, isnÆt it?ö
ôYou should be able to tell, Adam.ö She teased, smirking at his glare as if daring him to do something. ôOh, sorry, youÆre æKaworu NagisaÆ now right?ö
ôI try to be anyways.ö He muttered, almost too low for her to hear. ôAnyways, I donÆt suppose you would know what the Commander has planned for me, would you?ö
ôOf course,ö she said with slight shrug. ôHell, I can even tell you, if you really want to know.ö
ôLet me be more specific: does he want me to pilot an Evangelion?ö
ôUnit-04 was generously donated to us by NERV-Nevada, and is being fixed by the good Doctor Akagi as we speak.ö
ôFixed?ö
ôOh you know, infinite power source, no cooling system. Overheat it once and kiss your ass goodbye.ö
ôAh, the S2 organ retrieved from ShamshelÆs corpse. So what about you, I doubt heÆs that paranoid about me that heÆd activate you just to threaten me.ö
ôNo, IÆm pretty sure the Commander would do that.ö
ôOkay, yeah. I can see him doing that.ö
ôThe simple reason is that IÆm to pilot the newly discovered Evangelion Unit-05.ö
ôBut there isnÆt a fifth unit...ö And as he finished, the true horror of it all dawned in his eyes.
ôYes, I have a machine soul inside of me.ö She smiled, showing off all of her very sharp teeth in a toothy grin that would make a shark scream in terror. ôWhich means, for all intents and purposes, I am Evangelion Unit-05.ö
ôYou are a very scary lady, you know that?ö
ôI am naught but the vessel of the Beast, were you expecting something else?ö
ôNo.ö He said quietly, almost feebly. ôI suppose not. Unlike me, you were created around the Beast to house it for the CommanderÆs purposes. Even if I wanted to, I can never just be the vessel of Adam.ö
ôWhat are you talking about?ö She hadnÆt expected the sudden downturn in his mood. Besides, him being morose meant she couldnÆt tease him without feeling bad about it.
ôThere wereà complications with my creation.ö He didnÆt mean to sound so evasive about it, but it was hard to talk about the root of his problems.
ôThe Commander did say as much when he briefed me,ö she held a pitying look for a brief flash of a second before it was gone. ôSo there is more than the soul of Adam and the body in there eh?ö
ôYes, there is I, Tabris inside here as well.ö He said, his voice ringing musically in an almost entirely different inflection than before.
ôWait, thereÆs another angel in there?ö Mari was clearly taken aback, since she hadnÆt heard of this beforehand.
ôThere is no need to be afraid. I mean you no harm and I do not wish to fight against humanity, only to observe and live.ö Tabris responded almost too easily, as if he was preparing to say this every day since Kaworu had come into existence.
ôIÆm not afraid; I just donÆt know what IÆm supposed to do.ö She blew out a sigh before standing. ôBut as long as you stay friendly, I wonÆt tell anyone. And I wonÆt have to because IÆll just kill you if you turn hostile.ö
ôYour terms areà acceptable I suppose.ö Tabris nodded before his head lolled back and then snapped forward. ôI hate when that happens.ö
ôKaworu?ö
ôItÆs okay Mari, Adam doesnÆt speak to people much, so itÆs me.ö
ôHow did that Angel get inside you? Possession shouldnÆt be possible as long as youÆre holding Adam.ö
ôHe kind of interrupted the part where they build the soul cage inside the vessel, so we are all really bonded instead of vessel and host.ö
ôDoes the Commander know?ö
ôProbably, though it may be a lot of guesswork on his end. Of course, if he does know, that means he somehow has arrested the Dead Sea Scrolls from Keel and the others.ö
ôWhat do those have to do with anything?ö
ôThe information written on them are actually a secret code, when deciphered allows the reader to gain knowledge on any subject they desire. I should know, Adam wrote them within the first few days of his arrival on this base Earth.ö He shivered as he thought of something. ôIf this is true, then Gendo Ikari is the scariest man alive.ö
ôThe gift of Knowledge AND the gift of Life?ö And even the Beast was afraid.
ôSadly, the final gift has been lost to the ether since time immemorial. Even if Lilith possessed it, she could not bestow it on another.ö
ôThe final giftà the gift of Wisdom I guess?ö
ôCorrect. Though if he ever did attain that, heÆd be encroaching on what some would say is the territory of God.ö
ôCreating life isnÆt enough?ö
ôMen create life by fucking a woman while sheÆs ovulating. By now, such an act is an ordinary miracle by now.ö
ôI suppose that is true.ö
ôIÆll have to have a one-on-one with the Commander sometime, itÆll proveà enlightening for us both.ö
ôAnd maybe youÆll get some one-on-one time with his son eh?ö She remembered that the dossier on him had mentioned a strange fascination with Shinji, so this may be prime teasing material.
ôThatÆd be more for Tabris than for me.ö He did cough and refuse to look her in the eyes anyways.
ôUh-huh.ö
Kaworu just let his shoulders sag as he let out a full body sigh. Today was going to be a long dayà
/-\ /-\ /-\
Rei rolled with a punch from Zeruel, bringing to bear her chaingun once more, the telltale whine sending the Angel scampering back. Rounds sliced through his flesh, but only served to annoy the purported Angel of Might, wounds fast closing as he tried to land a solid hit on his shiftier opponent. His mammoth fist tore into the ground, sending a huge clump of Earth flying into the gunfire, kicking up a cloud of dirt and allowing Zeruel to regroup.
"For his size, he moves pretty well." Rei whispered to herself, fingers flexing on her controls as she waited for his next move.
The familiar glow of the Angel's beam attack cut through the cloud, forcing the Evangelion to hastily defend itself from sudden beam. Rei's teeth gritted as she pushed her AT-field against the beam, doing her best to maintain her ground. Finding enough of the attack's momentum halted, the Evangelion then slipped the outer layers of its shield into the beam and expanded them, shattering the once imposing beam of death into harmless motes of light.
With the rhythm of the fight firmly in her grasp, Rei's following dodge could almost be called prescient. Her faithful steed moved with a grace that should not be possessed by such a giant, landing a kick to the elbow of the Angel. Before he could recover his defenses, Unit-00 slid in and blew its fellow giant back with a thundering shoulder charge.
Zeruel coughed slightly as he slipped back with the hit, eyes narrowing as he realized that he was far too slow to keep pace.
"So," he said; tone suddenly conversational. "Are you done with your warm-ups as well?"
"I've been waiting for you to get done," Rei said, rolling her eyes as she recognized the bravado for what it was. "I don't allow myself to get so lax as to need a warm-up. The luxury called lazy is not for someone like me."
"Hmph, I should have expected that of you." Zeruel said, widening his stance a little. "Never know who you have to stab in the back next, eh Lilith?!"
"Sorry, but she says she doesn't have words for an insect like you." Rei watched the Angel intently, not letting a single twitch go by without her noticing it. "And I find myself in agreement. Your attempts at banter only serve to show how weak you really are." Ooh, she hit right below the belt with that one.
"Talk is cheap eh? Well, I don't find myself in disagreement with you there," he said with an easy calm, before his body suddenly expanding to twice its previous size. "Then let's see how you like my actions!"
Predictably, Rei just chose to shoot him before he could do anything with his new bulk, and was thusly surprised when he exploded in a giant fireball. Before she could gain her wits to check and see if he was really dead, the now slimmed down Angel of Might came flying out of the smoke cloud and slammed both feet into the dome of Unit-00. The Evangelion staggered, but recovered to smash the Angel under the chin with the barrel of her chaingun.
Flipping with the hit, Zeruel kicked Unit-00 in the head again, dropping the Evangelion for the first time in their fight. Completing his flip, he landed lightly on his feet and began dancing on the balls of his feet. This proved prudent when it allowed him to avoid Rei's counter fire, zigzagging the bullets before he closed in. His grin glistened in the reflection off the helm of Unit-00 as he was poised to strike again.
To his shock, Rei managed to lower her gun and punch him from the air before he could register her movement.
Jaw crushed, face mangled, Zeruel flipped again and landed upon his feet. Not wasting a moment, he was back on the attack, charging in even faster. This time, he scored a quick kick to the ribs of the Evangelion, blocking her counter punch this time with a nifty cross block.
However, his kick didn't damage Unit-00, which dropped its weapon and bull rushed in, seizing the Angel and roughly slamming him to the ground. Seemingly not fazed by it at all, Zeruel managed to regain his feet and begin grappling with the Evangelion, the twin Titans exchanging close range blows. Punch for punch, elbow for elbow, and yes, knee for knee the two went, with the Angel of Might taking the worst of it.
In exchanging power for speed, he had now put himself into a situation where his opponent now had the strength advantage to muscle him around.
With great haste, he wrestled free from Unit-00's grasp and used his new found speed to separate from the larger Evangelion. This was beginning to get a little bit riskier, but he found it not unwelcomed. The Angel paced a little and considered his options.
By taking the speed advantage, he could hit the wretched Evangelion more than it could hit him. However, he was also more vulnerable to damage and he was slowly taxing his regeneration abilities with all the hits he had taken to fuck with her head. So as it were, they could no longer exchange blows or else he'd keel over dead in no time flat.
Zeruel juked left, dodging Unit-00's sudden lunging right, before diving forward to dodge the follow up side kick.
"Let's see how long she'll last shall we?" He whispered to himself, before he shot in and drilled the Evangelion in the temple with a left hook.
Sadly, the damage was negligible but he did succeed in further angering the pilot of the new-age Machine god. The desperate left right combo that followed was within his expectations, and was dodged with ease. He didn't, however, expect the thin piece of AT-field that wrapped around his neck and yanked him roughly into a violent knee to the stomach.
Dazed but not quite out of it, Zeruel managed to defend himself by forming a second face on his back and firing a beam of low intensity at the Evangelion's face in order to make her retreat. He regained his wind and wits on all fours, before springing up to block a charging kick with one to the chest of Unit-00. Momentum and a suddenly lack of discipline actually halted the charge since Rei didn't even bother to brace for a counter attack.
The Angel of Might could not savor his momentary victory as Unit-00 summarily drew a progressive knife and threw it into his eye.
"OW, MY FUCKING EYE! YOU BITCH!" He cleared her current range and drew the blade from his eye, blood gushing from the wound even as his regeneration sought to close the wound. In this brief break in the action, he noticed something was odd. Hadn't the Evangelion been a different color before?
"Why won't you just die already?" Rei was fucking pissed now, all of this Angel's useless struggling just served to infuriate her more. Her breathing was erratic and she just wanted him to die now.
She sounded mad, which to Zeruel's ears, was the sweetest of songs. If he had cracked her composure, there was no way for her to win now. A smile split his features even as his grotesque head wound finally closed.
"It's over," he said with confidence, plotting just how to win.
/-\ /-\ /-\
"Shinji, how are your preparations coming?" Maya asked over com, deciding to make sure that everything was still on track.
"Everything is fine," he replied with an uncharacteristic ease, not even being sarcastic when he said it. "Tell the guys in weapons they did a hell of a job on this rifle." As he spoke, Unit-01 was inspecting the new sniper rifle that NERV had developed for it.
"I'll pass it along," Maya responded, smiling a little. "Do you need an update on Rei?"
"Nah, I figure she's doing just fine." Shinji didn't seem too concerned, if only because he believed in the plan given out by Misato. "And me knowing what is happening will only cause me problems later."
"If you say so," Maya would allow him to have his privacy on that front. Her job wasn't to pry, but to make sure they weren't surprised by anything. "So, you seem to know a lot of how the Angels behave, so what can you glean from this one?"
"I don't know much, I haven't crossed fists with him yet." Shinji closed his eyes, as he focused on Zeruel. "But I can guess he's kind of arrogant, but not very bright. To duck our sensors is something that doesn't happen often, but he still ran headlong into our gauntlet."
"So you don't think he's that bright or at the very least he's not that cunning." Maya did her best to parse the layered talk from Shinji, but she wasn't confident that she did it right.
"More or less," he allowed, knowing he had been a little bit vague. "Though, Asuka and I have a pet theory that there are certain things that have shifted in the Angels from the start of our battles."
"Oh yeah?" She asked, raising her eyebrow a little.
"Well, it was her theory; I've just added my own observations."
"Go on."
"The way she sees it, the Angels have exhibited several layers of intelligence, depending on the circumstances." He sat back a little, and thought a bit. "Take Iruel for example, he had enough smarts to make a good pitch to ensure he got what he wanted. Sure, it was extremely advantageous to us and we lost nothing in accepting. Compare that to the first that sort of charged in blindly, there seems to be a certain level of intelligence growth."
"So what are you saying?"
"The Angels are growing in varying ways that aren't even consistent with each other. Their growth is chaotic and unchartable, even the things that seem to follow a pattern are being broken with the next one discovered."
"If I got it right, what you're saying is that the Angels are pretty diverse creatures that can't really be used to predict the next one."
"To simplify it, the Angels are pretty much like humans. That's what Asuka said anyways, and I'm inclined to agree."
"What."
"It's not even that unbelievable if you think about it." Shinji reached back and pulled a water bottle out from a hidden compartment and took a pull from it. "They all clearly have different stages of development and levels of intelligence. Even the unintelligible Fish Angel had enough smarts to figure out how to trap Unit-02 for example. It looks outright stupid next to Iruel, but that's because Iruel was clearly further along his development."
"So, they're people?"
"Like people, it's an important distinction to make. They're not quite human, just very similar and we can assign human like emotion and intelligence. If this is really correct, than we may have stumbled on another truly intelligent life form."
"Out to kill us."
"Of course they are; why wouldn't they be? Wouldn't need giant robots of questionable origins to fight them if they were friendly."
"Right."
"I'm sure we'll get this sorted out eventually."
"That sounds weird coming from you."
"Really? Asuka said the same thing."
/-\ /-\ /-\
Zeruel immediately shifted his body to a more balanced variant of strength and speed. He had been a bit foolish to have fought the balanced Evangelion with too much of either one. Not wasting anytime, he immediately exchanged blows with Rei, the thundering sound causing minor vibrations to be felt for miles around.
Unlike the beginning of the fisticuffs, the Angel of Might was giving as well as he was getting. Their speed and strength equal, all that was left was their determination. As the two Titans clashed fist to fist, the sound of their blows must have seemed as though the world was ending.
It was not of course, not as long as the Evangelion remained to stand in the way of the Angels.
Rei could feel the pain from the blows in the back of her mind, but her rage and frustration refused to allow her to slow down. Every blow thudded through her mind, flooding her with a dull ache that felt as though she would come apart any second now. But she refused to yield to such a thing as pain, refused to give an inch to this beast of an opponent.
This whole thing was unfair, another Angel capable of rational thought and all it sought was their death. Why was such a creature before them now after they had finally started to gain true understanding of their opponent? Why was it alive when Leliel and Iruel died?
Unit-00 jerked wildly and slipped a punch, before slamming its head home and crushing the left collarbone of Zeruel.
Such injuries were fleeting, however, and even now she could hear the shattered bone reshaping itself. The momentary advantage was pressed in any event, as she started bouncing punches off the face of the disoriented Angel. Damage, however, were not the reason for this barrage. She just wanted him to ache a little, and despair as he realized he couldn't win.
However, he stymied her again with a well timed counter, sending the Evangelion back on its heels once more. That one dazed her, just for a second, and she was on the defensive. His blows came in rapid succession and with sufficient force behind them that tanking them was not on the table. And at this range, her AT-field was useless since she needed it to keep him vulnerable.
Rei swiftly decided to ignore the mental dilemma and punch him in the face again, which seemed to be a fine defensive maneuver.
The Angel skipped back on his heels, not really hurt by the punch and allowing her the distance to open her defenses up again. He had to have been wearing her down by now; she had absorbed a lot of his blows without protecting herself. Again, he took advantage of his body's unique abilities and stretched his arm across the distance between her in a lightning fast punch.
It clipped off her guard but it halted any possible advance from her, meaning it was Zeruel's turn to attack. He shot forward, extending a kick to keep her in place before he caught up and slammed a high speed left cross into her guard, which was augmented by him increasing both the mass and density of the limb in question. The Evangelion's arms fell away, the guard blasted apart by the relentless onslaught.
A right cross to the face followed, dropping Unit-00 to its back.
Zeruel sought to press his advantage, but was stymied by Rei alertly kicking a leg up into his face. The Evangelion swung itself into a crouch and surged forward with a powerful left hook to the exposed body of the Angel. Ribs shattered under the force of the blow, staggering the monster once again. Rei followed with an overhand right that dropped the Angel outright, the satisfying sound of his jaw breaking again bringing a smile to her face.
Flat on his back, Zeruel pondered once more what had gone wrong. She was enraged but she was even fiercer if such a thing was possible. It was slowly becoming clear he couldn't match her in hand to hand, and even if he did land a big hit, she landed one that seemed a magnitude greater than his own. She was skilled, he could plainly see that, but he hadn't expected such a gulf.
Deep down in his heart, he began to despair that his mission was to end in the same abject miserable failure of his kin.
He was Zeruel! He was the Angel of Might and the strongest of them all! And yet here he lay, beaten down and afraid, openly afraid of dying. Noà not dying, he was afraid of failing Adam, his progenitor and the reason he was even here today.
There had to be a way past her defenses, he had already found purchase in her mind already. She was clearly angry and frustrated, so whatever he was doing was working. It was just having diminishing returns because she was beating the shit out of him even as he scored hits on her. He had to go beyond that, he had to start impairing her mind with more than anger.
If he could make her fear, or even better, begin to despair, then he had his ticket to victory.
"I hate you so much," Zeruel said as he finally regained his feet, jaw repaired. He wobbled a little; the pain was affecting him more than he thought.
"You've said as much before." Rei retorted, the Evangelion poised to pounce in an instant.
"No, this hatred is separate from the one I have for your foul guest." He didn't laugh, he didn't smile. He had finally calmed down enough to start using his head and stop letting his pride blind him. "I acknowledge you as a separate being and want you to know that I absolutely hate you." The air began to vibrate even as he glowed a faint orange, as he pulled back his AT-field and started rapidly shifting the frequency.
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual." She replied, even as she watched what he was doing carefully. He had been full of annoying surprises, and this looked to be no different.
"That is good," he whispered, before expanding his AT-field again, causing the hairs on the back of Rei's neck to rise. "Hate is a valuable emotion, it can sustain you. As it has sustained me since my birth."
"Because it is a convenient excuse, so when you do whatever you please, you can excuse your actions." Rei wasn't having his bullshit, especially since it sounded like he was about to launch into some pity party. "Not that you need an excuse, but from the sounds of it, hollow justification is all you really want."
"Speak all you want," he laughed, a mocking sound filled with malice. "But all I need from you now is to hear you scream."
Rei's vision exploded into odd shapes and colors and it seemed as if reality itself was ready to come apart at the seams. Zeruel shifted from his vaguely humanoid shape into a giant blob of black stuff with this weird mask face. He surged forward, only for Unit-00 to dodge and roughly seize him, before slamming the blob down to the ground.
The sudden movement only made her vision explode with further color and noise, giving Rei a brief bout of vertigo. She shook it off quickly though, and was able to defend his next lunge with some difficulty. Unit-00 swayed under the effects of Zeruel's weird attack, but remained standing.
Under no circumstance was she going to fall from a bit of lights and colors flying to and fro.
A sudden attack from the left was thwarted with a punch, a rear assault defused with a back kick. He came from the right and was foiled again, but her attacks lacked their usual oomph due to her confusion. She couldn't be certain it was him at all, so she conserved her energy by just throwing a limb out at him and knocking him over.
He attacked again and again, relentlessly with such swiftness it bordered on teleportation, and yet, his attacks were thwarted again and again. But the colors, the lights, and the attacks were eroding her sanity and control bit by bit. What began as a measured if sloppy defense was quickly slipping away into tiring desperation.
Rei's breath began to labor, but her defense remained solid, marking well her training for such a battle.
"Still you struggle even as your mind and eyes betray you," Zeruel taunted, being a little too smug as he observed Unit-00's slumped posture. "It is admirable, and all the more satisfying to know you squirm in that piece of garbage."
Unit-00's head suddenly snapped towards him, as if he had just given himself away.
"Do come on and try and find me, I know you'll fail." The Angel seemed a bit too confident in his safety, as though he had already won while his opponent still stood.
Then a familiar hexagonal shield shimmered to life in front of the Evangelion, which stopped the colors and lights swirling around it.
"Oh motherf-" He found it hard to complete his next sentence when Unit-00's fist hit him square in the face, backed by a metric ton of fuck you.
He did manage an impressive pirouette in the air before he landed flat on his back and cratered the ground. The Evangelion swiftly mounted its fallen enemy and began to rain down blows that quickly deepened the hole they were already in. Rei couldn't feel the impact in her arms, her nerves deadened by all of the fighting up to now.
It was still an impressive sight, her relentlessly pummeling her opponent when she was already this tired. The dull ache in her bones made it all seem so sluggish, and she couldn't tell if he was even taking damage or even alive after all this. It would all be over soon though, she'd kill this Angel and then she'd rest and forget about the anger this pest had stirred in her breast.
"It's almost over," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes and slowing her attacks by just a fraction of a second.
And then Zeruel swelled up and exploded in her face, the blast of air throwing her off him and sending the Evangelion flipping into the air.
"For you, it certainly is." He watched impassively as Unit-00 crashed into the ground, creating another crater. The regeneration was slow to heal the damage, but he could mask it with strategic morphing. Once more in his fully humanoid form, he stood and waited for his opponent to rise.
"You won't get passed me that easily," Rei said, slowly drawing the Evangelion to its feet once more. She probably couldn't win now, but that didn't mean she was done making this Angel work. "I stand here simply as the Vanguard, your lack of skills will only do in eventually. I fight so that others may take you down, your dependence on your strength will only bring you ruin."
"I don't need a lecture from you," he said, body finally ready for the final charge. "Besides, as long as I win, my strength was always right."
"And that is why you'll remain an idiot until you die." Rei said, her tone only slightly mocking. "But as it were, you have yet to win."
"You're right, you're still standing aren't you?" He sprang forward, rushing across the gap between them. "Then allow me to correct that oversight!"
They traded blows again, though they lacked some of the dazzling speed from before, but the power was still there. Unit-00 gave as good as it got, and even as Rei found it harder and hard to stay awake, it still stood firm in the face of Zeruel's offense. Hit after hit, the two traded punches, often simultaneously would the blows land.
At the five minute mark of this brutal exchange, Rei was nearly unconscious but her fighting spirit kept her steed in the battle. Though her punches lacked the thought and intelligent placement from before, they kept at least part of their bone smashing force. The pain was gone, she couldn't feel it anymore, and she could barely even tell if she was still standing.
Unit-00 and Zeruel landed another simultaneous blow and both combatants slumped to a knee.
His face was mush, and he could barely tell where he was anymore. His non-stabbed out eye was nearly swollen shut so he wasn't even certain she was still in front of him. Even now, he couldn't seem to close out the deal against the Evangelion, a fact that vexed him to no end. His reserves were being depleted by all the healing he had to do, which didn't bode well for his future battles.
Blood suddenly started gushing from his head as he sought to deflate the swelling. His eyesight clearing, he could see the Evangelion on a knee, just as he was, but that wasn't what held him in place. It was covered in dings and scrapes, but the armor was structurally intact.
"I don't believe this." He got to his feet and his foe did not match him. It would seem for all the lack of physical damage, he had managed to render the new-age machine god inert and unconscious. Though this technically meant he had won, he was not very happy about it. "In the end, I just outlasted her. No masterful final attack, no moment of triumph, she just passes out."
Time was not on his side though, he couldn't stand around and complain until she woke up. Shakily, he stumbled past her, pausing to make sure she wouldn't rise up and attack him again. Two more Evangelion were waiting for him, and he had to plan for them.
Zeruel had just put Rei out of sight when he felt something hit him in the right collarbone area. Pain and blood flooded out from the wound, and he could see his AT-field splintering from something hitting it. He collapsed to a knee again and spat up blood, eye darting around in disbelief he had been hit by something he couldn't see or sense.
Lines of orange sparked from the wound, and then there was a minor explosion that tore his arm off.
"Round 2 motherfucker." Shinji said, relaxing his finger off the trigger of his new rifle, content to watch the Angel fall.
End chapter 19
Teaser for chapter 20 "I Dare You to Tell Me to Walk Through Fire":
"Get up you big bitch," Shinji said, using the scope on his rifle to watch the Angel's movement. "That wasn't a fatal hit; so quit pouting like a prissy princess and get the fuck up already."
Zeruel drug himself up, taking care to reattach his arm instead of trying to grow a new one.
"That's right, come to daddy you little shit." The Third Child was more than willing to dish out the hurt on this Angel, more so now that it appeared to have beaten Rei.
"Where did that attack come from?" Zeruel looked about, but still could not find the origin of that shot.
"Come on and rush forward like the panicked git you are," Shinji said, beginning to make adjustments for his next attack. "You know you want to because you're stupid."
The Angel of Might started charging forth once more, gaining speed at a frightening interval.
"Nope." Shinji fired, nailing Zeruel in the left knee, toppling the beast into a pitched roll that sent him tumbling head over feet. "You're messing with the King of the Bastards son, and there is no way I am not going to fuck you up."
Author Note: And we're finally done. Took roughly a nine month period filled with ups and downs. Ah well, let's see how long chapter 20 takes. Later.
Disclaimer: Yeah, uh hi. Hehehe, I kinda forgot about this. Whoops.
Author note: Uh, yep. After years of being deader than fuck, it’s back!
The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
Chapter 20 I Dare You To Tell Me to Walk Through Fire
by Marik Kurakashi
“How is Rei?†Asuka asked, calling in once she had heard Shinji fire off his magnificent new rifle.
“Alive, but out cold.†Misato answered, shaking her head. “We won’t know the extent of her injuries until Unit-00 is retrieved, but her life isn’t in danger.â€
“That’s good,†Asuka whispered, blowing out a heavy sigh. “I’d hate to think she would be laid low by this Angel.â€
“Your concern for your comrade is impressive,†Maya cut in, “but you need to focus on the Krieger Suite for now. If in the unlikely event the Angel gets past Shinji, you’ll like the safety net for 1400 missile drones, along with 200 missile silos.â€
“And coordinating through satellites with the 44 gunships loaned to us from the Americans ja?†Asuka said with a laugh. “I know I know, I was just clearing my mind.â€
“Plus we got your back with all the cool new explosive toys.†Hyuga chimed in with a friendly smile.
“I hope she gets to use the rocket that fires rockets.†Aoba declared, that had been his favorite after Shinji’s sniper. But that thing was like a subway system that launched shells and come on.
“I’ll be counting on you for the op to come should it come.†Asuka said, laughing even more. “We’re so lucky to have you guys.â€
“Aww.†The bunnies all looked so embarrassed by the praise.
“Shinji...†Asuka whispered, sparing her last free thought for her brash comrade before she fell into the backdoor link to the MAGI and could see the entirety of Japan from space, as well as onto the ships that she was going to be commanding.
/-\ /-\ /-\
“Get up you big bitch.†Shinji said, using the scope on his rifle to watch the Angel’s movement. “That wasn’t a fatal hit; so quit pouting like a pretty princess and get the fuck up already.â€
Zeruel drug himself up, taking care to reattach his arm instead of growing a new one.
“That’s right, come to daddy you little shit.†The Third Child was more than willing to dish out the hurt on this Angel, more so now that it appeared to have beaten Rei.
“Where did that attack come from?†Zeruel looked about, but still could not find the origin of the shot.
“Come on and rush forward like the panicked git you are.†Shinji said, beginning to make adjustments for his next attack. “You know you want to because you’re stupid.â€
The Angel of Might started charging forth once more, gaining speed at a frightening interval.
“Nope.†Shin fired, nailing Zeruel in the left knee, toppling the beast into a pitched roll that sent him tumbling head over feet. “You’re messing with the King of the Bastards son, and there is no way I am not going to fuck you up.â€
“Gah, shit my fucking leg you fucking fuck ah!†Zeruel channeled his focus on keeping his leg from coming apart than he was on his language. At least it didn’t explode, thank Adam.
“Got quite a mouth on him.†Shinji noted with a disgusted snort. Of course, he wasn’t above swearing, but there needed to be an art to it or you were just swearing to pad out your cred. “Not like it matters, I’ll take that from him.†He took aim again and waited.
Okay, looked like he’d still have a leg. Downside, he really needing to figure out how to re-energize his regeneration or he was dead. Zeruel felt something he nearly dismissed as nothing before he fired a giant beam of energy at it.
“Huh, not entirely clueless.†Shinji muttered as the small rock formation 50 yards in front of him was vaporized after he coated it in a layer of his AT-field for bait. “Still, at this range, it doesn’t matter.†He fired again, a third round flying for Zeruel.
“So that’s what this is.†Zeruel said, as his AT-field sprang to life and surrounded and smashed the shell to nothing. “However, it’s too bad, slayer of Ramiel. You just exposed yourself to me!†He fired off another beam at Shinji’s thought of position and missed by 24 yards.
“Close but no cigar you fuck.†Shinji fired again, the round screaming in hidden by the explosion.
Again, the field sprang up and smashed the round to pieces as Zeruel sat in contemplation. “The thing about these fields is that they force reality to manifest them. Therefore, with sufficient will, anything can be done with them.†He felt that the kid in the new-age Machine God would attack again soon and smirked to himself.
“Is... is he fucking smiling?†Shinji asked as he saw the warped visage of Zeruel twist and contort. “Well that’s just inappropriate timing, considering you’re about to eat a bullet and die.†Shinji fired a fifth time, making note he’d have to reload soon.
“You must think you’re hot shit.†Zeruel said with a smirk. “But I’ll give you two good pieces of info. First, you’re so wrong it isn’t funny and second, I, Zeruel, have luck on my side!†The AT-field sprang up again but instead of just smashing the bullet to bits, it simply stopped it in mid-air and seemed to leech the kinetic energy from it. Orange light shuffled on through the layers and into the Angel of Might, seemingly healing him and closing some of his wounds.
“Even with all the shit we pull, that is a bit much.†Shinji said, shaking his head and deciding to reload. Despite the heal, Zeruel would need to keep recovering or else Shinji would murk his ass.
“Well, at least my regen is back up.†Zeruel noted, eye healing back open. He looked around rapidly with both eyes, getting used to it again quickly. “Now to find that little fuck.†He rolled away from Shinji’s answering shot, not bothering to keep up the healing shield.
“He has some intelligence, but he’s still stupid.†Shinji said, tagging Zeruel in the stomach as the Angel made it back to his feet.
“Gwah!†Zeruel gasped, coughing up blood and falling back. “...Not!†His face twisted into a feral grin as more blood than a 40k fanfic spilled forth from him.
“...Uh.†Shinji didn’t think he had hit something vital so the blood was really unexpected. And then it formed into clones of Zeruel. Oh. Right. Of course. “Now it makes sense.â€
“Let’s see how he plays with others.†Zeruel muttered as his clones split apart and began heading towards Shinji. He couldn’t face tank an Evangelion, that much he had learned from Unit-00. Had all three come at him at once, he’d likely would have been fucked proper. No point in wondering why they would duel him one on one now.
/-\ /-\ /-\
“How you holding up champ?†Mari asked, the two still seated on the couch.
“I’m fine,†Kaworu said with a wan smirk. “Just feeling the battle as it goes along.â€
“I bet if Zeruel could see what has been done to Adam, he’d lose his shit.†She laughed at the idea of the titanic angel throwing such a fit.
“More than he already has.†He didn’t appreciate the humor, if only because she was an annoyance to him. A living blade at his neck in exchange for obedience to keep him from making a mistake and supporting Keel Lorenz and SEELE.
“Lighten up kiddo.†She said, half kidding half commanding. “You already have white hair, you can’t get greys.â€
“This battle should have ended with the three of them already dancing on his corpse.†He said, turning a glare on her. “That Zeruel still lives tells me things haven’t gone well.â€
“It was the Dirac Sea Angel and Iruel.†Mari explained with a somber look. “Both made an impression on the pilots and Katsuragi thought it better to distance them from each other.â€
“Controlling the Evangelions in such a state,†Kaworu’s face twisted into a sour sneer and he hopped to his feet. “I suppose that would make sense to keep them apart so they won’t get in each other’s way.â€
“Hah, if you saw Unit-02’s new loadout you wouldn’t want to be around her even on your best day ever.†She laughed, the growling of the Beast echoing behind it.
“What?â€
“She’s commanding an arsenal of civilization ruining firepower, and that’s pre-Impact levels.†She had to hand it to the American Military’s dedication to making gunships in this day and age. With both coasts under water, they still were making shit to kill everyone just because.
“So in reality, Rei and Shinji are simply there to lower him down to the point Asuka rains down the fire on his face.†It was a terrifying plan, to be sure.
“Correct.†She lolled her head to look up the ceiling. “So Adam is content with his cage?â€
“He cares little for the events on the Base Earth, nor would he care about his children.†Kaworu looked out the window in the direction of Zeruel. “His god has forgotten him and spurns him in the favor of sleep. All there is for Zeruel is silence and indifference.â€
“Even if he succeeds, he’ll still fail.†Mari had to admit that sounded like it sucked hardcore.
“Not like it matters,†the white haired boy stretched. “He’d never beat Asuka in a million years.â€
“Are you saying our little fraulein is stronger than the Angel of Might?â€
“She’s already taken the wound that holds Zeruel back. He lacks the strength to abandoned his obsession and Asuka has come to terms with her mother’s suicide.â€
“Ah, it’s a matter of experience then.â€
“A Heart that’s healed won’t lose to one still broken.â€
Mari hummed during the silence that followed, before she added one final thought.
“That’s implying Shinji won’t skullfuck Zeruel to death and back.â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
“Heh, an amusing trick.†Shinji said as he tapped into the MAGI to track the clones’ movements for him. “But a trick is only as good as the trickster using it.â€
“Then there’s nothing for me to worry about then.†Zeruel said, not even smirking or anything. The main body remained surprisingly idle, no doubt using the clones to aid his regen.
“However, you’ll find that I am your superior when it comes to tricks.†Shinji boasted, demonstrating this by firing his rifle off in a random direction. However, the shell hit on AT-field and then another before plowing into the head of one of the clones. “This world is my domain and this field is my control of it. You will not escape me.â€
“That suits me just fine.†Zeruel said, unconcerned by the display of power from the Evangelion. “I wouldn’t run from someone as weak as you anyways.â€
“Enjoy your shit talking while you can draw breath, you fucking maggot.†Shinji punctuated this statement by killing another clone and sending them scrabbling. “Because I’m going to rip your goddamn lungs out.â€
Several of the Zeruel clones began to attack Shinji at that point, their beams bouncing off the Evangelion’s AT-field.
“Alright, volunteers to die first!†Shinji exclaimed, opening fire rapidly, taking two of the clones out easily.
“This will be different than the last.†Zeruel muttered as he observed Shinji. Rei had been a marathon that he had barely came out on top of. Shinji, by virtue of being the one with the most kills under his belt, was an entirely different animal. If he tried to trade it out with him he’d likely die before he even caused the punk a shred of discomfort. “I gotta figure out his weakness first.â€
Easier said than done that, as Shinji continued to make his clones look like they were a bunch of orange jumpsuited ninnies. They just don’t make self-replicating abilities like they used to, the Angel of Might silently lamented as another shot rang out and signified yet another clone’s death.
“This all you got bitch?†Shinji taunted, reshaping his AT-field into a giant middle finger.
“Hardly,†Zeruel said, using his own field to augment the beam he fired into the monstrosity before him.
“You singed my fingernails.†Shinji observed, the middle finger remaining for a few seconds once the lights had died down.
“I’ll do more than that.†Zeruel promised, two thin ribbons of flesh dangling off his chest, before they shot at Shinji reaching impressive speeds.
“Weak.†Shinji taunted, before he saw energy trickle up the stopped tendrils. “Oh hell.†Before the wavelengths could merge and disappear, the ace of NERV yanked back his field and shifted the wavelength on the fly.
“What’s wrong?†Zeruel asked innocently as he withdrew his tendrils. “Did you think you were the only one to be able to manipulate the AT-field like this?â€
“No.†Rei and Asuka could as well. However, the Angels being able to...
“I fail to be convinced by that.†The Angel of Might was nearing full health again, but his reserves were almost empty. The next time he went down low like that, he’d likely die. There wouldn’t be a next time of course.
“I’m not into tanking like Rei.†Shinji said, smirking as he flipped his rifle up and took aim. “I’m more the sadist of the group.â€
“Oh I’ll give you enough agony to change your tune, boy.â€
Shinji felt his smirk deepening despite how much he hated this asshole.
“In your dreams, dirtbag.†He fired, the round picking up to near relativistic speed as it passed through his field.
Had this been any other Angel, or indeed Zeruel prior to fighting Rei, the round would have ripped right through the Angel’s field and scored a critical hit. However, with the shattering of his delusions of invulnerability, the Angel of Might instead chose a pragmatic approach where he warped the field as the bullet impacted, keeping an impenetrable wall just beyond it. After a few seconds to peter out the bullet’s kinetic energy, Zeruel turned and used the field to throw it away.
“Well fuck.†Shinji cursed under his breath, hoping to have surprised him enough to take him down.
“So, ready for the next round?â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
“Commander, we’re approaching Unit-00.†Misato relayed the report she had just gotten from the recovery team. “From initial observations, the damage dealt is mostly cosmetic. We can have it back ready to fight provided Rei is in optimal condition in about twenty five minutes post recovery.â€
“Do that Captain, but only if Rei is fine. I don’t want to waste time on fixing Unit-00 if there is nothing to move it with.†Gendo replied, looking at the main screen as Unit-01 fought Zeruel. “Is the Krieger Suite functioning properly?â€
“Beyond even the golden scenario of the MAGI,†Ritsuko replied, sending data from Unit-02 up to the man. “She’s currently synchronizing their movements to a song she seems to have written on the spot.â€
“At least she seems ready if the Angel comes.†Fuyutsuki said with a small grin.
“Her singing is anyways. We’ll see how missiles and munitions work when brought in conjunction to an Evangelion.†Gendo noted, before turning a sidelong gaze on his mentor. “Has the Package been secured?â€
“There are several Commander, you must specify.†Fuyutsuki was ready for this.
“Has the Beast been delivered to Adam?†Gendo went for priority one.
“Safely and securely. She is holding him hostage as per her usual lack of people skills.†Fuyutsuki replied, chuckling a little.
“What about the Fleas we picked up?†Gendo ran through priority two.
“They have been captured and thrown in as deep a hole as the Japanese government could find.†Fuyutsuki smiled. “I heard they bounced off the remains of the Jet Alone project.â€
“What about the Parts Dr. Akagi asked for?†Gendo went to priority three next.
“Secured and in route. Provided we succeed in destroying the target, it will be here before the end of the week.†Fuyutsuki said, nodding his head. “Though Mr. Kaji apologizes it took him longer than normal.â€
“That’s fine, he’s been doing way better than I had pegged him for.†Gendo said, tapping his fingers. “Have you finished setting up the new lab as I requested?â€
“Yes, it was finished last night.†Fuyutsuki said, before addressing a lingering concern. “Commander, why have you done this?â€
“The lab? Well, there’s two things. First, I kinda wanted to experiment with the clones again just for fun. I will admit this makes me a horrible person but, that’s common knowledge. The second is some weird readings given off by Unit-01. You know how they work so I won’t reiterate the specifics, but I think that Angel they met in the Dirac Sea’s soul might have got itself stuck on the soul cage inside.†Gendo seemed pretty nonchalant about all this.
“You... you’re going to resurrect it as a clone?!†Fuyutsuki just seemed floored by this.
“Well, seeing the kids all bent out of shape by it and that Iruel one, I wanted to try and do something to help ease their worries if I can.†Gendo said with a shrug. “And it’s only a theory I had based on the signal appearing whenever Shinji synched in with unit-01.â€
“And if it isn’t that Angel...†Fuyutsuki’s eyes shot wide.
“Yes, now we know why the process failed with Rei.†Gendo paused. “Though, I suppose that’s only in the sense of cloning Yui. She’s been a fantastic success otherwise.â€
“Excluding the First.†Fuyutsuki decided to bring THAT up.
“...yeah, definitely. THAT had been mostly my fault for doting on her too much and letting her develop a complex.†Gendo decided it was time to do a bit of self reproach. If only because not sharing his plans for future cloning shenanigans always rubbed the old man badly.
“The affair with Naoko wasn’t a hot idea either.†And while we’re counting down the top fuck ups of Gendo Ikari...
“Okay, that had been a really piss poor decision. In my defense, I had gotten blackout drunk and came to my senses post-coital.†Gendo winced, shaking his head before trying to save face.
“In your damnation, you didn’t cut it off and explain it away as booze. Even if we were lucky to have her daughter step in, you nearly wrecked everything for a booty call.†Nope, your face comes off seemed to be the verdict.
“Again you mean.†Oh, well if that was the case.
“Hmm, yes I had almost forgotten.†Fuyutsuki determined he’d have to punch Gendo again later after this crisis had been averted.
“Well, at least we got that cleared up. Looks like the fight is about to kick in.†Gendo coughed slightly as Unit-01 and Zeruel went back at each other.
/-\ /-\ /-\
It was so vexing, this fight. Honestly, it shouldn’t be as fun as it was, considering the fate of mankind rested on its outcome. But here was an Angel who could take a hit and keep coming back for more. It was everything he had wanted out of them after he started piloting the Evangelion.
Now though, it just felt like a colossal waste of time. There’s so much more that could be gained from Zeruel beyond an amusing boss encounter. It had intelligence and wit, why was it being squandered on such a fruitless endeavor?
Deep down in the heart of Shinji Ikari, a quiet rage began to burn and fester.
‘Why?’ Shinji thought as he maneuvered to take another shot at the Angel of Might. ‘Why are you still alive? You, who offer nothing, instead of Iruel or Leliel.’ With great rapidity, he squeezed off five rounds, two bouncing off the AT-field, another being caught by Zeruel, yet another missed. The last nicked his shoulder and did nothing to even cause the titanic Angel any kind of annoyance.
“Tch.†Shinji skidded back and quickly reacquired his target. “Quit over-thinking this shit and kill this motherfucker already.†He fired off one more round before moving again to reload from safety.
“Something wrong, you little brat?†Zeruel decided to taunt the little bastard. He had to crack him one way or another. “Not getting scared are you?â€
“You’d have to be a threat to me for me to get scared.†Nah son, it’s something worse than fear. Shinji was getting downright furious with Zeruel’s constant insistence on not dying like the piece of shit should. “But don’t worry about my mental state, friendo. You’ll be dead before it becomes an issue.â€
Zeruel narrowed his eyes, knowing that the easy victories of the past had swollen the kid’s confidence to enormous proportions. But he had the cure for that: a good old fashioned beatdown.
“No witty retort? Pity, I was beginning to enjoying the witty repartee.†Shinji said, finishing his reload and ammo check. “But don’t say anything now, since all I want is to enjoy the silence.â€
To Shinji’s surprise, the angel complied, opting to pre-empt the next shot with one of his own. Deciding not to bother with the AT-field, the Evangelion simply juked the beam while acquiring its target in the move. With AT-field related hijinx, the round erupted forth with a cacophonous bang, speeding along until it nicked the angel in the left flank. He’s the Angel of Might not the Angel of Agility after all.
Still, the bastard was getting better at picking up the shots from Shinji’s rifle. Soon, it’d be useless and he’d have to get into melee range and give the prick a fifty-fifty shot. A sick light started to burn in the eyes of the new-age Machine God, one that signified something horrible for everyone but especially Zeruel.
“Shinji, watch out, your sync ratio is raising into dangerous territory.†Maya’s voice seemed to explode against the Third Child’s skull. His senses had expanded, he saw more clearly and even farther than before. He heard more keenly as the ringing in his ears attested too. Also very unfortunate that he smelled more too and holy fuckballs did the LCL smell worse than before. Gag.
“Sync ratio is now holding at 87%. This is bad, if he take a hit now it might cripple him for good!†Aoba alerted Shinji to his plight as he adjusted to the noise. His disorientation did not give Zeruel an opening, who was curious as to what was happening to the Evangelion. He could see the face of the Angel so much clearer now, even without the scope. What was that look on its face?
Upon noticing the Evangelion stumble slightly, the Angel of Might had thought to take advantage. But... something barred him from taking that step. What was it? Was it... fear? But he knew not what the word meant so it couldn’t be that. And then... wait, what the hell? W-what the fuck? The Evangelion just smiled right then didn’t it? Okay it was more a smirk of bloodthirst but the face wasn’t supposed to be able to fucking move!
“Sync Ratio at 91%! We’re losing him!†Hyuga cried in panic, not knowing what to do.
“Why... won’t... you... just... die?!†Shinji snarled as his rage took hold and reached out for the power that promised him the end he wanted.
“NO!†A voice from the darkness cried, alive with the sound of bells. A voice burned into his brain and carved into his soul. “You musn’t! I know it’s hard but you have to stay yourself! Don’t lose your way!â€
“What the...?†Shinji’s rage guttered out as he recognized the voice. “L-Leliel?! Am I going mad?â€
“My voice... it got through! Oh thank goodness!†Leliel cried, the image of her when they first met filling his mind. “Listen my friend, you must not go beyond that threshold! All that lays down there is madness and pain.â€
“This thing I’m fighting though, he’s so strong.†Shinji admitted to himself, deciding to go with this. “I don’t know if I can win if I hold back!â€
“You’re not alone! You don’t have to shoulder the burden of fighting him alone.†Leliel answered, the playful chime soothing the ache in Shinji’s heart. “Your answer lies in the sky my friend. Look there and you will know what to do.â€
The Evangelion seemed to slump over before looking off in a direction. Whatever fear it was inspiring in Zeruel was flooding away now, so Shinji had to hurry with this revelation. Inside the Entry Plug, Shinji’s eyes grew wider as he took note of the dancing lights in the distance.
“The Krieger Suite... Asuka!†He gaped, having forgotten all about that in his rage. “She’s ready then.†He laughed and looked to where he could feel Leliel’s presence coming from. “Thanks, you bailed me out of a bad decision.â€
“I’m always watching you friend.†Leliel assured him. “Now let her have him.â€
“Sync Ratio back down to 71%.†Maya said with a relieved tone.
“Sorry for worrying you command.†Shinji radioed back to base. “I have a request though.â€
“What’s that?†Misato asked, stepping to the plate for the command portion of this outfit.
“I want to let Asuka have him.†Shinji said, smiling just a little. “She’ll fucking annihilate him.â€
That smile, that jovial boast and that fierce confidence... it was like he was back to how he was before Iruel.
With that in mind, Misato nodded. “Let him pass and evacuate to a standby area. I want you ready to gank this motherfucker should worse come to worst.â€
“Roger!†Shinji said, before addressing the Angel. “Hey fuckbreath! Yeah you! I’m forfeiting this little bout so go on and get killed to death by Asuka.â€
Zeruel nearly face planted in shock at the sudden shift from stalwart defender to surrendering coward. “Are you serious?â€
“Killing you was never a question for me, the only real problem is what I’d give up to do it.†Shinji said, thinking on the words the supposed spirit of Leliel said to him. “And you know what? You’re not worth it. And you know? Asuka is gonna annihilate you anyways so what does it matter?â€
“Why shouldn’t I just kill you anyways?†Zeruel asked, not budging.
“Because one, you can’t or else I’d already be dead. And for two, you’re getting a free pass to the last line of defense. If that’s not a good deal for you, you can always let me kill you now.†Shinji replied, making Unit-01 pop its neck. “That’d be fine too if you don’t wanna face yourself and reach out towards the Truth.â€
Zeruel pondered trying it, but figured if he conserved his strength he might brute past Unit-02 and make him regret this decision. “Have all the weaklings who came before me inspired such idiotic bravado?â€
“Weak? The other Angels?†Shinji let loose a mocking torrent of laughter. “You’re the most cowardly piece of shit I’ve ever seen. At least the others had pride in their attempts to end humanity. You couldn’t even fight a bunch of regular folk without sneak attacking them. Seems like you were afraid we’d pop up and murder you to death.â€
The Angel of Might snorted but decided he wasn’t here to debate things with the Evangelion or their trash pilots. Slowly, the Angel resumed his march towards Tokyo-3, being deliberate in the hopes of bringing up a tiny bit of his reserves in case the next piece of shit got lucky. Before long, he was out of sight, leaving Shinji alone.
“They’ll never believe me, but even if I hallucinated it, I was able to pull myself from that path.†Shinji whispered to himself, moving towards the evacuation point.
/-\ /-\ /-\
“He let him go.†Kaworu said, his eyes staring at the ceiling in disbelief. “He stood on the precipice and turned away.â€
“The Ace of Project E isn’t an ordinary boy.†Mari said, feeling glum she had been kept on the sidelines instead of activated as a companion for the boy. Even if she was an abomination of the nth degree, she had feelings damn it.
Not that she wanted to fight Asuka or Rei for him, not even the Beast was that foolhardy.
“Indeed, he surpasses every expectation even if it isn’t by any actual action.†Kaworu laughed, basking in the fear and loathing radiating from Zeruel. “If it weren’t Zeruel, I could have some pity for the poor thing walking to its execution. But he was the biggest dick even to the other Angels so fuck him.â€
“Well put.†Mari said, brushing a hand over Kaworu’s chest, an act lacking the flirtation emotional backing it appeared to have. “If he had ever learned humility, he might be worthy of pity.â€
She tossed her head back and laughed.
“In the end he was just a pathetic brute who thought himself hot shit.†Mari laughed again even harder than before.
“About to become plain shit.†Kaworu finished, nodding his head with a smug satisfaction with the contempt he felt.
“You know, do you know what’s on the Dead Sea Scrolls?†Mari asked, deciding to shift the conversation back to an earlier point.
“Nope, it’s the one of the parts of Adam’s memories I can’t acess. Along with anything before they touched down on this base Earth.†Kaworu replied. “But it was probably meant for Lilith’s eyes only, or for someone she judged worthy of the knowledge within.â€
“So either a romantic gesture or the possibility that Gendo fucking Ikari was worthy of that gift.†Mari said, looking dubious.
“That... was probably meant to drive him nuts. The knowledge should have driven him insane. Or sane only to go mad once the revelation kicked in again.†Kaworu answered, feeling this was the most likely. “I mean, you’ve seen how they have her right?â€
“Trussed up in a manner that would offend Catholics everywhere, with a convenient font of flesh to harvest and study.†Mari said, indicating that was a yes. “I would probably try to get back at them somehow.â€
“And in doing so, she gave the most dangerous man on the planet all the knowledge he could ever want.†Kaworu said, shaking his head. “Gendo Ikari should never have that kind of power.â€
“No one man should.†Mari said, before smirking. “Of course, there was the other side of her revenge.â€
“Hnn?â€
“The Gift of Life silly. You think you could pull the trigger on wiping out all life when you know everything about it now?†Mari asked, before waving off any reply to indicate it was rhetorical. “Sure, maybe someone else might still have done it, but well... you would have put Gendo in that category right?â€
Kaworu smirked. “Are you sure you should be saying this?â€
“What, am I not supposed to know you’re a spy planted by SEELE to back stab us at the crucial moment to clear the way for them to seize control of everything again?†Mari sniffed with obvious disdain and dismissal. “Please, if you were just a schmuck nobody would Gendo Ikari waste time with activating me when there are easier threats to make? Section 2 is everywhere, with guns and a license to kill. It’s obvious to anyone with a quarter of a brain that you’re too convenient of a find to be anything but someone with a big dark secret.â€
The Vessel of Adam shook in terror as Mari leaned in way too close for comfort.
“Go ahead and try to flaunt something like that to my face again and Suzuhara can always take your place.†She continued, hot breath wafting from her mouth like she were a dragon about to spew fire. “You are here because he has deemed it necessary for you to be here. In order to placate your master, dog, he has taken pity on you and allowed you to ride with us on our path to saving the world. Be mindful that your life holds no value to us and we’ll get along fine.â€
Behind her red framed glasses, her irises began to glow a vibrant red, as she stared into Kaworu’s terrified eyes.
“But push me and you will live long enough to regret it.†She finished, clenching her teeth into a twisted snarl. “Got that?â€
“Understood.†He was three second from pissing and shitting himself. “Permission to run to the bath and hide like a terrified bitch.â€
Mari backed off and laughed. “Granted, but don’t cower too long, you might make the Beast hunger... the flesh of those gripped by terror are his favorite.
Kaworu barely heard her as he fled the room in terror.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Zeruel trudged into sight of Unit-02, feeling worn down and frayed beyond measure. He was the Angel of Might damnit, but so far he had gotten lucky against Rei and was spared by Shinji. All of his power and strength amounted to a fart in the wind as the Evangelion were concerned.
His introspection was cut short by the sound of Asuka singing, using the hands of Unit-02 to guide the countless drones and gunships above her in time to the beat in her head. Its eyes flashed once she noticed him, and slowly it lowered its hands into a fighting pose. He was ready to charge, but she decided to speak to him.
“As much as I should just kill you, I’m not so heartless not to offer you the chance to surrender.†Asuka said, broadcasting to all of the people under her command to be ready for action any second now. “It’ll be painless for you that way.â€
“You lot...†Zeruel said, mask morphing into a grimace. “What makes you think you’re so superior to me that you can dare to give me mercy?â€
“I have eyes to see you got wrecked pretty bad by Rei and Shinji.†Asuka said calmly, fingers gripping the controls. “You’ve suffered enough in my book.â€
The Angel stood silent, mind flashing back to the years in the cold, alone with just his thoughts. “This? This doesn’t even begin to approach suffering to me.†He spoke with a clarity and a purpose. “If you feel you need to pity me, then why don’t you surrender?â€
“Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness,†Asuka said, starting the targeting vectors of her opening salvo. “But I figure I should at least give you the chance to die painlessly. Because if you fight, it won’t end quick for you.â€
“I agree, but that’s because it won’t end at all for me!†Zeruel yelled, leaving his mouth open to fire a beam at Unit-02. This plan was quickly nixed when a missile came screaming down out the heavens and forced him to put up his AT-field to defend.
“Let me welcome you to the debut of the Krieger Suite.†Asuka said, her own field coming to life before her. “But I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it.â€
Zeruel moved back as fast as he could, his lingering injuries protesting as he tried to make it hard for Asuka to tag him. This proved futile when the next missile down air bursted into a shower of napalm, which licked hungrily at his field while rooting him in place for the follow up, which pushed against the field even more.
“Cornered and desperate, your next move will put you.... THERE!†Asuka launched her next attack for fifteen feet behind Zeruel. The Angel fired a beam into the ground to kick up dirt to try and cover his retreat, only to walk into the missile. His field blocked it but all this defending left him both unable to attack and served to wear him down.
Sure, he had limitless energy at his disposal, but he could only channel it in so many directions before it tied itself in a knot. That must have been her plan then, and maybe the plan of these maggots from the beginning. Quickly, he fired a beam at her to test if she was able to focus on predicting his moves and defending herself.
“Naive.†Asuka muttered, her field expanding out to knock the beam away. In retaliation, she had three of her gunships begin to batter the angel’s position with the guns.
The rounds exploded against his field or smashed into the ground when he moved to avoid them altogether. If Zeruel believed that this helped him, he was proven wrong when three missiles crashed into his field. This served to push him back into the hail of gunfire which pushed and pushed against the absolute barrier with a kind of hunger.
“Are you beginning to regret your hubris?†Asuka asked, face impassive as she began to formulate her next salvo. “This is just the opening number, do try and live to see the full set you pathetic dog.â€
“What did you call me?†Zeruel said, a snarl in his voice as he began to hate Asuka even more than he did already.
“A pathetic, mindless attack dog. Nothing more than a broken mongrel who had been abused to the point you confused abuse for love and scorn for devotion.†Asuka replied, relaying the relevant data from the MAGI to the pilots of her gunships. “You lash out in the hopes that if you smash those you think are the foes of your master, he will reward you with actual love and kindness.â€
“You...†Zeruel fought down his rage, she was trying to get him to drop his guard. “Nice try, but I won’t fall for your games.â€
“Bark away O abandoned mutt. Maybe one day the master who left you behind will come back and see how faithful you’ve been in defending his property.†Asuka said, reaching down behind a rock near her and picking up her pallet rifle, which was loaded with special oscillating rounds for AT-field suppression. “What am I say, your master is gone, never to return. Even if you succeed in your mission, he’ll never know.â€
Zeruel narrowed his eyes as he judged the distance between them. One good hop and he’d be planting his fist right in the ugly face of that Evangelion.
“But it’s time for you to die, o faithful mongrel.†Asuka said, firing a burst at Zeruel with her rifle.
“This again?†The angel asked, almost casually blocking the rounds with his AT-field... which promptly warped and shattered. Well shit. “Oh fuck me.â€
The following salvo from the gunships above certainly did its level best to fulfill his request. Cannon rounds battered him, machine gunfire tore into him and the seventeen missiles that hit him left him on the edge of consciousness. His face was left looking towards the heavens, as his soul filled with despair.
“How... can I be... losing?†He barely had the energy to speak, as he put just about everything into healing. Smoke rose from his body as blood ran down from numerous wounds. “I am the Angel of Might... how can I lose to trash like this?â€
“That attitude is why.†Asuka replied. “You’re looking down on us, not acknowledging our strength or abilities. You look past us and underestimate us and all you can do is be caught flat footed when our attacks land home. Look at you, all high and mighty but nothing to show for it. If Rei had kept her cool, you’d have died without a single victory.â€
His regen was failing, all the energy he pumped into it was being squandered. The wounds weren’t closing, his body wasn’t able to move anymore. He was as good as dead now. “End this.â€
“No no, I gave you your chance at mercy, so I’m going to watch you suffer for a bit, trapped in yourself like a helpless child.†Asuka retorted, stretching out a little. “I think an hour should be enough time for me to enjoy your pain.â€
Zeruel could only scream in impotent rage.
An hour had passed before Asuka spoke again. “Yeah, I am satisfied with this. And now I’ll remove you like the withered flower you are.†She tapped a button on her control panel and sat back.
The Angel of Might could only whimper as he watched the many many missiles rain down on him. He couldn’t even really feel anything as his body began to be torn asunder by the firepower Unit-02 had brought to bear. There wasn’t even a final regretful thought or mournful wail cursing his fate. All there was, really, the desolate silence of the Angel’s full despair.
Soon all that remained of the once proud Angel of Might was a useless smear of blood and chunks of meat not even fit to be called dog shit.
End chapter 20
Preview of chapter 21 “Take the Color From Your Eyesâ€
Shinji sat in the courtyard of his school, four days after the death of Zeruel. With how well the op had gone, the pilots were ordered to take some time off to breath even more. For the first time since he arrived, he hadn’t gone to NERV HQ for anything. He mostly hung out with Kensuke or Touji, sometimes visiting Rei or Asuka for kicks. It was weird but he really felt like he could breath again for the first time since the encounter with Leliel.
Neither Rei nor Asuka had laughed at him saying Leliel spoke to him in the throes of the battle. Rei seemed to believe him without hesitation, while Asuka merely accepted it as a coping mechanism. And maybe it was, didn’t make it bad in the least.
He blew out a sigh and looked up to the sky.
It was around this time that a fantastic pair of breasts attached to a young woman with brown hair and wearing their school uniform crashed right into his face. How... awkward and yet exhilarating. Wait, what the hell was going on here?
“Titties.†He mumbled into said body part, his face indeed in some kind of marshmallow hell. “Nice titties.â€
Author speaks: Holy shit did I forget about this. Oh well, maybe now I can get back into the groove of things and finish this out. Time for a breather arc, what do you say?
Author note: Uh, yep. After years of being deader than fuck, it’s back!
The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
Chapter 20 I Dare You To Tell Me to Walk Through Fire
by Marik Kurakashi
“How is Rei?†Asuka asked, calling in once she had heard Shinji fire off his magnificent new rifle.
“Alive, but out cold.†Misato answered, shaking her head. “We won’t know the extent of her injuries until Unit-00 is retrieved, but her life isn’t in danger.â€
“That’s good,†Asuka whispered, blowing out a heavy sigh. “I’d hate to think she would be laid low by this Angel.â€
“Your concern for your comrade is impressive,†Maya cut in, “but you need to focus on the Krieger Suite for now. If in the unlikely event the Angel gets past Shinji, you’ll like the safety net for 1400 missile drones, along with 200 missile silos.â€
“And coordinating through satellites with the 44 gunships loaned to us from the Americans ja?†Asuka said with a laugh. “I know I know, I was just clearing my mind.â€
“Plus we got your back with all the cool new explosive toys.†Hyuga chimed in with a friendly smile.
“I hope she gets to use the rocket that fires rockets.†Aoba declared, that had been his favorite after Shinji’s sniper. But that thing was like a subway system that launched shells and come on.
“I’ll be counting on you for the op to come should it come.†Asuka said, laughing even more. “We’re so lucky to have you guys.â€
“Aww.†The bunnies all looked so embarrassed by the praise.
“Shinji...†Asuka whispered, sparing her last free thought for her brash comrade before she fell into the backdoor link to the MAGI and could see the entirety of Japan from space, as well as onto the ships that she was going to be commanding.
/-\ /-\ /-\
“Get up you big bitch.†Shinji said, using the scope on his rifle to watch the Angel’s movement. “That wasn’t a fatal hit; so quit pouting like a pretty princess and get the fuck up already.â€
Zeruel drug himself up, taking care to reattach his arm instead of growing a new one.
“That’s right, come to daddy you little shit.†The Third Child was more than willing to dish out the hurt on this Angel, more so now that it appeared to have beaten Rei.
“Where did that attack come from?†Zeruel looked about, but still could not find the origin of the shot.
“Come on and rush forward like the panicked git you are.†Shinji said, beginning to make adjustments for his next attack. “You know you want to because you’re stupid.â€
The Angel of Might started charging forth once more, gaining speed at a frightening interval.
“Nope.†Shin fired, nailing Zeruel in the left knee, toppling the beast into a pitched roll that sent him tumbling head over feet. “You’re messing with the King of the Bastards son, and there is no way I am not going to fuck you up.â€
“Gah, shit my fucking leg you fucking fuck ah!†Zeruel channeled his focus on keeping his leg from coming apart than he was on his language. At least it didn’t explode, thank Adam.
“Got quite a mouth on him.†Shinji noted with a disgusted snort. Of course, he wasn’t above swearing, but there needed to be an art to it or you were just swearing to pad out your cred. “Not like it matters, I’ll take that from him.†He took aim again and waited.
Okay, looked like he’d still have a leg. Downside, he really needing to figure out how to re-energize his regeneration or he was dead. Zeruel felt something he nearly dismissed as nothing before he fired a giant beam of energy at it.
“Huh, not entirely clueless.†Shinji muttered as the small rock formation 50 yards in front of him was vaporized after he coated it in a layer of his AT-field for bait. “Still, at this range, it doesn’t matter.†He fired again, a third round flying for Zeruel.
“So that’s what this is.†Zeruel said, as his AT-field sprang to life and surrounded and smashed the shell to nothing. “However, it’s too bad, slayer of Ramiel. You just exposed yourself to me!†He fired off another beam at Shinji’s thought of position and missed by 24 yards.
“Close but no cigar you fuck.†Shinji fired again, the round screaming in hidden by the explosion.
Again, the field sprang up and smashed the round to pieces as Zeruel sat in contemplation. “The thing about these fields is that they force reality to manifest them. Therefore, with sufficient will, anything can be done with them.†He felt that the kid in the new-age Machine God would attack again soon and smirked to himself.
“Is... is he fucking smiling?†Shinji asked as he saw the warped visage of Zeruel twist and contort. “Well that’s just inappropriate timing, considering you’re about to eat a bullet and die.†Shinji fired a fifth time, making note he’d have to reload soon.
“You must think you’re hot shit.†Zeruel said with a smirk. “But I’ll give you two good pieces of info. First, you’re so wrong it isn’t funny and second, I, Zeruel, have luck on my side!†The AT-field sprang up again but instead of just smashing the bullet to bits, it simply stopped it in mid-air and seemed to leech the kinetic energy from it. Orange light shuffled on through the layers and into the Angel of Might, seemingly healing him and closing some of his wounds.
“Even with all the shit we pull, that is a bit much.†Shinji said, shaking his head and deciding to reload. Despite the heal, Zeruel would need to keep recovering or else Shinji would murk his ass.
“Well, at least my regen is back up.†Zeruel noted, eye healing back open. He looked around rapidly with both eyes, getting used to it again quickly. “Now to find that little fuck.†He rolled away from Shinji’s answering shot, not bothering to keep up the healing shield.
“He has some intelligence, but he’s still stupid.†Shinji said, tagging Zeruel in the stomach as the Angel made it back to his feet.
“Gwah!†Zeruel gasped, coughing up blood and falling back. “...Not!†His face twisted into a feral grin as more blood than a 40k fanfic spilled forth from him.
“...Uh.†Shinji didn’t think he had hit something vital so the blood was really unexpected. And then it formed into clones of Zeruel. Oh. Right. Of course. “Now it makes sense.â€
“Let’s see how he plays with others.†Zeruel muttered as his clones split apart and began heading towards Shinji. He couldn’t face tank an Evangelion, that much he had learned from Unit-00. Had all three come at him at once, he’d likely would have been fucked proper. No point in wondering why they would duel him one on one now.
/-\ /-\ /-\
“How you holding up champ?†Mari asked, the two still seated on the couch.
“I’m fine,†Kaworu said with a wan smirk. “Just feeling the battle as it goes along.â€
“I bet if Zeruel could see what has been done to Adam, he’d lose his shit.†She laughed at the idea of the titanic angel throwing such a fit.
“More than he already has.†He didn’t appreciate the humor, if only because she was an annoyance to him. A living blade at his neck in exchange for obedience to keep him from making a mistake and supporting Keel Lorenz and SEELE.
“Lighten up kiddo.†She said, half kidding half commanding. “You already have white hair, you can’t get greys.â€
“This battle should have ended with the three of them already dancing on his corpse.†He said, turning a glare on her. “That Zeruel still lives tells me things haven’t gone well.â€
“It was the Dirac Sea Angel and Iruel.†Mari explained with a somber look. “Both made an impression on the pilots and Katsuragi thought it better to distance them from each other.â€
“Controlling the Evangelions in such a state,†Kaworu’s face twisted into a sour sneer and he hopped to his feet. “I suppose that would make sense to keep them apart so they won’t get in each other’s way.â€
“Hah, if you saw Unit-02’s new loadout you wouldn’t want to be around her even on your best day ever.†She laughed, the growling of the Beast echoing behind it.
“What?â€
“She’s commanding an arsenal of civilization ruining firepower, and that’s pre-Impact levels.†She had to hand it to the American Military’s dedication to making gunships in this day and age. With both coasts under water, they still were making shit to kill everyone just because.
“So in reality, Rei and Shinji are simply there to lower him down to the point Asuka rains down the fire on his face.†It was a terrifying plan, to be sure.
“Correct.†She lolled her head to look up the ceiling. “So Adam is content with his cage?â€
“He cares little for the events on the Base Earth, nor would he care about his children.†Kaworu looked out the window in the direction of Zeruel. “His god has forgotten him and spurns him in the favor of sleep. All there is for Zeruel is silence and indifference.â€
“Even if he succeeds, he’ll still fail.†Mari had to admit that sounded like it sucked hardcore.
“Not like it matters,†the white haired boy stretched. “He’d never beat Asuka in a million years.â€
“Are you saying our little fraulein is stronger than the Angel of Might?â€
“She’s already taken the wound that holds Zeruel back. He lacks the strength to abandoned his obsession and Asuka has come to terms with her mother’s suicide.â€
“Ah, it’s a matter of experience then.â€
“A Heart that’s healed won’t lose to one still broken.â€
Mari hummed during the silence that followed, before she added one final thought.
“That’s implying Shinji won’t skullfuck Zeruel to death and back.â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
“Heh, an amusing trick.†Shinji said as he tapped into the MAGI to track the clones’ movements for him. “But a trick is only as good as the trickster using it.â€
“Then there’s nothing for me to worry about then.†Zeruel said, not even smirking or anything. The main body remained surprisingly idle, no doubt using the clones to aid his regen.
“However, you’ll find that I am your superior when it comes to tricks.†Shinji boasted, demonstrating this by firing his rifle off in a random direction. However, the shell hit on AT-field and then another before plowing into the head of one of the clones. “This world is my domain and this field is my control of it. You will not escape me.â€
“That suits me just fine.†Zeruel said, unconcerned by the display of power from the Evangelion. “I wouldn’t run from someone as weak as you anyways.â€
“Enjoy your shit talking while you can draw breath, you fucking maggot.†Shinji punctuated this statement by killing another clone and sending them scrabbling. “Because I’m going to rip your goddamn lungs out.â€
Several of the Zeruel clones began to attack Shinji at that point, their beams bouncing off the Evangelion’s AT-field.
“Alright, volunteers to die first!†Shinji exclaimed, opening fire rapidly, taking two of the clones out easily.
“This will be different than the last.†Zeruel muttered as he observed Shinji. Rei had been a marathon that he had barely came out on top of. Shinji, by virtue of being the one with the most kills under his belt, was an entirely different animal. If he tried to trade it out with him he’d likely die before he even caused the punk a shred of discomfort. “I gotta figure out his weakness first.â€
Easier said than done that, as Shinji continued to make his clones look like they were a bunch of orange jumpsuited ninnies. They just don’t make self-replicating abilities like they used to, the Angel of Might silently lamented as another shot rang out and signified yet another clone’s death.
“This all you got bitch?†Shinji taunted, reshaping his AT-field into a giant middle finger.
“Hardly,†Zeruel said, using his own field to augment the beam he fired into the monstrosity before him.
“You singed my fingernails.†Shinji observed, the middle finger remaining for a few seconds once the lights had died down.
“I’ll do more than that.†Zeruel promised, two thin ribbons of flesh dangling off his chest, before they shot at Shinji reaching impressive speeds.
“Weak.†Shinji taunted, before he saw energy trickle up the stopped tendrils. “Oh hell.†Before the wavelengths could merge and disappear, the ace of NERV yanked back his field and shifted the wavelength on the fly.
“What’s wrong?†Zeruel asked innocently as he withdrew his tendrils. “Did you think you were the only one to be able to manipulate the AT-field like this?â€
“No.†Rei and Asuka could as well. However, the Angels being able to...
“I fail to be convinced by that.†The Angel of Might was nearing full health again, but his reserves were almost empty. The next time he went down low like that, he’d likely die. There wouldn’t be a next time of course.
“I’m not into tanking like Rei.†Shinji said, smirking as he flipped his rifle up and took aim. “I’m more the sadist of the group.â€
“Oh I’ll give you enough agony to change your tune, boy.â€
Shinji felt his smirk deepening despite how much he hated this asshole.
“In your dreams, dirtbag.†He fired, the round picking up to near relativistic speed as it passed through his field.
Had this been any other Angel, or indeed Zeruel prior to fighting Rei, the round would have ripped right through the Angel’s field and scored a critical hit. However, with the shattering of his delusions of invulnerability, the Angel of Might instead chose a pragmatic approach where he warped the field as the bullet impacted, keeping an impenetrable wall just beyond it. After a few seconds to peter out the bullet’s kinetic energy, Zeruel turned and used the field to throw it away.
“Well fuck.†Shinji cursed under his breath, hoping to have surprised him enough to take him down.
“So, ready for the next round?â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
“Commander, we’re approaching Unit-00.†Misato relayed the report she had just gotten from the recovery team. “From initial observations, the damage dealt is mostly cosmetic. We can have it back ready to fight provided Rei is in optimal condition in about twenty five minutes post recovery.â€
“Do that Captain, but only if Rei is fine. I don’t want to waste time on fixing Unit-00 if there is nothing to move it with.†Gendo replied, looking at the main screen as Unit-01 fought Zeruel. “Is the Krieger Suite functioning properly?â€
“Beyond even the golden scenario of the MAGI,†Ritsuko replied, sending data from Unit-02 up to the man. “She’s currently synchronizing their movements to a song she seems to have written on the spot.â€
“At least she seems ready if the Angel comes.†Fuyutsuki said with a small grin.
“Her singing is anyways. We’ll see how missiles and munitions work when brought in conjunction to an Evangelion.†Gendo noted, before turning a sidelong gaze on his mentor. “Has the Package been secured?â€
“There are several Commander, you must specify.†Fuyutsuki was ready for this.
“Has the Beast been delivered to Adam?†Gendo went for priority one.
“Safely and securely. She is holding him hostage as per her usual lack of people skills.†Fuyutsuki replied, chuckling a little.
“What about the Fleas we picked up?†Gendo ran through priority two.
“They have been captured and thrown in as deep a hole as the Japanese government could find.†Fuyutsuki smiled. “I heard they bounced off the remains of the Jet Alone project.â€
“What about the Parts Dr. Akagi asked for?†Gendo went to priority three next.
“Secured and in route. Provided we succeed in destroying the target, it will be here before the end of the week.†Fuyutsuki said, nodding his head. “Though Mr. Kaji apologizes it took him longer than normal.â€
“That’s fine, he’s been doing way better than I had pegged him for.†Gendo said, tapping his fingers. “Have you finished setting up the new lab as I requested?â€
“Yes, it was finished last night.†Fuyutsuki said, before addressing a lingering concern. “Commander, why have you done this?â€
“The lab? Well, there’s two things. First, I kinda wanted to experiment with the clones again just for fun. I will admit this makes me a horrible person but, that’s common knowledge. The second is some weird readings given off by Unit-01. You know how they work so I won’t reiterate the specifics, but I think that Angel they met in the Dirac Sea’s soul might have got itself stuck on the soul cage inside.†Gendo seemed pretty nonchalant about all this.
“You... you’re going to resurrect it as a clone?!†Fuyutsuki just seemed floored by this.
“Well, seeing the kids all bent out of shape by it and that Iruel one, I wanted to try and do something to help ease their worries if I can.†Gendo said with a shrug. “And it’s only a theory I had based on the signal appearing whenever Shinji synched in with unit-01.â€
“And if it isn’t that Angel...†Fuyutsuki’s eyes shot wide.
“Yes, now we know why the process failed with Rei.†Gendo paused. “Though, I suppose that’s only in the sense of cloning Yui. She’s been a fantastic success otherwise.â€
“Excluding the First.†Fuyutsuki decided to bring THAT up.
“...yeah, definitely. THAT had been mostly my fault for doting on her too much and letting her develop a complex.†Gendo decided it was time to do a bit of self reproach. If only because not sharing his plans for future cloning shenanigans always rubbed the old man badly.
“The affair with Naoko wasn’t a hot idea either.†And while we’re counting down the top fuck ups of Gendo Ikari...
“Okay, that had been a really piss poor decision. In my defense, I had gotten blackout drunk and came to my senses post-coital.†Gendo winced, shaking his head before trying to save face.
“In your damnation, you didn’t cut it off and explain it away as booze. Even if we were lucky to have her daughter step in, you nearly wrecked everything for a booty call.†Nope, your face comes off seemed to be the verdict.
“Again you mean.†Oh, well if that was the case.
“Hmm, yes I had almost forgotten.†Fuyutsuki determined he’d have to punch Gendo again later after this crisis had been averted.
“Well, at least we got that cleared up. Looks like the fight is about to kick in.†Gendo coughed slightly as Unit-01 and Zeruel went back at each other.
/-\ /-\ /-\
It was so vexing, this fight. Honestly, it shouldn’t be as fun as it was, considering the fate of mankind rested on its outcome. But here was an Angel who could take a hit and keep coming back for more. It was everything he had wanted out of them after he started piloting the Evangelion.
Now though, it just felt like a colossal waste of time. There’s so much more that could be gained from Zeruel beyond an amusing boss encounter. It had intelligence and wit, why was it being squandered on such a fruitless endeavor?
Deep down in the heart of Shinji Ikari, a quiet rage began to burn and fester.
‘Why?’ Shinji thought as he maneuvered to take another shot at the Angel of Might. ‘Why are you still alive? You, who offer nothing, instead of Iruel or Leliel.’ With great rapidity, he squeezed off five rounds, two bouncing off the AT-field, another being caught by Zeruel, yet another missed. The last nicked his shoulder and did nothing to even cause the titanic Angel any kind of annoyance.
“Tch.†Shinji skidded back and quickly reacquired his target. “Quit over-thinking this shit and kill this motherfucker already.†He fired off one more round before moving again to reload from safety.
“Something wrong, you little brat?†Zeruel decided to taunt the little bastard. He had to crack him one way or another. “Not getting scared are you?â€
“You’d have to be a threat to me for me to get scared.†Nah son, it’s something worse than fear. Shinji was getting downright furious with Zeruel’s constant insistence on not dying like the piece of shit should. “But don’t worry about my mental state, friendo. You’ll be dead before it becomes an issue.â€
Zeruel narrowed his eyes, knowing that the easy victories of the past had swollen the kid’s confidence to enormous proportions. But he had the cure for that: a good old fashioned beatdown.
“No witty retort? Pity, I was beginning to enjoying the witty repartee.†Shinji said, finishing his reload and ammo check. “But don’t say anything now, since all I want is to enjoy the silence.â€
To Shinji’s surprise, the angel complied, opting to pre-empt the next shot with one of his own. Deciding not to bother with the AT-field, the Evangelion simply juked the beam while acquiring its target in the move. With AT-field related hijinx, the round erupted forth with a cacophonous bang, speeding along until it nicked the angel in the left flank. He’s the Angel of Might not the Angel of Agility after all.
Still, the bastard was getting better at picking up the shots from Shinji’s rifle. Soon, it’d be useless and he’d have to get into melee range and give the prick a fifty-fifty shot. A sick light started to burn in the eyes of the new-age Machine God, one that signified something horrible for everyone but especially Zeruel.
“Shinji, watch out, your sync ratio is raising into dangerous territory.†Maya’s voice seemed to explode against the Third Child’s skull. His senses had expanded, he saw more clearly and even farther than before. He heard more keenly as the ringing in his ears attested too. Also very unfortunate that he smelled more too and holy fuckballs did the LCL smell worse than before. Gag.
“Sync ratio is now holding at 87%. This is bad, if he take a hit now it might cripple him for good!†Aoba alerted Shinji to his plight as he adjusted to the noise. His disorientation did not give Zeruel an opening, who was curious as to what was happening to the Evangelion. He could see the face of the Angel so much clearer now, even without the scope. What was that look on its face?
Upon noticing the Evangelion stumble slightly, the Angel of Might had thought to take advantage. But... something barred him from taking that step. What was it? Was it... fear? But he knew not what the word meant so it couldn’t be that. And then... wait, what the hell? W-what the fuck? The Evangelion just smiled right then didn’t it? Okay it was more a smirk of bloodthirst but the face wasn’t supposed to be able to fucking move!
“Sync Ratio at 91%! We’re losing him!†Hyuga cried in panic, not knowing what to do.
“Why... won’t... you... just... die?!†Shinji snarled as his rage took hold and reached out for the power that promised him the end he wanted.
“NO!†A voice from the darkness cried, alive with the sound of bells. A voice burned into his brain and carved into his soul. “You musn’t! I know it’s hard but you have to stay yourself! Don’t lose your way!â€
“What the...?†Shinji’s rage guttered out as he recognized the voice. “L-Leliel?! Am I going mad?â€
“My voice... it got through! Oh thank goodness!†Leliel cried, the image of her when they first met filling his mind. “Listen my friend, you must not go beyond that threshold! All that lays down there is madness and pain.â€
“This thing I’m fighting though, he’s so strong.†Shinji admitted to himself, deciding to go with this. “I don’t know if I can win if I hold back!â€
“You’re not alone! You don’t have to shoulder the burden of fighting him alone.†Leliel answered, the playful chime soothing the ache in Shinji’s heart. “Your answer lies in the sky my friend. Look there and you will know what to do.â€
The Evangelion seemed to slump over before looking off in a direction. Whatever fear it was inspiring in Zeruel was flooding away now, so Shinji had to hurry with this revelation. Inside the Entry Plug, Shinji’s eyes grew wider as he took note of the dancing lights in the distance.
“The Krieger Suite... Asuka!†He gaped, having forgotten all about that in his rage. “She’s ready then.†He laughed and looked to where he could feel Leliel’s presence coming from. “Thanks, you bailed me out of a bad decision.â€
“I’m always watching you friend.†Leliel assured him. “Now let her have him.â€
“Sync Ratio back down to 71%.†Maya said with a relieved tone.
“Sorry for worrying you command.†Shinji radioed back to base. “I have a request though.â€
“What’s that?†Misato asked, stepping to the plate for the command portion of this outfit.
“I want to let Asuka have him.†Shinji said, smiling just a little. “She’ll fucking annihilate him.â€
That smile, that jovial boast and that fierce confidence... it was like he was back to how he was before Iruel.
With that in mind, Misato nodded. “Let him pass and evacuate to a standby area. I want you ready to gank this motherfucker should worse come to worst.â€
“Roger!†Shinji said, before addressing the Angel. “Hey fuckbreath! Yeah you! I’m forfeiting this little bout so go on and get killed to death by Asuka.â€
Zeruel nearly face planted in shock at the sudden shift from stalwart defender to surrendering coward. “Are you serious?â€
“Killing you was never a question for me, the only real problem is what I’d give up to do it.†Shinji said, thinking on the words the supposed spirit of Leliel said to him. “And you know what? You’re not worth it. And you know? Asuka is gonna annihilate you anyways so what does it matter?â€
“Why shouldn’t I just kill you anyways?†Zeruel asked, not budging.
“Because one, you can’t or else I’d already be dead. And for two, you’re getting a free pass to the last line of defense. If that’s not a good deal for you, you can always let me kill you now.†Shinji replied, making Unit-01 pop its neck. “That’d be fine too if you don’t wanna face yourself and reach out towards the Truth.â€
Zeruel pondered trying it, but figured if he conserved his strength he might brute past Unit-02 and make him regret this decision. “Have all the weaklings who came before me inspired such idiotic bravado?â€
“Weak? The other Angels?†Shinji let loose a mocking torrent of laughter. “You’re the most cowardly piece of shit I’ve ever seen. At least the others had pride in their attempts to end humanity. You couldn’t even fight a bunch of regular folk without sneak attacking them. Seems like you were afraid we’d pop up and murder you to death.â€
The Angel of Might snorted but decided he wasn’t here to debate things with the Evangelion or their trash pilots. Slowly, the Angel resumed his march towards Tokyo-3, being deliberate in the hopes of bringing up a tiny bit of his reserves in case the next piece of shit got lucky. Before long, he was out of sight, leaving Shinji alone.
“They’ll never believe me, but even if I hallucinated it, I was able to pull myself from that path.†Shinji whispered to himself, moving towards the evacuation point.
/-\ /-\ /-\
“He let him go.†Kaworu said, his eyes staring at the ceiling in disbelief. “He stood on the precipice and turned away.â€
“The Ace of Project E isn’t an ordinary boy.†Mari said, feeling glum she had been kept on the sidelines instead of activated as a companion for the boy. Even if she was an abomination of the nth degree, she had feelings damn it.
Not that she wanted to fight Asuka or Rei for him, not even the Beast was that foolhardy.
“Indeed, he surpasses every expectation even if it isn’t by any actual action.†Kaworu laughed, basking in the fear and loathing radiating from Zeruel. “If it weren’t Zeruel, I could have some pity for the poor thing walking to its execution. But he was the biggest dick even to the other Angels so fuck him.â€
“Well put.†Mari said, brushing a hand over Kaworu’s chest, an act lacking the flirtation emotional backing it appeared to have. “If he had ever learned humility, he might be worthy of pity.â€
She tossed her head back and laughed.
“In the end he was just a pathetic brute who thought himself hot shit.†Mari laughed again even harder than before.
“About to become plain shit.†Kaworu finished, nodding his head with a smug satisfaction with the contempt he felt.
“You know, do you know what’s on the Dead Sea Scrolls?†Mari asked, deciding to shift the conversation back to an earlier point.
“Nope, it’s the one of the parts of Adam’s memories I can’t acess. Along with anything before they touched down on this base Earth.†Kaworu replied. “But it was probably meant for Lilith’s eyes only, or for someone she judged worthy of the knowledge within.â€
“So either a romantic gesture or the possibility that Gendo fucking Ikari was worthy of that gift.†Mari said, looking dubious.
“That... was probably meant to drive him nuts. The knowledge should have driven him insane. Or sane only to go mad once the revelation kicked in again.†Kaworu answered, feeling this was the most likely. “I mean, you’ve seen how they have her right?â€
“Trussed up in a manner that would offend Catholics everywhere, with a convenient font of flesh to harvest and study.†Mari said, indicating that was a yes. “I would probably try to get back at them somehow.â€
“And in doing so, she gave the most dangerous man on the planet all the knowledge he could ever want.†Kaworu said, shaking his head. “Gendo Ikari should never have that kind of power.â€
“No one man should.†Mari said, before smirking. “Of course, there was the other side of her revenge.â€
“Hnn?â€
“The Gift of Life silly. You think you could pull the trigger on wiping out all life when you know everything about it now?†Mari asked, before waving off any reply to indicate it was rhetorical. “Sure, maybe someone else might still have done it, but well... you would have put Gendo in that category right?â€
Kaworu smirked. “Are you sure you should be saying this?â€
“What, am I not supposed to know you’re a spy planted by SEELE to back stab us at the crucial moment to clear the way for them to seize control of everything again?†Mari sniffed with obvious disdain and dismissal. “Please, if you were just a schmuck nobody would Gendo Ikari waste time with activating me when there are easier threats to make? Section 2 is everywhere, with guns and a license to kill. It’s obvious to anyone with a quarter of a brain that you’re too convenient of a find to be anything but someone with a big dark secret.â€
The Vessel of Adam shook in terror as Mari leaned in way too close for comfort.
“Go ahead and try to flaunt something like that to my face again and Suzuhara can always take your place.†She continued, hot breath wafting from her mouth like she were a dragon about to spew fire. “You are here because he has deemed it necessary for you to be here. In order to placate your master, dog, he has taken pity on you and allowed you to ride with us on our path to saving the world. Be mindful that your life holds no value to us and we’ll get along fine.â€
Behind her red framed glasses, her irises began to glow a vibrant red, as she stared into Kaworu’s terrified eyes.
“But push me and you will live long enough to regret it.†She finished, clenching her teeth into a twisted snarl. “Got that?â€
“Understood.†He was three second from pissing and shitting himself. “Permission to run to the bath and hide like a terrified bitch.â€
Mari backed off and laughed. “Granted, but don’t cower too long, you might make the Beast hunger... the flesh of those gripped by terror are his favorite.
Kaworu barely heard her as he fled the room in terror.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Zeruel trudged into sight of Unit-02, feeling worn down and frayed beyond measure. He was the Angel of Might damnit, but so far he had gotten lucky against Rei and was spared by Shinji. All of his power and strength amounted to a fart in the wind as the Evangelion were concerned.
His introspection was cut short by the sound of Asuka singing, using the hands of Unit-02 to guide the countless drones and gunships above her in time to the beat in her head. Its eyes flashed once she noticed him, and slowly it lowered its hands into a fighting pose. He was ready to charge, but she decided to speak to him.
“As much as I should just kill you, I’m not so heartless not to offer you the chance to surrender.†Asuka said, broadcasting to all of the people under her command to be ready for action any second now. “It’ll be painless for you that way.â€
“You lot...†Zeruel said, mask morphing into a grimace. “What makes you think you’re so superior to me that you can dare to give me mercy?â€
“I have eyes to see you got wrecked pretty bad by Rei and Shinji.†Asuka said calmly, fingers gripping the controls. “You’ve suffered enough in my book.â€
The Angel stood silent, mind flashing back to the years in the cold, alone with just his thoughts. “This? This doesn’t even begin to approach suffering to me.†He spoke with a clarity and a purpose. “If you feel you need to pity me, then why don’t you surrender?â€
“Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness,†Asuka said, starting the targeting vectors of her opening salvo. “But I figure I should at least give you the chance to die painlessly. Because if you fight, it won’t end quick for you.â€
“I agree, but that’s because it won’t end at all for me!†Zeruel yelled, leaving his mouth open to fire a beam at Unit-02. This plan was quickly nixed when a missile came screaming down out the heavens and forced him to put up his AT-field to defend.
“Let me welcome you to the debut of the Krieger Suite.†Asuka said, her own field coming to life before her. “But I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it.â€
Zeruel moved back as fast as he could, his lingering injuries protesting as he tried to make it hard for Asuka to tag him. This proved futile when the next missile down air bursted into a shower of napalm, which licked hungrily at his field while rooting him in place for the follow up, which pushed against the field even more.
“Cornered and desperate, your next move will put you.... THERE!†Asuka launched her next attack for fifteen feet behind Zeruel. The Angel fired a beam into the ground to kick up dirt to try and cover his retreat, only to walk into the missile. His field blocked it but all this defending left him both unable to attack and served to wear him down.
Sure, he had limitless energy at his disposal, but he could only channel it in so many directions before it tied itself in a knot. That must have been her plan then, and maybe the plan of these maggots from the beginning. Quickly, he fired a beam at her to test if she was able to focus on predicting his moves and defending herself.
“Naive.†Asuka muttered, her field expanding out to knock the beam away. In retaliation, she had three of her gunships begin to batter the angel’s position with the guns.
The rounds exploded against his field or smashed into the ground when he moved to avoid them altogether. If Zeruel believed that this helped him, he was proven wrong when three missiles crashed into his field. This served to push him back into the hail of gunfire which pushed and pushed against the absolute barrier with a kind of hunger.
“Are you beginning to regret your hubris?†Asuka asked, face impassive as she began to formulate her next salvo. “This is just the opening number, do try and live to see the full set you pathetic dog.â€
“What did you call me?†Zeruel said, a snarl in his voice as he began to hate Asuka even more than he did already.
“A pathetic, mindless attack dog. Nothing more than a broken mongrel who had been abused to the point you confused abuse for love and scorn for devotion.†Asuka replied, relaying the relevant data from the MAGI to the pilots of her gunships. “You lash out in the hopes that if you smash those you think are the foes of your master, he will reward you with actual love and kindness.â€
“You...†Zeruel fought down his rage, she was trying to get him to drop his guard. “Nice try, but I won’t fall for your games.â€
“Bark away O abandoned mutt. Maybe one day the master who left you behind will come back and see how faithful you’ve been in defending his property.†Asuka said, reaching down behind a rock near her and picking up her pallet rifle, which was loaded with special oscillating rounds for AT-field suppression. “What am I say, your master is gone, never to return. Even if you succeed in your mission, he’ll never know.â€
Zeruel narrowed his eyes as he judged the distance between them. One good hop and he’d be planting his fist right in the ugly face of that Evangelion.
“But it’s time for you to die, o faithful mongrel.†Asuka said, firing a burst at Zeruel with her rifle.
“This again?†The angel asked, almost casually blocking the rounds with his AT-field... which promptly warped and shattered. Well shit. “Oh fuck me.â€
The following salvo from the gunships above certainly did its level best to fulfill his request. Cannon rounds battered him, machine gunfire tore into him and the seventeen missiles that hit him left him on the edge of consciousness. His face was left looking towards the heavens, as his soul filled with despair.
“How... can I be... losing?†He barely had the energy to speak, as he put just about everything into healing. Smoke rose from his body as blood ran down from numerous wounds. “I am the Angel of Might... how can I lose to trash like this?â€
“That attitude is why.†Asuka replied. “You’re looking down on us, not acknowledging our strength or abilities. You look past us and underestimate us and all you can do is be caught flat footed when our attacks land home. Look at you, all high and mighty but nothing to show for it. If Rei had kept her cool, you’d have died without a single victory.â€
His regen was failing, all the energy he pumped into it was being squandered. The wounds weren’t closing, his body wasn’t able to move anymore. He was as good as dead now. “End this.â€
“No no, I gave you your chance at mercy, so I’m going to watch you suffer for a bit, trapped in yourself like a helpless child.†Asuka retorted, stretching out a little. “I think an hour should be enough time for me to enjoy your pain.â€
Zeruel could only scream in impotent rage.
An hour had passed before Asuka spoke again. “Yeah, I am satisfied with this. And now I’ll remove you like the withered flower you are.†She tapped a button on her control panel and sat back.
The Angel of Might could only whimper as he watched the many many missiles rain down on him. He couldn’t even really feel anything as his body began to be torn asunder by the firepower Unit-02 had brought to bear. There wasn’t even a final regretful thought or mournful wail cursing his fate. All there was, really, the desolate silence of the Angel’s full despair.
Soon all that remained of the once proud Angel of Might was a useless smear of blood and chunks of meat not even fit to be called dog shit.
End chapter 20
Preview of chapter 21 “Take the Color From Your Eyesâ€
Shinji sat in the courtyard of his school, four days after the death of Zeruel. With how well the op had gone, the pilots were ordered to take some time off to breath even more. For the first time since he arrived, he hadn’t gone to NERV HQ for anything. He mostly hung out with Kensuke or Touji, sometimes visiting Rei or Asuka for kicks. It was weird but he really felt like he could breath again for the first time since the encounter with Leliel.
Neither Rei nor Asuka had laughed at him saying Leliel spoke to him in the throes of the battle. Rei seemed to believe him without hesitation, while Asuka merely accepted it as a coping mechanism. And maybe it was, didn’t make it bad in the least.
He blew out a sigh and looked up to the sky.
It was around this time that a fantastic pair of breasts attached to a young woman with brown hair and wearing their school uniform crashed right into his face. How... awkward and yet exhilarating. Wait, what the hell was going on here?
“Titties.†He mumbled into said body part, his face indeed in some kind of marshmallow hell. “Nice titties.â€
Author speaks: Holy shit did I forget about this. Oh well, maybe now I can get back into the groove of things and finish this out. Time for a breather arc, what do you say?
Disclaimer: Welcome to the New Age, same as the Old Age. Breather arc time folks, as we take a break from ANGELSANGELSANGELS and do some character work. Here’s hoping the first stage of drama detox is a success.
The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
Chapter 21 Take the Color from Your Eyes
by Marik Kurakashi
Asuka stretched a little in her chair, situated in the music room their little school had. The main reason for this was because there was a talent show coming up, and the other was that Asuka wanted to hang out with Rei. Minus Shinji for once, who was off preparing his own part of their little trio performance by himself.
Which suited Asuka fine, considering how much better he had been since the encounter with Zeruel. It was like the weight and guilt from killing Leliel was no longer smothering him. This also meant they didn’t have to worry about his mental state going forward.
Not that she really worried about it too much, but it was still a bit of a relief anyways.
“So what do you think we should do for the talent show?†Rei asked, pushing Asuka from her contemplations.
“Well when it was Shinji and me, it was going to be us playing a couple pieces of music. Him on the cello and me on the acoustic guitar. With you joining up, if you can’t play an instrument, then maybe you can sing something.†Asuka said, rubbing her chin. “I learned to play the guitar with Papa back home when I was younger.â€
“I have found I do not have the mentality for an instrument.†Rei confessed.
“So you don’t have the instrumentality huh?†Asuka asked, before shaking her head. “If you can’t sing, then maybe you can dance. Or do slam poetry.â€
“Slam what?â€
“Complaining about shit with light musical backing.â€
“Ah.â€
Asuka giggled and soon Rei joined her.
Ayanami cleared her throat. “I do believe I can sing a little.â€
“Great,†Asuka said, smiling. “Better than having Shinji do it.†She never wanted to hear that caterwauling he called singing again.
“Is he that bad?â€
“It’s not about being the absolute worst, it’s about being bad in general without hope of getting better.â€
Rei nodded, accepting the logic.
“So how about you start singing and we’ll go from there?†Asuka asked, grinning when she saw Rei flush.
“O-ok.†The blue haired First Child cleared her throat. “`Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars... let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars.`â€
Her voice, it was soft and delicate, but had a sturdy backbone of emotion. Asuka nodded, before she joined in. “`In other words, hold my hand. In other words, darling kiss me.`â€
Rei looked surprised Asuka knew the song, before nodding and they continued together. “`Fill my heart with song and let me sing forever more. You are all I long for, all I worship and adore. In other words, please be true.`â€
Asuka trailed off and let Rei finish the song by herself.
“`In other words, I love you.`†Rei blew out a sigh, as Asuka lightly clapped out some applause.
“That was beautiful, Rei.†The redhead beamed. “If you can sing something like that at the talent show, we might win on our own merits and not default because everyone else is awful.â€
“I would think that would be most agreeable.†Rei replied with a smile.
“Wanna sing something else?†Asuka asked, while pondering getting her guitar.
“If you know something, I’ll follow your lead.†Rei said, wanting to see what the Second Child knew in the realm of music.
“Alright, I got something.†Asuka said, taking a deep breath before she started to sing. “`Got over it ages ago, where we were from the same river. Thinkin’ about how we lost our minds, I don’t care what’s in the past.`â€
Rei knew this song, Asuka had been listening to it a while back. “`They don’t care about old trouble, many wars wherever you go. Somebody please can we stop all the fights, I’ll do it cause it’s my turn.`â€
“`Take a step back, please face up to reality YES. You don’t hear me NO! You can change that if you want. But don’t you know, there are people crying everyday. Let’s fly away for Earth and Mars today.... Don’t stop me now!`†They sang together in almost perfect blended harmony.
“`Look around the world, how can we stop the war? Hello, but are we sure enough? You’ll come back tomorrow but I need to know. Look around the world, but what are we fighting for? Can I ask you, ‘why the sky is blue’? There’s no difference you and me.`†Asuka took the lead on the chorus, surging forward with strong emotion.
“`Cause it’s time to wake you up! Over there my friend, now. Come on, take my hand, take it now, see far away. See the dawn! It’s time to grow, over there my friend. Here we are! Come let’s share this perfect sky, see the dawn...`†Rei did likewise with the next part.
“`Hold me now, catch my hopes. Feel me now, in your arms...`†They finished the song on an almost somber note, heads down.
“Wow, I didn’t think you knew that.†Asuka admitted, grinning like the proverbial idiot.
“I didn’t, but I overheard you listening to it and found myself liking it.†Rei said, shrugging a little.
Asuka giggled, before she gazed at the ceiling. “What kind of music do you like?â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
Deep within the bowels of NERV HQ, somewhere between the base proper and Terminal Dogma, Gendo Ikari was playing the role of God. It wasn’t exactly a role he was unfamiliar with, having ushered in the end of humanity’s purported Golden Age as well as unleash a countless number of clones and who knows what else on the world. Certainly there might be a few more before the end of the week, though for what purpose and who they would be remains to be seen.
It was the first time he had an audience in his play at the Divine, as his mentor Kouzo Fuyutsuki was sitting in to watch over the proceedings and make sure Gendo didn’t kill himself. Not out of any love for the man who could be considered Humanity’s Greatest Hero and Villain in one menacing package. But rather, he wasn’t about to let this thing who called himself a man off until he had paid back what he owed.
He was still a couple billion lives in the hole, so he had better get to work on reducing that debt.
“In all the times I had thought about what had went into this process, I never dreamt it’d be so...†Fuyutsuki fumbled for the words.
“Easy?†Gendo said in a way of supplying an answer.
“Simplistic.†The sub-commander corrected having a chance to consider Gendo’s submitted answer. “In truth, outside of the material from the Second, you don’t have anything any other scientist couldn’t get their hands on.â€
“But that little difference is huge.†Gendo smirked as he continued to run through the inventory of his stuff. “That bit of material is the difference between Rei and a process still struggling to copy sheep.â€
“I suppose having the Philosopher’s Stone would make transmuting lead to gold so much simpler.†Fuyutsuki said, scoring a verbal low blow and smiling like a smug ass old man. Which he was, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.
“Touche sensei, touche.†The commander of NERV settled for allowing the old man his jibes if only to keep things on schedule. “This is majorly just a test run clone, I don’t plan on doing much with it besides making sure I still have the procedure right. It’s been a couple years since I last did this after all.â€
“And still no answers as to the mystery lurking beneath the armor of Unit-01?â€
“Oh I have answers, it’s just a delicate process to extract the echo of that angel and not the soul of Unit-01.â€
The sub-commander raised an eyebrow as a silent means of demanding elaboration.
“I’ve had Ritsuko look over things with Unit-01 during the small break in fixing up Unit-04.†Gendo answered, giving that annoying smirk of his when he had one-upped the old man successfully. “She found the anomaly and the energy given off by it matches that Angel. Two problems persist here: we have to extract the angel soul and not the machine soul. And the other is that the soul cage is of course what keeps said machine soul from merging with the rest of the Evangelion and possibly wiping us out.â€
“And thus you’re here to take care of the problem you can.†Fuyutsuki noted with a small amount of pride. He had taught his stupid beast of a pupil well.
“That and I want you to know how to do this in case I can’t make time to do this with the Angel.†Gendo said, before he remembered something else. “And in case something else happens to me.â€
“You’re hardly in a position to need to worry about your safety.†The sub-commander didn’t like it when that thorny bastard showed humility. Made it harder to hate his idiotic goatee and dumbass shades.
“I know but preparation is a thing after all.†Gendo said, smirking further. “After all, with how smooth things have gone, something is bound to throw us off.â€
“I suppose this is also why you have started the projects to use the Evangelion in space.â€
“Accelerated them, they were on the table since before the orbital drop Angel.â€
Fuyutsuki looked positively asshen.
“Ikari, you don’t...â€
“I’m not going to die, Sensei. I have too large a debt for the Pale Rider to be able to drag me off to the hereafter.†Gendo laughed, a rare and frightening thing. “But if you were the next angel, where would you strike?â€
“At the head, specifically the person everyone thinks is invincible.†The sub-commander said, eyes widening in disbelief.
“I won’t die but I am counting on you, if it happens, to keep the ship going for me.†Gendo said, pulling down his trademark shades to look Fuyutsuki in the eye.
The old man could only nod. “Of course commander, I won’t fail you.â€
“With that out of the way, ready to earn you mad scientist stripes?â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
“It’s weird, the first time we’ve had a body count attached to our operations since Shinji showed up.†Misato said, sitting at a table with Ritsuko, running through all the people who died or were injured in the base attacked by Zeruel. “Fatalities are a lot lower than I expected for a surprise attack.â€
“Mostly on hand base personnel and some MP, the bulk of the forces were off on a routine exercise.†Ritsuko agreed, reading the bios of some of the victims. “And even amongst the dead, most died in the initial attack. The injured were hurt escaping the resulting fire, an unusually pragmatic gesture considering people might have been trapped in the flames and smoke.â€
“The blaze was enormous enough that most of the survivors felt that there was little chance of anyone surviving in there for long.†Misato answered, reading over the testimonies of those who lived. “Not that they need to feel guilty as our rescue teams arrived fast enough to quell the blaze and save the few who were trapped.â€
“That gauntlet of yours kept them safe as Rei perfectly kept the angel busy.†Ritsuko said, complimenting her old friend for her quick thinking. “And outside of some dings and scrapes, we made it out without any real damage again.â€
“They weren’t ready to fight together,†Misato said as a reminder before she turned her attention to the combat report. “There’s that weird fluctuation with Shinji’s ratio to consider.â€
“I don’t think it’ll affect him too much in the future.†Ritsuko said, privately thinking about the examination she gave Unit-01 under the Commander’s orders.
“I’m not worried about that, it’s how he changed after it.†Misato said, pursing her lips in contemplation. “He went into that fight angry and bitter, hating himself with a clear sense of trauma hanging over him. He nearly breaches a hundred and then suddenly falls back down from that threshold like the same wiseass kid who makes jokes at all the wrong times.â€
“You’re worried about what he saw on that precipice.†Ritsuko said, drawing a responding nod. “It’s not in the report, but Shinji told me in confidence what it was.â€
“Oh, then I guess I won’t pry then.†Misato said, figuring he told the doctor because she was more likely to believe what he’d have to say.
“I don’t have to tell you outright, Misato. You have enough clues from his behavior to take an educated guess.†Ritsuko said, smiling a tiny bit to encourage her friend.
Misato sat there in contemplation. “Ah, so that’s what it was.â€
“It’s the only thing that makes sense after all.†Ritsuko said, before shuffling through more paper.
“You know, it was kinda strange for Asuka to torture the Angel like she did.†Misato said after reading through several other reports, mostly logistical data from the Krieger Suite and several modifications NERV was asking the US to make to their gunships using munitions developed by said world protecting entity.
“Oh, that. Well, she said it was because it hurt Rei and Shinji in different ways.†Ritsuko answered, thumbing through and finding the relevant report. She handed it to Misato as she quoted it. “ ‘I am not insensitive you know? I know I should have killed them with all the firepower I had at my disposal as fast as I could. But I am also a pilot and friend of the First and Third. And what kind of monster would I be to ignore the hurt they had been put through, ja?’ †What a murderous ball of sunshine.
“Rei for the beating she took and I guess Shinji for being pushed towards the forbidden ratio.†Misato nodded, Asuka really was frightening in how well she could understand and connect with the feelings of others.
“That would be it in a nutshell, yes.†Ritsuko said, looking at all the reports and stuff they’d be working on. Oh well, it was better than being knee deep in the twisted pile of flesh and metal that was an Evangelion. “I’m going to grab some coffee, we still got a lot of paperwork to do.†She got up and stretched.
“Along with some rubber stamping for the weapon techs. Which isn’t so bad because we’ll have a nice surprise to spring on the kids when they get back from their forced vacation.†Misato said, before she remembered something. “Grab me one too will you? Thanks you’re the best Rits.â€
Ritsuko just huffed and left for the coffee machine.
Misato laughed to herself. “Ah the perks of having her girlfriend under my direct command.â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
When you’re a human-shaped abomination, much of what most consider normal human behavior doesn’t apply to you. Oh sure, you put on a pretty face and pretend like you’re on their level, but man is it fucking boring. You can’t do anything that upsets their delicate sensibilities or else you’re branded a monster and everyone gives you nasty glares.
But enough about the time Rei swallowed someone’s goldfish, let’s talk about Mari Illustrious Makinami.
The girl was, by all accounts, a moe anthropomorphisation of an Evangelion, which would make all the companies wanting to make Rei and Asuka Evangelion figures jealous as hell to know they had been scooped. She had to live a delicate balance of control, least the Machine Soul within her go out of control. It was easy, as she was safe in the knowledge that she could murder everyone who ever laid eyes on her with absurdly ridiculous ease.
However, if she wasn’t gorging herself on something, she needed something else to keep the Beast in line. Sometimes, that was sex but she had been pulled off of threat duty to allow Kaworu a moment to breath and spin a sob story to the electric old men who held his leash. With her most available reserve of ass unavailable, she had to resort to desperate measures.
So it was she found herself on board a NERV V/TOL flying a patrol over the city, ready to leap out close to an ill advised height.
But when all you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail. Thus lead to the conundrum of trying to keep the Beast quiet and not start looking for a hobo to eat. Not only were they notoriously hard to find in Tokyo-3, they were full of grizzly beards and tasted like beans and sadness. Ugh, she was glad the Commander was so understanding and called her away from New York-5, she’d have snapped if she had to subsist on the transient population anymore.
Ahem, anyways, she had muscled her way on board the flight through the usual do as I say and I won’t rip out your innards and show them to you routine. Just once, she’d like someone to call her bluff, but people were so gosh darned attached to their innards remaining innards. And she was the monster, ha!
Oh she jumped... that might have been important, oops.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Shinji sat in the courtyard of his school, four days after the death of Zeruel. With how well the op had gone, the pilots were ordered to take some time off to breath even more. For the first time since he arrived, he hadn’t gone to NERV HQ for anything. He mostly hung out with Kensuke or Touji, sometimes visiting Rei or Asuka for kicks. It was weird but he really felt like he could breath again for the first time since the encounter with Leliel.
Neither Rei nor Asuka had laughed at him saying Leliel spoke to him in the throes of the battle. Rei seemed to believe him without hesitation, while Asuka merely accepted it as a coping mechanism. And maybe it was, didn’t make it bad in the least.
He blew out a sigh and looked up to the sky.
It was around this time that a fantastic pair of breasts attached to a young woman with brown hair and wearing their school uniform crashed right into his face. How... awkward and yet exhilarating. Wait, what the hell was going on here?
“Titties.†He mumbled into said body part, his face indeed in some kind of marshmallow hell. “Nice titties.â€
“Oh sorry sorry!†The girl yelped in apology as she scrambled off the boy. “I was just goofing around and totally wasn’t trying to land tits first on your face hahahahaha!†She remained in a seated position that kept her skirt from riding up.
“Well for not trying, you still managed to succeed.†Shinji said, sitting up and looking her over with an appraising eye. “And while I might not mind, there are certain others who would.â€
The girl did a little hop as she recognized him. “You’re Shinji Ikari!â€
“Yeah, that’s me. It’s been awhile since a pair of breasts attacked me.†He said with his usual sarcasm. “I’m unsettled to find that I have missed it.â€
She laughed before she hit herself upside the head. “Oh I’m totally spacing out! My name is Mari Illustrious Makinami, I’m a tactical asset under the direct command of your father.â€
Shinji’s eyebrow quirked. “So you like a scout or spy for my dad?â€
Mari blinked before she laughed in total self-consciousness. “I’m so used to dealing with people who don’t like using mundane terms for things. It’s always some roundabout phrase that I hear music when they talk.â€
Shinji looked at her and found that even if she was kinda flighty, she was adorable. “Yeah, it takes a while to get used to the fact that some people can’t speak normally. I usually settle for good old fashioned sass to embarrass them.â€
It was in his file she read before she was put on active threat duty. Still, she couldn’t help but lament she wasn’t around when he first got here. The fun they could have had... “I’ve tried but some of them are really not okay with it.â€
“Oh I know, but sometimes you gotta stick them with words, because they’re not going to let you stick them with a knife.†Shinji said, chuckling to himself.
“Which is odd since knife is a word.†Mari added, before she chuckled herself.
Shinji found he liked her after a fashion. “So you’re not a new pilot and you just can’t say yet because they want to surprise us right?â€
“Oh no, your father told me that the Fourth Child has been found and is in transit to Tokyo-3. When he’ll arrive is up in the air.†Mari said, lying ever so slightly. “I’m not fit to pilot the Evangelion.â€
“Mostly because you’d probably break any plugsuit they’d try to put you in.†Shinji said, having estimated her bust to be firmly between Misato and Ritsuko.
“Eh?†She didn’t seem to get it. Shame.
“It’s not important.†Shinji said, finally standing up and stretching. “C’mon, I should introduce you to Rei and Asuka at least, if your job intersects ours at any point. No use having to do it under fire.â€
Mari turned away and winced, wanting to bask in the glory of Shinji for a little bit before being boxed out by the First and Second. It passed quickly, as she stood up and smiled. “Yeah, that’d be good.â€
“They should be in the music room still, so if we hurry, we can still catch them.†Shinji hoped they found something for Rei to do.
“Lead the way.â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
A knock sounded from the door, startling Kaworu out of his contemplative rest. His neck had been enjoying its freedom from the live blade against it and he wasn’t certain he was ready for it to return. It was to his relief that it was Mari behind the door but that guy who was tasked with guarding Asuka.
“Ryoji Kaji,†Kaji said, indicating Kaworu had mumbled the fact he had forgotten the man’s name aloud. “It’s okay kid, I didn’t know about you until the Commander told me about you being here last night.â€
“Er, right. What can I do for you?†Kaworu decided to keep it impersonal for now.
“Just stopping in to check up on you.†Kaji said, smiling at the white haired boy. “Years of raising Asuka has given me enough insight in how you Marduk kids tick. To say nothing of the distrust you’ve been shown since you arrived.â€
“Oh I expected that, really. If your operation was running at maximum efficiency, you wouldn’t want to look after a newbie either.†Kaworu said, smiling a little as well. “But we can discuss this a little better inside, please come in.†He stepped out of the way to allow the man to enter.
“That’s good of you kid,†Kaji said, once he was in the apartment proper and found a seat. “But what about you? How do you feel about being thrust into this role?â€
“It... well I can’t say it isn’t hard. My foster parents just up and shoved a suitcase in my hands and told me to come here.†It was complete bullshit but he couldn’t go around advertising sensitive information. “I had lost my real parents in Second Impact and I don’t really remember them.â€
“Harsh,†Kaji said, but it was a story all too common amongst the world these days. “But I understand it. Sometimes the easiest mercy is cold cruelty.â€
The saying didn’t make sense but quibbling word choice wouldn’t be productive. “I can manage, I lived through the end of the last age after all.â€
“So you did!†The top spy on planet Earth laughed with an unexpected amount of mirth. “That is the strength we all share eh?â€
“Yes.†Kaworu put on a smile and hoped he had danced enough.
“Knowing there are other pilots, what are your impressions of them?†Kaji threw a knuckleball at the kid to see if he could react on his toes.
Internally, Kaworu winced, having not expected that question. Outside though, he was a frosty like a snowman as he put on a contemplative silence. “The First Child, Rei Ayanami... I think she’s an intriguing sort, her story much like my own. She is lucky she had someone like the Commander to take care of her.â€
Kaji watched the boy, looking for holes in his body language.
“The Second Child, Asuka Langley Soryu... She’s very spirited and bright. Though she can be a bit of a handful, or so I hear.†Kaworu had to be careful about Asuka, the man before him was like her second dad.
Kaji snorted but did nothing else, having expected such a detached and sparse assessment.
Silence reigned as Kaworu tried to figure out how to put to words the Third Child. “The Third Child, Shinji Ikari. It’s hard to say really. The information I was given on him was rather short and to the point. I hear he’s sarcastic and abrasive, but I don’t know how I should judge that in him.†Kaworu laughed. “I’ve had people call me abrasive because I don’t react like usual for boys my age.â€
“Well,†Kaji said, looking thoughtful. “All of your questions will be answered when you meet him. There’s no way of telling you just how different he is in the flesh to data points on a paper.â€
Kaworu looked away, more in a ploy to see how Kaji would react than anything.
“But don’t worry, as long as you mind your words, you’ll get along fabulously.†Kaji said, smirking as he saw through the empty gesture. “But whatever you really expect when you meet him, you’ll find he’s probably not going to meet them.â€
Kaworu jerked his head back to look at Kaji, who was standing up out of his chair.
“He’s his own person, who has grown and changed in a lot of ways. The sooner you put to bed your preconceived notions, the better off you’ll be.†Kaji said, turning to leave, before stopping to look back at the kid. “What he wants and needs might not be something you can give him.â€
“I don’t know what you mean.†Kaworu said, trying to evade any implications.
“Sure you don’t.†Kaji laughed and continued for the door. “It’s just advice kiddo, what you do with it is up to you.†The door opened and shut with a click, leaving Kaworu alone with his thoughts.
“What he wants... huh...â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
Shinji walked into the music, finding Asuka jamming away on an acoustic guitar as Rei danced along to the chords. It was an absolutely cute scene to see, one he wasn’t sure what to do with. After a few seconds of watch, he clapped his hands in applause to get their attention.
“Oh hey Shinji!†Asuka said, laughing a little having been caught off guard.
“Ah yes, hello.†Rei said as well, feeling embarrassed.
“Very nice moves Ayanami.†Shinji said, giving her a thumbs up. “Though should probably hold back a little in such a pillowy skirt.â€
“You saw my...†Rei said, turning redder the Unit-02.
“Bunny pa-†Shinji started, before Rei leapt the distance to kick him in the face, dropping him to the floor in a heap.
“I didn’t ask you to shout them to the world!†She roared.
“Nice kick.†Asuka said, before looking down at Shinji. “You asked for that.â€
“I did indeed.†Shinji agreed, before he got up like he hadn’t been flying kicked in the face. “Anyways, as I was contemplating life the universe and everything, I met someone who works under my father as a tactical asset.â€
“What a spy?†Rei asked, looking at Asuka.
“Yeah, that’s what people like to use to say spy without saying it. Kaji always went on about communicating between the lines but it’s a headache and a half.†Asuka said, confirming the three were on the same wavelength.
“Anyways, she kinda bumped into me by accident and I figured she should say hi to everyone so as to not complicate matters in the future.†Shinji said, not catching their reactions to the female identifier in his speech.
Asuka looked smug and amused, Rei looked hostile.
Mari walked in, somewhat hesitant to do this but not wanting to offend Shinji made it hard. “Ah hello.†She bowed.
Asuka didn’t react, just made an expressive set of eyebrow waggles at Shinji that turned him into a tomato.
Rei looked at Mari, before turning her gaze on the reddened Shinji. Though she was platinum mad about this, she remembered her manners. “Hello.â€
“Ja ja, how are you today?†Asuka asked, turning a disarming grin onto Rei.
“I’m fine and it’s nice to meet you, pleasedontkillmenimsorry.†Mari managed to get out, her inner terror causing her to babble.
“Tut tut, think nothing of it. Rei’s bark is worse than her bite.†Asuka said, looping an arm around Rei’s shoulders and giving them a squeeze to calm her down.
“How would you know? I’ve never bitten you.†Rei’s confusion managed to bring Shinji out of his embarrassed silence.
“Well- hee hee - she has a point.†Shinji managed to get out around his uproarious laughter.
“Indeed indeed.†Asuka said, before removing her arms around Rei’s shoulders and walking over to Shinji. “But do not worry about our dear Ikari straying, my dear.â€
“Why’s that?†Rei asked, pushing aside her irritation at the implication of romance between her and Shinji.
“Because, we must simply pull him back in line.†Asuka said, before she suddenly grabbed Shinji’s head and jammed his face into her tits. “Ahn, you just need to remind him where his heart lies ja?†She caressed the side of his face a little with her left hand as her right mussed his hair. She held him there a couple seconds before she let him go, dropping the now unconscious Third Child to the floor.
“Damn, that is ruthless.†Mari said, before she waved at Asuka. “Oh! Oh! Can you teach me your ways, oh great Asuka-sensei!â€
Asuka threw back her head in a regal laugh. “I suppose I could... but we need a victim... er, test subject.â€
Rei looked down at the unconscious Shinji and decided she wanted in on this lesson as well. “I’m sure we can find some on the campus somewhere.â€
Asuka struck a pose. “Then class is in session, let’s go find this specimen! Onward, my cute students! Ohohohohohohoh!â€
The three girls exited the room, leaving Shinji out on the floor, in a state between awake and dreaming.
“Titties.†He mumbled, in his dream state, his head was caught in the middle of Asuka and Mari’s respective cleavage trying to have a fight. “Titties are awesome.â€
End Reprint 21
Teaser for Chapter 22 “Breathe Into My Hands, I’ll Cup Them Like a Glass to Drink Fromâ€:
“It’s time, Commander.†Ritsuko said, popping Gendo from his thoughts. “Unit-01 has been moved to the secret hangar and is affixed to the array.â€
“Thank you, Doctor.†Gendo said, standing up to follow her out to where Unit-01 was.
“Do you think you can do this?†Ritsuko asked, not wanting to imagine what would happen if Gendo screwed things up.
“Outside of my wife dying, I have been an extremely lucky man Akagi.†The commander of NERV said with a smirk. “It’s not up to probability, this operation will be a success.â€
Ritsuko blew out a relieved sigh. “It’s good to hear you talk like that sir.â€
“Yes, I suppose it is.†Gendo agreed, stopping before Unit-01 and noticing it was too dark for his taste. “Lights!â€
Author Note: Well here is the next chapter and it didn’t take four years.
The Reprint and Repackaging of Evangelion
Chapter 21 Take the Color from Your Eyes
by Marik Kurakashi
Asuka stretched a little in her chair, situated in the music room their little school had. The main reason for this was because there was a talent show coming up, and the other was that Asuka wanted to hang out with Rei. Minus Shinji for once, who was off preparing his own part of their little trio performance by himself.
Which suited Asuka fine, considering how much better he had been since the encounter with Zeruel. It was like the weight and guilt from killing Leliel was no longer smothering him. This also meant they didn’t have to worry about his mental state going forward.
Not that she really worried about it too much, but it was still a bit of a relief anyways.
“So what do you think we should do for the talent show?†Rei asked, pushing Asuka from her contemplations.
“Well when it was Shinji and me, it was going to be us playing a couple pieces of music. Him on the cello and me on the acoustic guitar. With you joining up, if you can’t play an instrument, then maybe you can sing something.†Asuka said, rubbing her chin. “I learned to play the guitar with Papa back home when I was younger.â€
“I have found I do not have the mentality for an instrument.†Rei confessed.
“So you don’t have the instrumentality huh?†Asuka asked, before shaking her head. “If you can’t sing, then maybe you can dance. Or do slam poetry.â€
“Slam what?â€
“Complaining about shit with light musical backing.â€
“Ah.â€
Asuka giggled and soon Rei joined her.
Ayanami cleared her throat. “I do believe I can sing a little.â€
“Great,†Asuka said, smiling. “Better than having Shinji do it.†She never wanted to hear that caterwauling he called singing again.
“Is he that bad?â€
“It’s not about being the absolute worst, it’s about being bad in general without hope of getting better.â€
Rei nodded, accepting the logic.
“So how about you start singing and we’ll go from there?†Asuka asked, grinning when she saw Rei flush.
“O-ok.†The blue haired First Child cleared her throat. “`Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars... let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars.`â€
Her voice, it was soft and delicate, but had a sturdy backbone of emotion. Asuka nodded, before she joined in. “`In other words, hold my hand. In other words, darling kiss me.`â€
Rei looked surprised Asuka knew the song, before nodding and they continued together. “`Fill my heart with song and let me sing forever more. You are all I long for, all I worship and adore. In other words, please be true.`â€
Asuka trailed off and let Rei finish the song by herself.
“`In other words, I love you.`†Rei blew out a sigh, as Asuka lightly clapped out some applause.
“That was beautiful, Rei.†The redhead beamed. “If you can sing something like that at the talent show, we might win on our own merits and not default because everyone else is awful.â€
“I would think that would be most agreeable.†Rei replied with a smile.
“Wanna sing something else?†Asuka asked, while pondering getting her guitar.
“If you know something, I’ll follow your lead.†Rei said, wanting to see what the Second Child knew in the realm of music.
“Alright, I got something.†Asuka said, taking a deep breath before she started to sing. “`Got over it ages ago, where we were from the same river. Thinkin’ about how we lost our minds, I don’t care what’s in the past.`â€
Rei knew this song, Asuka had been listening to it a while back. “`They don’t care about old trouble, many wars wherever you go. Somebody please can we stop all the fights, I’ll do it cause it’s my turn.`â€
“`Take a step back, please face up to reality YES. You don’t hear me NO! You can change that if you want. But don’t you know, there are people crying everyday. Let’s fly away for Earth and Mars today.... Don’t stop me now!`†They sang together in almost perfect blended harmony.
“`Look around the world, how can we stop the war? Hello, but are we sure enough? You’ll come back tomorrow but I need to know. Look around the world, but what are we fighting for? Can I ask you, ‘why the sky is blue’? There’s no difference you and me.`†Asuka took the lead on the chorus, surging forward with strong emotion.
“`Cause it’s time to wake you up! Over there my friend, now. Come on, take my hand, take it now, see far away. See the dawn! It’s time to grow, over there my friend. Here we are! Come let’s share this perfect sky, see the dawn...`†Rei did likewise with the next part.
“`Hold me now, catch my hopes. Feel me now, in your arms...`†They finished the song on an almost somber note, heads down.
“Wow, I didn’t think you knew that.†Asuka admitted, grinning like the proverbial idiot.
“I didn’t, but I overheard you listening to it and found myself liking it.†Rei said, shrugging a little.
Asuka giggled, before she gazed at the ceiling. “What kind of music do you like?â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
Deep within the bowels of NERV HQ, somewhere between the base proper and Terminal Dogma, Gendo Ikari was playing the role of God. It wasn’t exactly a role he was unfamiliar with, having ushered in the end of humanity’s purported Golden Age as well as unleash a countless number of clones and who knows what else on the world. Certainly there might be a few more before the end of the week, though for what purpose and who they would be remains to be seen.
It was the first time he had an audience in his play at the Divine, as his mentor Kouzo Fuyutsuki was sitting in to watch over the proceedings and make sure Gendo didn’t kill himself. Not out of any love for the man who could be considered Humanity’s Greatest Hero and Villain in one menacing package. But rather, he wasn’t about to let this thing who called himself a man off until he had paid back what he owed.
He was still a couple billion lives in the hole, so he had better get to work on reducing that debt.
“In all the times I had thought about what had went into this process, I never dreamt it’d be so...†Fuyutsuki fumbled for the words.
“Easy?†Gendo said in a way of supplying an answer.
“Simplistic.†The sub-commander corrected having a chance to consider Gendo’s submitted answer. “In truth, outside of the material from the Second, you don’t have anything any other scientist couldn’t get their hands on.â€
“But that little difference is huge.†Gendo smirked as he continued to run through the inventory of his stuff. “That bit of material is the difference between Rei and a process still struggling to copy sheep.â€
“I suppose having the Philosopher’s Stone would make transmuting lead to gold so much simpler.†Fuyutsuki said, scoring a verbal low blow and smiling like a smug ass old man. Which he was, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.
“Touche sensei, touche.†The commander of NERV settled for allowing the old man his jibes if only to keep things on schedule. “This is majorly just a test run clone, I don’t plan on doing much with it besides making sure I still have the procedure right. It’s been a couple years since I last did this after all.â€
“And still no answers as to the mystery lurking beneath the armor of Unit-01?â€
“Oh I have answers, it’s just a delicate process to extract the echo of that angel and not the soul of Unit-01.â€
The sub-commander raised an eyebrow as a silent means of demanding elaboration.
“I’ve had Ritsuko look over things with Unit-01 during the small break in fixing up Unit-04.†Gendo answered, giving that annoying smirk of his when he had one-upped the old man successfully. “She found the anomaly and the energy given off by it matches that Angel. Two problems persist here: we have to extract the angel soul and not the machine soul. And the other is that the soul cage is of course what keeps said machine soul from merging with the rest of the Evangelion and possibly wiping us out.â€
“And thus you’re here to take care of the problem you can.†Fuyutsuki noted with a small amount of pride. He had taught his stupid beast of a pupil well.
“That and I want you to know how to do this in case I can’t make time to do this with the Angel.†Gendo said, before he remembered something else. “And in case something else happens to me.â€
“You’re hardly in a position to need to worry about your safety.†The sub-commander didn’t like it when that thorny bastard showed humility. Made it harder to hate his idiotic goatee and dumbass shades.
“I know but preparation is a thing after all.†Gendo said, smirking further. “After all, with how smooth things have gone, something is bound to throw us off.â€
“I suppose this is also why you have started the projects to use the Evangelion in space.â€
“Accelerated them, they were on the table since before the orbital drop Angel.â€
Fuyutsuki looked positively asshen.
“Ikari, you don’t...â€
“I’m not going to die, Sensei. I have too large a debt for the Pale Rider to be able to drag me off to the hereafter.†Gendo laughed, a rare and frightening thing. “But if you were the next angel, where would you strike?â€
“At the head, specifically the person everyone thinks is invincible.†The sub-commander said, eyes widening in disbelief.
“I won’t die but I am counting on you, if it happens, to keep the ship going for me.†Gendo said, pulling down his trademark shades to look Fuyutsuki in the eye.
The old man could only nod. “Of course commander, I won’t fail you.â€
“With that out of the way, ready to earn you mad scientist stripes?â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
“It’s weird, the first time we’ve had a body count attached to our operations since Shinji showed up.†Misato said, sitting at a table with Ritsuko, running through all the people who died or were injured in the base attacked by Zeruel. “Fatalities are a lot lower than I expected for a surprise attack.â€
“Mostly on hand base personnel and some MP, the bulk of the forces were off on a routine exercise.†Ritsuko agreed, reading the bios of some of the victims. “And even amongst the dead, most died in the initial attack. The injured were hurt escaping the resulting fire, an unusually pragmatic gesture considering people might have been trapped in the flames and smoke.â€
“The blaze was enormous enough that most of the survivors felt that there was little chance of anyone surviving in there for long.†Misato answered, reading over the testimonies of those who lived. “Not that they need to feel guilty as our rescue teams arrived fast enough to quell the blaze and save the few who were trapped.â€
“That gauntlet of yours kept them safe as Rei perfectly kept the angel busy.†Ritsuko said, complimenting her old friend for her quick thinking. “And outside of some dings and scrapes, we made it out without any real damage again.â€
“They weren’t ready to fight together,†Misato said as a reminder before she turned her attention to the combat report. “There’s that weird fluctuation with Shinji’s ratio to consider.â€
“I don’t think it’ll affect him too much in the future.†Ritsuko said, privately thinking about the examination she gave Unit-01 under the Commander’s orders.
“I’m not worried about that, it’s how he changed after it.†Misato said, pursing her lips in contemplation. “He went into that fight angry and bitter, hating himself with a clear sense of trauma hanging over him. He nearly breaches a hundred and then suddenly falls back down from that threshold like the same wiseass kid who makes jokes at all the wrong times.â€
“You’re worried about what he saw on that precipice.†Ritsuko said, drawing a responding nod. “It’s not in the report, but Shinji told me in confidence what it was.â€
“Oh, then I guess I won’t pry then.†Misato said, figuring he told the doctor because she was more likely to believe what he’d have to say.
“I don’t have to tell you outright, Misato. You have enough clues from his behavior to take an educated guess.†Ritsuko said, smiling a tiny bit to encourage her friend.
Misato sat there in contemplation. “Ah, so that’s what it was.â€
“It’s the only thing that makes sense after all.†Ritsuko said, before shuffling through more paper.
“You know, it was kinda strange for Asuka to torture the Angel like she did.†Misato said after reading through several other reports, mostly logistical data from the Krieger Suite and several modifications NERV was asking the US to make to their gunships using munitions developed by said world protecting entity.
“Oh, that. Well, she said it was because it hurt Rei and Shinji in different ways.†Ritsuko answered, thumbing through and finding the relevant report. She handed it to Misato as she quoted it. “ ‘I am not insensitive you know? I know I should have killed them with all the firepower I had at my disposal as fast as I could. But I am also a pilot and friend of the First and Third. And what kind of monster would I be to ignore the hurt they had been put through, ja?’ †What a murderous ball of sunshine.
“Rei for the beating she took and I guess Shinji for being pushed towards the forbidden ratio.†Misato nodded, Asuka really was frightening in how well she could understand and connect with the feelings of others.
“That would be it in a nutshell, yes.†Ritsuko said, looking at all the reports and stuff they’d be working on. Oh well, it was better than being knee deep in the twisted pile of flesh and metal that was an Evangelion. “I’m going to grab some coffee, we still got a lot of paperwork to do.†She got up and stretched.
“Along with some rubber stamping for the weapon techs. Which isn’t so bad because we’ll have a nice surprise to spring on the kids when they get back from their forced vacation.†Misato said, before she remembered something. “Grab me one too will you? Thanks you’re the best Rits.â€
Ritsuko just huffed and left for the coffee machine.
Misato laughed to herself. “Ah the perks of having her girlfriend under my direct command.â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
When you’re a human-shaped abomination, much of what most consider normal human behavior doesn’t apply to you. Oh sure, you put on a pretty face and pretend like you’re on their level, but man is it fucking boring. You can’t do anything that upsets their delicate sensibilities or else you’re branded a monster and everyone gives you nasty glares.
But enough about the time Rei swallowed someone’s goldfish, let’s talk about Mari Illustrious Makinami.
The girl was, by all accounts, a moe anthropomorphisation of an Evangelion, which would make all the companies wanting to make Rei and Asuka Evangelion figures jealous as hell to know they had been scooped. She had to live a delicate balance of control, least the Machine Soul within her go out of control. It was easy, as she was safe in the knowledge that she could murder everyone who ever laid eyes on her with absurdly ridiculous ease.
However, if she wasn’t gorging herself on something, she needed something else to keep the Beast in line. Sometimes, that was sex but she had been pulled off of threat duty to allow Kaworu a moment to breath and spin a sob story to the electric old men who held his leash. With her most available reserve of ass unavailable, she had to resort to desperate measures.
So it was she found herself on board a NERV V/TOL flying a patrol over the city, ready to leap out close to an ill advised height.
But when all you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail. Thus lead to the conundrum of trying to keep the Beast quiet and not start looking for a hobo to eat. Not only were they notoriously hard to find in Tokyo-3, they were full of grizzly beards and tasted like beans and sadness. Ugh, she was glad the Commander was so understanding and called her away from New York-5, she’d have snapped if she had to subsist on the transient population anymore.
Ahem, anyways, she had muscled her way on board the flight through the usual do as I say and I won’t rip out your innards and show them to you routine. Just once, she’d like someone to call her bluff, but people were so gosh darned attached to their innards remaining innards. And she was the monster, ha!
Oh she jumped... that might have been important, oops.
/-\ /-\ /-\
Shinji sat in the courtyard of his school, four days after the death of Zeruel. With how well the op had gone, the pilots were ordered to take some time off to breath even more. For the first time since he arrived, he hadn’t gone to NERV HQ for anything. He mostly hung out with Kensuke or Touji, sometimes visiting Rei or Asuka for kicks. It was weird but he really felt like he could breath again for the first time since the encounter with Leliel.
Neither Rei nor Asuka had laughed at him saying Leliel spoke to him in the throes of the battle. Rei seemed to believe him without hesitation, while Asuka merely accepted it as a coping mechanism. And maybe it was, didn’t make it bad in the least.
He blew out a sigh and looked up to the sky.
It was around this time that a fantastic pair of breasts attached to a young woman with brown hair and wearing their school uniform crashed right into his face. How... awkward and yet exhilarating. Wait, what the hell was going on here?
“Titties.†He mumbled into said body part, his face indeed in some kind of marshmallow hell. “Nice titties.â€
“Oh sorry sorry!†The girl yelped in apology as she scrambled off the boy. “I was just goofing around and totally wasn’t trying to land tits first on your face hahahahaha!†She remained in a seated position that kept her skirt from riding up.
“Well for not trying, you still managed to succeed.†Shinji said, sitting up and looking her over with an appraising eye. “And while I might not mind, there are certain others who would.â€
The girl did a little hop as she recognized him. “You’re Shinji Ikari!â€
“Yeah, that’s me. It’s been awhile since a pair of breasts attacked me.†He said with his usual sarcasm. “I’m unsettled to find that I have missed it.â€
She laughed before she hit herself upside the head. “Oh I’m totally spacing out! My name is Mari Illustrious Makinami, I’m a tactical asset under the direct command of your father.â€
Shinji’s eyebrow quirked. “So you like a scout or spy for my dad?â€
Mari blinked before she laughed in total self-consciousness. “I’m so used to dealing with people who don’t like using mundane terms for things. It’s always some roundabout phrase that I hear music when they talk.â€
Shinji looked at her and found that even if she was kinda flighty, she was adorable. “Yeah, it takes a while to get used to the fact that some people can’t speak normally. I usually settle for good old fashioned sass to embarrass them.â€
It was in his file she read before she was put on active threat duty. Still, she couldn’t help but lament she wasn’t around when he first got here. The fun they could have had... “I’ve tried but some of them are really not okay with it.â€
“Oh I know, but sometimes you gotta stick them with words, because they’re not going to let you stick them with a knife.†Shinji said, chuckling to himself.
“Which is odd since knife is a word.†Mari added, before she chuckled herself.
Shinji found he liked her after a fashion. “So you’re not a new pilot and you just can’t say yet because they want to surprise us right?â€
“Oh no, your father told me that the Fourth Child has been found and is in transit to Tokyo-3. When he’ll arrive is up in the air.†Mari said, lying ever so slightly. “I’m not fit to pilot the Evangelion.â€
“Mostly because you’d probably break any plugsuit they’d try to put you in.†Shinji said, having estimated her bust to be firmly between Misato and Ritsuko.
“Eh?†She didn’t seem to get it. Shame.
“It’s not important.†Shinji said, finally standing up and stretching. “C’mon, I should introduce you to Rei and Asuka at least, if your job intersects ours at any point. No use having to do it under fire.â€
Mari turned away and winced, wanting to bask in the glory of Shinji for a little bit before being boxed out by the First and Second. It passed quickly, as she stood up and smiled. “Yeah, that’d be good.â€
“They should be in the music room still, so if we hurry, we can still catch them.†Shinji hoped they found something for Rei to do.
“Lead the way.â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
A knock sounded from the door, startling Kaworu out of his contemplative rest. His neck had been enjoying its freedom from the live blade against it and he wasn’t certain he was ready for it to return. It was to his relief that it was Mari behind the door but that guy who was tasked with guarding Asuka.
“Ryoji Kaji,†Kaji said, indicating Kaworu had mumbled the fact he had forgotten the man’s name aloud. “It’s okay kid, I didn’t know about you until the Commander told me about you being here last night.â€
“Er, right. What can I do for you?†Kaworu decided to keep it impersonal for now.
“Just stopping in to check up on you.†Kaji said, smiling at the white haired boy. “Years of raising Asuka has given me enough insight in how you Marduk kids tick. To say nothing of the distrust you’ve been shown since you arrived.â€
“Oh I expected that, really. If your operation was running at maximum efficiency, you wouldn’t want to look after a newbie either.†Kaworu said, smiling a little as well. “But we can discuss this a little better inside, please come in.†He stepped out of the way to allow the man to enter.
“That’s good of you kid,†Kaji said, once he was in the apartment proper and found a seat. “But what about you? How do you feel about being thrust into this role?â€
“It... well I can’t say it isn’t hard. My foster parents just up and shoved a suitcase in my hands and told me to come here.†It was complete bullshit but he couldn’t go around advertising sensitive information. “I had lost my real parents in Second Impact and I don’t really remember them.â€
“Harsh,†Kaji said, but it was a story all too common amongst the world these days. “But I understand it. Sometimes the easiest mercy is cold cruelty.â€
The saying didn’t make sense but quibbling word choice wouldn’t be productive. “I can manage, I lived through the end of the last age after all.â€
“So you did!†The top spy on planet Earth laughed with an unexpected amount of mirth. “That is the strength we all share eh?â€
“Yes.†Kaworu put on a smile and hoped he had danced enough.
“Knowing there are other pilots, what are your impressions of them?†Kaji threw a knuckleball at the kid to see if he could react on his toes.
Internally, Kaworu winced, having not expected that question. Outside though, he was a frosty like a snowman as he put on a contemplative silence. “The First Child, Rei Ayanami... I think she’s an intriguing sort, her story much like my own. She is lucky she had someone like the Commander to take care of her.â€
Kaji watched the boy, looking for holes in his body language.
“The Second Child, Asuka Langley Soryu... She’s very spirited and bright. Though she can be a bit of a handful, or so I hear.†Kaworu had to be careful about Asuka, the man before him was like her second dad.
Kaji snorted but did nothing else, having expected such a detached and sparse assessment.
Silence reigned as Kaworu tried to figure out how to put to words the Third Child. “The Third Child, Shinji Ikari. It’s hard to say really. The information I was given on him was rather short and to the point. I hear he’s sarcastic and abrasive, but I don’t know how I should judge that in him.†Kaworu laughed. “I’ve had people call me abrasive because I don’t react like usual for boys my age.â€
“Well,†Kaji said, looking thoughtful. “All of your questions will be answered when you meet him. There’s no way of telling you just how different he is in the flesh to data points on a paper.â€
Kaworu looked away, more in a ploy to see how Kaji would react than anything.
“But don’t worry, as long as you mind your words, you’ll get along fabulously.†Kaji said, smirking as he saw through the empty gesture. “But whatever you really expect when you meet him, you’ll find he’s probably not going to meet them.â€
Kaworu jerked his head back to look at Kaji, who was standing up out of his chair.
“He’s his own person, who has grown and changed in a lot of ways. The sooner you put to bed your preconceived notions, the better off you’ll be.†Kaji said, turning to leave, before stopping to look back at the kid. “What he wants and needs might not be something you can give him.â€
“I don’t know what you mean.†Kaworu said, trying to evade any implications.
“Sure you don’t.†Kaji laughed and continued for the door. “It’s just advice kiddo, what you do with it is up to you.†The door opened and shut with a click, leaving Kaworu alone with his thoughts.
“What he wants... huh...â€
/-\ /-\ /-\
Shinji walked into the music, finding Asuka jamming away on an acoustic guitar as Rei danced along to the chords. It was an absolutely cute scene to see, one he wasn’t sure what to do with. After a few seconds of watch, he clapped his hands in applause to get their attention.
“Oh hey Shinji!†Asuka said, laughing a little having been caught off guard.
“Ah yes, hello.†Rei said as well, feeling embarrassed.
“Very nice moves Ayanami.†Shinji said, giving her a thumbs up. “Though should probably hold back a little in such a pillowy skirt.â€
“You saw my...†Rei said, turning redder the Unit-02.
“Bunny pa-†Shinji started, before Rei leapt the distance to kick him in the face, dropping him to the floor in a heap.
“I didn’t ask you to shout them to the world!†She roared.
“Nice kick.†Asuka said, before looking down at Shinji. “You asked for that.â€
“I did indeed.†Shinji agreed, before he got up like he hadn’t been flying kicked in the face. “Anyways, as I was contemplating life the universe and everything, I met someone who works under my father as a tactical asset.â€
“What a spy?†Rei asked, looking at Asuka.
“Yeah, that’s what people like to use to say spy without saying it. Kaji always went on about communicating between the lines but it’s a headache and a half.†Asuka said, confirming the three were on the same wavelength.
“Anyways, she kinda bumped into me by accident and I figured she should say hi to everyone so as to not complicate matters in the future.†Shinji said, not catching their reactions to the female identifier in his speech.
Asuka looked smug and amused, Rei looked hostile.
Mari walked in, somewhat hesitant to do this but not wanting to offend Shinji made it hard. “Ah hello.†She bowed.
Asuka didn’t react, just made an expressive set of eyebrow waggles at Shinji that turned him into a tomato.
Rei looked at Mari, before turning her gaze on the reddened Shinji. Though she was platinum mad about this, she remembered her manners. “Hello.â€
“Ja ja, how are you today?†Asuka asked, turning a disarming grin onto Rei.
“I’m fine and it’s nice to meet you, pleasedontkillmenimsorry.†Mari managed to get out, her inner terror causing her to babble.
“Tut tut, think nothing of it. Rei’s bark is worse than her bite.†Asuka said, looping an arm around Rei’s shoulders and giving them a squeeze to calm her down.
“How would you know? I’ve never bitten you.†Rei’s confusion managed to bring Shinji out of his embarrassed silence.
“Well- hee hee - she has a point.†Shinji managed to get out around his uproarious laughter.
“Indeed indeed.†Asuka said, before removing her arms around Rei’s shoulders and walking over to Shinji. “But do not worry about our dear Ikari straying, my dear.â€
“Why’s that?†Rei asked, pushing aside her irritation at the implication of romance between her and Shinji.
“Because, we must simply pull him back in line.†Asuka said, before she suddenly grabbed Shinji’s head and jammed his face into her tits. “Ahn, you just need to remind him where his heart lies ja?†She caressed the side of his face a little with her left hand as her right mussed his hair. She held him there a couple seconds before she let him go, dropping the now unconscious Third Child to the floor.
“Damn, that is ruthless.†Mari said, before she waved at Asuka. “Oh! Oh! Can you teach me your ways, oh great Asuka-sensei!â€
Asuka threw back her head in a regal laugh. “I suppose I could... but we need a victim... er, test subject.â€
Rei looked down at the unconscious Shinji and decided she wanted in on this lesson as well. “I’m sure we can find some on the campus somewhere.â€
Asuka struck a pose. “Then class is in session, let’s go find this specimen! Onward, my cute students! Ohohohohohohoh!â€
The three girls exited the room, leaving Shinji out on the floor, in a state between awake and dreaming.
“Titties.†He mumbled, in his dream state, his head was caught in the middle of Asuka and Mari’s respective cleavage trying to have a fight. “Titties are awesome.â€
End Reprint 21
Teaser for Chapter 22 “Breathe Into My Hands, I’ll Cup Them Like a Glass to Drink Fromâ€:
“It’s time, Commander.†Ritsuko said, popping Gendo from his thoughts. “Unit-01 has been moved to the secret hangar and is affixed to the array.â€
“Thank you, Doctor.†Gendo said, standing up to follow her out to where Unit-01 was.
“Do you think you can do this?†Ritsuko asked, not wanting to imagine what would happen if Gendo screwed things up.
“Outside of my wife dying, I have been an extremely lucky man Akagi.†The commander of NERV said with a smirk. “It’s not up to probability, this operation will be a success.â€
Ritsuko blew out a relieved sigh. “It’s good to hear you talk like that sir.â€
“Yes, I suppose it is.†Gendo agreed, stopping before Unit-01 and noticing it was too dark for his taste. “Lights!â€
Author Note: Well here is the next chapter and it didn’t take four years.
