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.