Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Angels of Armageddon ❯ Chapter 6: "Friends Discovered, a Foe Revealed" ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

DISCLAIMER: The characters, universe, etc. of Neon Genesis Evangelion
are not mine. I make no claim to them. They are used without
permission.

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" " = speech
^ ^ = thoughts
_ _ = italics (emphasis)

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Angels of Armageddon
Author: Ryan Xavier
Chapter 6: Friends Discovered, a Foe Revealed

Shinji Ikari walked slowly to the place where the Americans wanted to
meet. But the upcoming meeting was obviously not what was on his mind.
His eyes were unfocused, and he was apparently only walking along a
memorized path. His entire attention was focused inside, on his
thoughts.

^What was Ayanami _doing_?^ he thought. Absentmindedly, he raised up
his hand, gingerly touching his right cheek with it. It felt just like
it always had; warm and soft.

^Just like her hand,^ he thought. He shook his head, confused. ^I can
at least understand what she asked for, though I don't know if I can
deliver. 'Stop being afraid of me.' Well, I can try, Ayanami. I know
what it's like to be alone.

^I guess she was looking for support. I can see why she'd be shaken
up; I know _I_ would. But this is _Ayanami_, here. The girl who isn't
bothered by anything. But she looked a little scared...

^But then...why did she touch me? _Was_ she just looking for support?
Maybe she just wanted to make sure that she could still feel things,
and was still alive.^

He remembered, briefly, the last time Rei had touched him. How, for a
moment, her dispassionate face had actually shown emotion - anger this
time - as her hand went for his cheek. That time had hurt, both
physically and emotionally. But what had really made the event stick
in his mind was that Rei Ayanami, the girl with a heart of ice, had
shown emotion.

^Yes, Ayanami definitely looked angry, then,^ he thought. ^But maybe
father just taught her to react that way. She's always been all
business...so why should she change now? Yes, of course. She _was_
just checking to make sure she was still alive. That's the way it is
with her.^

He made himself believe that this was the case. He made himself forget
how gentle Rei's hand had been, how it had felt more like a tender,
soft caress than a desperate grasp for help. He didn't want to think
about what it could mean, if Rei hadn't just been looking for assurance
that she was still alive.

^At least Asuka didn't see anything...at least, I don't _think_ so...^

He shook his head, clearing it. ^No, no, I'm late for the meeting,
now. I've got to at least look like I have _some_ idea of what I'm
doing, here.^

^But _why_ did Ayanami do that? Was she looking for help?
Encouragement? A friend...? No, stop thinking about it. Meeting.
Think about the meeting...^

His eyes refocused, and he looked around, seeing he'd almost made it to
the meeting place. He turned towards that location and started walking
again. He did his best to keep his thoughts from wandering anymore,
and was only partially successful.

* * *

Among their gear, the Americans had brought a large canvas tent with
them. They'd taken the liberty of setting it up, allowing their
commanding officers some respite from the occasionally harsh weather.
This tent also served as an ideal meeting room, with a fair degree of
privacy.

Inside the tent, Ritsuko sat calmly in a folding chair. It was mostly
an act, though. Countless concerns were sitting in her head, roiling
around into a broth that made it hard to think. She was sure Misato,
sitting next to her, was also thinking about these things.

What was supposed to happen now? Would they stay here, relying on what
foreign aid they could find? Or would they get passage back to a
more...hospitable locale?

On top of that, Akagi had absolutely no idea what to say about the
Evas. Nearly every one of the Americans knew that there had been a
huge explosion just a few days ago. So far, none of them knew what it
had been caused by. However, they had also all seen Unit-00. Some of
them were beginning to put two and two together.

^I'm satisfied with _not_ being the leader,^ Akagi thought. ^I wonder
what Shinji and Asuka are thinking, right now.^

As though summoned by thought, Shinji took that moment to step in
through the tent flap. The boy looked pale and a little dazed, for
some reason. Misato's brow furrowed in concern, but Akagi maintained
her cold demeanor.

^We cannot let the Americans see us as being worried,^ Akagi thought,
wishing she could somehow telepathically communicate the message to
Shinji and Misato. ^If they see us as being desperate, they won't
treat us as equals.^

Shinji walked in, not really watching where he was going. As such, he
tripped on a first aid kit that had been lying on the ground, stumbled
a few feet, then caught himself by crashing into one of the tent poles.
The impact rocked the whole tent, causing many people to stop what they
were doing and stare at Shinji. They boy muttered something
apologetic, then went to sit down next to Misato.

"Hey, something wrong, Shinji-kun?" Misato whispered.

Shinji shook his head, holding up a hand to say it was fine. As Akagi
watched, the boy visibly pulled himself together, eventually looking
something close to being confident.

^Pretty good,^ she thought, though she still didn't let it show.
^Probably wouldn't have been calm down so easily a few years ago, eh,
Ikari's boy?^

Ritsuko inwardly shuddered at the name, even as she thought it.
Despite the new situation, this was still a _lot_ like how it had been
back at NERV. She wasn't in control of much; she had to rely on other
- not necessarily trustworthy - people, for almost everything. And she
had to keep her stoic attitude at all times, for fear of what would
happen if she decided to care.

^And an Eva just to finish the deal,^ she thought. ^Yes, there are
definite similarities to what it was like working under Gendo.^

The American commander, that Major Lewis person, sat down in yet
another folding chair, across from the other three. As opposed to
Shinji, he looked quite sure of himself. He obviously had some
experience with commanding people around.

^Either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it,^
Akagi thought. ^An experienced commander would know what he's doing,
but he'd have less trouble killing someone...kind of like Gendo would...^

Her chest itched as an unwelcome memory surfaced in her mind. About
how her mother managed to betray her from beyond the grave, siding with
her man instead of her daughter. Ritsuko ignored the urge to scratch
the small, circular scar that lay square between her breasts, mirrored
by a similar scar on her back. She just let them tingle, gnawing away
at her mind as the sensation slowly faded.

After a brief silence, Lewis slid a cigarette out of the pack in his
breast pocket. He put it between his lips and carefully lit it, taking
a first puff.

Ritsuko watched longingly as he smoked the cigarette. A commodity like
that was something they'd been going without, here. But the Americans
were tossing them around just like Third Impact had never happened.

Lewis noticed her look. Shrugging, he pulled the pack out of his
pocket and chucked it to Ritsuko.

"Keep 'em," he said, his American accent still painfully obvious in his
speech.

Ritsuko reflexively caught the pack, blinking a little in surprise.
^Guess the Americans came out better than we thought, to just throw
disposable commodities around. Though theoretically, with less people
to consume them...^

As she thought this over, she slid out a cigarette and put it between
her lips, her body remembering the motions. She was about to ask for a
light when she paused. Sitting like this, getting ready to smoke, was
an even stronger reminder of her time at NERV. Her chest itched again.

Ritsuko spat out the cigarette, sickened, as a brief image of Gendo's
face appeared before her eyes. She looked back down at the pack of
cigarettes. After a long moment, she finally made a decision, and
threw it back at the Major, who only just barely caught it as it went
over his head.

"I quit a while ago," Ritsuko explained. The man nodded in
acknowledgment, then pocketed the pack again.

Ritsuko could feel two sets of eyes on her from the side. She didn't
have to look to know who they belonged to.

"I just realized it's time for a new start," she explained, not turning
her head. To her side, Shinji and Misato nodded, smiling a little at
the show of strength.

"But I _could_ use a coffee," Ritsuko added, looking over at Lewis
again. "Do you people have any?"

Without a word, Lewis gestured to some of the people in the tent. In
moments, he, Ritsuko, and Misato were all holding steaming cups. They
began to relax, as caffeine slowly entered into their systems. Lewis
finished off his smoke, checking his watch every few minutes as they
waited for one remaining person.

After a few more minutes, Asuka walked in. The Americans all spared
her short glances, putting on faces that said 'finally', before going
back to their work. Misato, Shinji, and Akagi, however, knew the girl
better. As they looked, they could see the repressed anger hiding
behind Asuka's eyes. She was doing a pretty good job putting on a
confident face, but to the others, she looked like a ticking time bomb.

Asuka sat down next to Shinji, crossing her arms and leaning back. Her
attitude slipped a little, and she began to look annoyed. Shinji gave
her a concerned look, but appeared too scared to say anything to her.
Neither Ritsuko nor Misato could really blame him.

"All right, now that we're all _here_," Lewis said, throwing a harsh
glance at Asuka, "we can get down to business."

"Alright, first what can you do for us?" Asuka asked, leaning forwards
and staring into his face. "Or did you just come to show off your
choppers?"

Lewis smirked at the rudeness. The others all threw Asuka sideways
glances, which she ignored.

^So what if Ayanami's still...herself,^ Asuka was thinking. ^I can get
by _fine_. She can just go to hell, if she _still_ doesn't even want
to try being friends with me.^

"Well," Lewis said, trying to act as though Asuka's question had been
phrased more politely, "no, we didn't come here just to 'show off',
young lady. We don't do that...much," he said, smiling a little.

"As I explained before," the man continued, "we're here to help you
out. It looks like you could use it."

Misato and Shinji nodded slowly as he said this. Asuka didn't; her old
block against asking for help kept her from saying anything.

"Now, don't go assuming we can do anything. We can't. Problem is we
lack personnel. Back home, we got whole bunkers full of attack
choppers and M1 tanks. But we barely have anyone who knows how to
drive 'em," he said, throwing up his hands. "We're still pretty rough
with our operations, even now," Lewis explained. "We've got plenty of
volunteers to come and work on the ground, but we barely have any
pilots. We take anyone who can fly. That's why we use all different
kinds of helicopters to get around. But it works. I mean, hell, we
got here overnight."

"So what are you offering?" Shinji asked. "If you're pressed for
people, why not take us back to America?"

Silence fell on the group. Misato's face wrinkled, while Asuka
outright glared at him. Neither of the women were ready to give up on
Japan, just yet. It was their _home_. And they didn't want to abandon
their homes.

Lewis sighed. "That's not an option, kid," he said, bluntly. "Believe
me, we could use more workers, but America just won't have you."

Shinji blinked, while Asuka turned to face Lewis, her face questioning.
"Why?" she asked.

"'Cause word's been getting around," Lewis explained, leaning forward
and resting his elbows on his knees. "People know that whatever it was
that happened two years ago, it started here." He paused, letting that
sink in. "So who do you think they blame?" he finished.

Silence fell again. Misato looked away, shaking her head, while Akagi
just broke eye contact, thinking the situation over. Shinji spoke up.

"But...but it wasn't our _fault_!" he said. He almost apologized for
having raised his voice, but Lewis cut him off.

"Don't matter," the American commander said. "Rumors keep going
around, no matter how hard you try to stop 'em. People just want
someone to blame."

"Then why are you here?" Ritsuko asked, meeting his eyes.

"'Cause I was told to," the man replied, offhandedly. "Me, I don't
care who's fault it is. Not my business, you know?"

Shinji quickly became interested in the ground at his feet. ^If only
we could get a chance to _explain_ what happened...though that might be
difficult. I was right in the middle of things, and _I_ can't
understand half of what went on. But it still wasn't our
fault...right?^

"Now we _can_ fly a plane over here every once in a while, to drop in
some extra supplies," Lewis was saying. "People don't seem to mind
that as much as bringing you back with us. And if necessary, we might
be able to fly some personnel out here."

"And what do you get out of it?" Misato asked. Her face was still
friendly, but her eyes had settled into the cold look they used to have
when she had been in charge of three of the most powerful fighting
machines on the planet.

Lewis smiled again. He slowly finished off the rest of his coffee,
forcing Misato to wait. "Same problem I just told you about," he said,
lowering the empty cup. "People are coming back, but not nearly the
whole population. We have more than enough extra supplies sitting
around. So what else are we going to do with them?" he finished by
raising his hands and shrugging, in the classic 'I don't know',
gesture.

Shinji and Asuka seemed to buy it, but Misato and Ritsuko knew better.
They could hear it in his speech: he was just reciting something he'd
been told earlier.

^America's probably _really_ doing this to get other countries indebted
to it,^ Akagi thought. ^Even if Japan recovers, it'll be paying the
foreign aid bill for years. But we can't do anything about it, since I
doubt we could keep going on forever the way we are now.^ Glancing to
her side, she could see Misato was thinking along the same lines.
Misato noticed the glance and nodded at her old friend, acknowledging
this.

"What kind of personnel?" Shinji asked.

"Who do you need?" Lewis asked. "We've got a few professionals, here
and there. We could fly some people out here for a brief visit, but
remember they'd probably have other duties to worry about."

Shinji nodded. "Well...I mean, the doctor you had help Ayanami was
great. She's recovering really quickly."

Off to Shinji's side, Asuka glared at him again, but only for a second.

"Could you get someone like him out here?" Shinji continued, his tone
of voice showing that this was just an example he was giving. "Even
just to teach everyone some basic first aid. Could you do that?"

Lewis nodded. "Yeah, we've got plenty of doctors who we could convince
to come out here for a while. How's that girl doing, by the way?" he
asked, nonchalantly.

Asuka snorted and broke eye contact. Shinji broke eye contact as well,
looking over to Asuka to try and figure out what she was thinking.

Akagi glanced at the pair, just turning her eyes to do so, before
looking back to Lewis. "She's fine," she said, cautiously. "We
suspect she'll be on her feet again in a few days."

Lewis nodded, smiling what _looked_ like a genuine smile. "Good to
hear that," he said, quietly. "Sorry to hear she got hurt, by the
way." The suggestive tone of his voice showed what he wanted to talk
about.

"All right," Misato said, standing up. "You want to hear about the
Eva, right?"

"Well, the thought crossed my mind," he said, looking up to meet her
eyes.

Misato glanced over her shoulder at Ritsuko, who nodded before standing
up.

"I can explain, I believe," Akagi said. "If you'll get Ms. Ibuki in
here, I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Hold on," Lewis said, holding up a hand. "I'm not a scientist, or
even an engineer. Save your lectures for someone who'd understand
them. But if you can explain in _normal_ language, I'll listen."

Ritsuko considered this, then nodded curtly. "In that case, don't
bother Ms. Ibuki. What do you want to hear about?"

"What I'm interested in is what we've seen from overhead flights during
the past years," Lewis said, standing up. He led Misato and Ritsuko
over to a table, on which a map was spread out. Shinji and Asuka, left
behind for a moment, were quick to get to their feet and follow.

The map was of Japan, compiled from several air photos, since most of
the satellites had been wiped out by 'the calamity', Lewis explained.
Practically none of the cities were visible, but there was a crater the
_size_ of several cities right about where Tokyo-3 had been. The
"sea" around the country was colored the characteristic orange of LCL.
But other than that, there was nothing of note on the map.

"So what is it you wanted to show us? And how come we haven't seen any
of these planes going overhead?" Asuka asked, coming up to the table
and leaning onto it, staring down at the map.

Lewis looked like he was going to ignore her. He glanced at Ritsuko,
but then changed his mind and answered the girl.

"First of all, kid, we usually fly pretty high. If you'd seen us,
you'd have probably thought it was a bird or something. And we
wouldn't have been able to notice a small settlement like this, anyway.
Really, that explosion was what gave it all away."

Shinji's brow furrowed in thought. He seemed to remember Kensuke
saying something about how spy planes could zoom in on license plates
from miles up. And the settlements on the map looked pretty
detailed...

He glanced over to Misato, who shook her head, telling him to keep
quiet. Shinji, assured that she had some explanation, turned back to
Lewis' explanation.

"Now, what I wanted to show you..." he said, reaching behind him to
grab a pen off of another table. "Is this here."

He leaned down, nearly bonking heads with Asuka. No one seemed to
notice, though; they were watching what Lewis was doing.

As they watched, he took the pen and drew several circles in the LCL
around Japan. As they took a closer look, they saw that within each
circle was a dark, blurry form.

"These look familiar to you people?" he asked.

"Uh...no..." Shinji said. "I can't make anything out..."

"MP Evas," Ritsuko said, meeting his eyes. She didn't say it as a
suggestion, but as a statement of fact. Lewis nodded, then looked back
to the map.

"Yeah, these are the buddies of that blue thing you have outside. Now,
as you can see, there _were_ nine of the buggers, forming a circle
around Japan. This - " he said, unrolling another picture, "was a
close-up we managed to get on one pass."

The picture he showed them, though blurry, displayed an MP Eva
prominently. It stood there, headless and spread-eagled, apparently
crucified to nothing.

"Ain't that a pretty picture?" Lewis asked sarcastically. He glanced
at Ritsuko.

Ritsuko nodded. "I can't explain their positions. That's probably a
side effect of Third Impact being interrupted."

Lewis nodded, then turned back to the pictures. "Anyways, _this_," he
said, tapping the map, "was all we saw for months. These things stayed
put, and stayed dead. They weren't bothering anyone, so we didn't
bother coming out here."

^Only come out here when your asses were on the line, eh?^ Asuka
thought. It took a great deal of self control to keep from voicing
this thought.

"Then, about a week and a half ago, we took this shot here," he said,
unrolling another map on top of everything else on the table. He made
another ring of circles around the MP Evas. This time, though, there
were only eight of them.

"We saw right off that one was missing. But we figured, 'ah, must've
collapsed, the others'll do the same thing real soon.' But then on our
next close-up of them, we saw the others had all changed."

He stepped back and looked at them. "I don't have the picture, but you
remember they were originally like this," he said, spreading his arms
wide. "But then they kind of moved, like this," he said, going to one
knee and holding his hands in front of him. He held his hands as
though grasping something long and straight, which would have been
perfectly oriented to point into his chest.

"And if that weren't enough, they'd all...I dunno, _grown_ these big
pikes coming out of their chests," he said, standing back up again.
"And their hands were grabbing these spear things."

"Copies of the Lancea Longinus," Ritsuko corrected. "The Production
Series Evas were all armed with those. Again, the position's probably
a result of Third Impact."

Shinji experienced a brief flashback of Third Impact. By that point,
everything had been going to hell, and he had had no clue where he was.
But he seemed to remember the MP Evas all impaling themselves with
their spears.

"They come back as they see themselves..." he muttered. No one paid
any attention, though.

"In any case," Ritsuko continued, "you probably don't have cause for
worry. The Lances were too complex to build with an S2 engine, so what
you saw was just a growth, something that probably could not even
survive being removed from the Eva."

"All right, that's _one_ less thing to worry about," Lewis replied.
"Now on our next pass, we saw that another one of them was missing, and
we also saw a shot of what I _guess_ was Big Blue out there," he
continued, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "But we figured it
wasn't worth looking at."

He looked down to the map. "The next shot we took looked _just_ like
this one, except this white one here," he said, pointing at one of the
Evas, "was missing. We were still thinkin' they were just collapsing,
by the way. But then one of our other planes, on its way home, saw an
explosion right outside your front door. We couldn't ignore this
anymore, so here we are," he finished, stepping back and looking up
from the map.

"Wait a second," Shinji said. "With that one gone, then there would
only be six MP Evas left. But there couldn't be less than..." he
paused, trying to do the math on his fingers.

"Eight...no, I mean seven," Asuka said, figuring it out. Shinji nodded
in response.

"Whatever you say, but the next shot showed six, not seven. I don't
know about you, but that's a damn _lot_ of robots to go vanishing."

Shinji felt his stomach turn. Three Evas...Misato had once commented
that NERV could take over the world with that kind of power. And here,
three of the MP Evas had just...vanished.

"I'm guessing Big Blue out there accounts for one of these
disappearances," Lewis said, turning towards Ritsuko. "Do you have any
explanation for the other two?"

Ritsuko had put one hand to her chin, thinking as Lewis had explained
the situation. "I know what happened to one of them, but I'll have to
think about the other one. You were wrong in thinking they would just
collapse. Those Evas were rushed to production, but they wouldn't just
fall apart, not _this_ quickly. Perhaps the super-solenoid organ was
adversely activated...then it would have been pulled into a sea of
Dirac..."

"Hold it," Lewis said. "That's already over my head. You said you
could account for one of them?" He looked between Ritsuko and Misato,
trying to get an explanation.

Misato met his gaze evenly. Then, she smiled, and gestured to Shinji
and Asuka, who were glancing back and forth at each other nervously.
Lewis glanced at them, his eyes saying 'they're just _kids_.' But
Misato looked like she wasn't going to tell him anything, so he finally
gave up and turned his gaze towards the former Eva pilots.

"Well..." Shinji said, rubbing his head, "we can account for one of
them. It attacked us, just before you came here."

Lewis's brow furrowed slightly, but he otherwise gave nothing away.

"You were talking about an explosion...that was it," Shinji continued.
"We defeated it with Unit-00 - "

"Unit what? Is that the blue thing?" Lewis asked, cutting in.

"Yeah," Shinji replied, nodding. "Unit-00 stopped it, but then
it...blew up. That was what you saw."

"Uh...huh..." Lewis said, trailing off. "That still leaves one
unaccounted for. Any ideas?"

Shinji shook his head, while Asuka just met Lewis's eyes, trying to
keep her cool, even though she could almost _feel_ nervousness breeding
in the others, as well as in herself. A missing MPE was not something
you could just ignore.

"Well, it's a start," Lewis said, turning away. He went over to a
long-distance communicator they had set up, and started talking to the
man operating it. The other man nodded and started making the
connections he'd need.

Shinji sighed, leaning against the table. ^Crap...^ he thought. ^Now
no one's going to want to come within a thousand kilometers of here.^

"It's a _start_?" Asuka asked, obviously miffed at Lewis's attitude.
"Just that? Now what, you just pack up and leave? Baka Americans too
scared to hang around, because _you_ can't find something?
Arshloch..." The last word was muttered to herself, as Asuka mentally
admitted it to herself that there was no use trying to fight them. The
Americans had all the guns, as well as the helicopters and whatnot. If
they wanted to leave, they _would_.

"Don't get so worked up, fraulein," Lewis said, grinning. "We actually
expected something like this. We're not all as dumb as we look, you
know. We figured big explosions and missing mechs were probably
linked. It just means the pilot of the air drop plane gets to earn his
hazard pay."

Shinji, Misato and Asuka all blinked at Lewis' confidence. Then, they
smiled, nervously but still genuinely.

"Connection's ready, sir," the comm man said, holding up a handset that
looked suspiciously like a telephone receiver.

"Thank you," Lewis said, taking the offered handset. He raised it up
to his ear and started speaking in English.

Shinji glanced at Misato, his face asking for a translation. Misato
looked thoughtful as she listened, then gave him the thumbs-up, winking
at him. Shinji smiled at this. Misato then saw that she had a free
moment, and walked over to him. She leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"They probably _did_ see us earlier," she said, quietly. "That's what
you were thinking about, right?"

Shinji nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on Lewis.

"But what he said was probably right. People probably _do_ blame Japan
for Third Impact," Misato explained. "They're only interested now so
we can explain where the Evas are going."

Shinji sighed at this, having suspected that was the case. He looked
back to Misato.

"But they're here anyway," he said.

Misato shrugged and put on an encouraging smile for him. Then she
stood back up before Lewis could notice them talking.

Shinji nodded, acknowledging Misato's explanation as a good one. He
glanced over at Asuka, still standing at his side. She noticed the
glance, and started whispering to him.

"He's on the line with his superiors, sounds like," she said. "I think
he's arranging for when they can have air drops into here."

Shinji smiled, both at the promise of help and at the fact that Asuka
had learned more than Japanese before coming to Japan. He put his arm
around her waist, feeling her jump a little at the contact, then relax.
Behind him, Misato and Ritsuko found more coffee, and started talking
things over.

^So we're going to be all right,^ Shinji thought.

* * *

"So we're going to be all right?" Touji was asking, hours later.

"Yeah," Shinji replied, nodding. "The Americans say they can drop
something in here in a few days."

The boys were walking across a hillside, catching up old times now that
they were back together, and had a free moment. They had no
destination in mind; they were just wandering aimlessly.

"Cool," Kensuke said, walking on Shinji's other side. "So...you said
they might bring in some new people. That true?"

"Well, we asked them to bring in some of their professionals. I guess
they'll be coming in a few days, too."

"Who're you bringin' in here, then?" Touji asked. "We could use some
decent food, ya know."

Shinji nodded knowingly. "Well, we're working on that. Let's see..."
he started ticking things off on his fingers. "Doctors, some
construction workers, mechanics, engineers...and a priest."

Kensuke and Touji had been nodding at everything in the list up until
the last word. When Shinji finished, the other boys went silent.

"Eh?" Touji asked, confused.

"What d'you need a priest for?" Kensuke asked. "I don't think anyone's
died, yet...c'ept if you want to count that Evangelion," he said,
smiling.

Shinji shook his head. "No, it's not for that. Not yet, anyway."

"Well, then what?" Kensuke asked, irritated. "You feeling religious or
som..." he trailed off as it finally clicked in his head. Then he
smiled slyly and punched Shinji in the arm. "You dog," he said.

"What?" Touji asked, watching.

"You really gonna go that far?" Kensuke asked. "I mean, you _ready_?"

"It's not my choice to make," Shinji replied, shrugging.

"Damn...you know, sometimes Asuka's got more balls than you do, Shinji.
I - "

"What's Asuka got to do with any of this?" Shinji asked.

"You mean..." Kensuke tried to figure out the logic, making little
swirls in the air with his fingers. Eventually he gave up.

"What are you guys talking about?" Touji asked again.

"So you and Asuka aren't getting married?" Kensuke asked.

Both Touji and Shinji stopped cold. Kensuke took another step, noticed
he'd been abandoned, and then turned around.

"Huh?" Touji asked.

"I..." Shinji said, hesitantly. Then he shook his head. "No,
it...uh...didn't come up. You're getting ahead of yourself, Kensuke.
We're just not ready for that, you know?"

"But you're the one sleeping with her!" Kensuke almost shouted out,
spreading his arms in exasperation.

Shinji gave Kensuke an odd look, then blushed a little as he figured it
out. He shook his head again. "No, no, it's not like that!"

"My ass, it's not like that," Touji and Kensuke said at the same time.

^And _why_ did I want to go walking with them, again?^ Shinji thought
to himself. "No, look guys, we might use the same bed, but we...we
never..." he stopped, noticing the cynical look on both of the other
boys' faces. But he knew he needed to at least finish his sentence.

"Look, we're both scared, even if Asuka won't admit it. We just...need
someone we know we can rely on. We're just doing it so we don't have
to sleep alone, you know?"

"Doing _what_?" Touji asked, crossing his arms.

Shinji resisted the urge to jump his friend. "Oh, forget it," he said,
throwing up his arms. "You guys won't listen to me, anyway." At that,
he turned around and started walking back the way they'd come.

"Oh, come on," Kensuke said, jogging to catch up. "Can't you tell when
we're teasing?"

"Yeah, we'd know if you and she were up to stuff, Shinji," Touji said,
backing up Kensuke.

Shinji shook his head. "I hate that," he mumbled.

The other boys shrugged.

Shinji grinned to himself as he figured out something that came rarely
to him: a comeback.

"But anyway, guys, the priest's not for me and Asuka. But you're
close."

Kensuke thought it over for about a microsecond before he realized the
answer. Then he smiled, nodding.

"Who's he for, then?" Touji asked.

Both boys looked at him, smiling broadly. Finally the light of
realization got through Touji's thick head.

"Uh..." the boy said, paling a little. "You're not...you're..."

"C'mon, you know it's the right thing to do," Shinji said.

"Yeah, look what you did to her, man!" Kensuke added. "You owe her
_that_ much, at least!"

"B-b-b-but I-I-I..." Touji stammered. "But we never meant for that to
happen! We just got crazy one night!"

"Cold feet already, I see," Kensuke said.

Shinji threw his arms around Touji's shoulders, still grinning. "Just
get over what you're afraid of," he said. "Don't run away. Take it
from me...running doesn't solve anything."

"And if you _do_ run away, we're gonna get Ayanami and Nagisa to hunt
you down," Kensuke added.

Touji went even paler. Both Shinji and Kensuke laughed at the display.

"Oh, dammit, leggo!" Touji said, shrugging Shinji off. "You guys just
go to hell!"

Touji started stomping off. The other boys only laughed more.

But he only got a few steps, before he felt a chill hit his body. He
hugged himself for warmth as a cold shiver ran through him from head to
toe. At the same time, Shinji stopped laughing and went to one knee,
as he also felt a chill.

For a brief moment, they both saw experienced the same waking dream.
Each found himself sitting down, in some kind of plastic chair.
Machinery hummed all around each boy. And then, from out of nowhere,
blackness crept in, growing over everything like a fungus, until it
absorbed the boys, muffling their screams as it devoured them.

And then, the dream was over, and both boys collapsed, breathing hard.

Kensuke looked at the two boys, confused. "Geez, what's _with_ you
guys?"

* * *

Rei lay on her back, on her cot. Her eyes were closed, but she was not
asleep. She had recently changed into fresh clothes. The shirt felt
rough on her skin, and it didn't fit right. She'd have preferred her
other shirt, but that one had blood soaked into it, and had dirt ground
in everywhere. Her current clothing was at least _clean_.

Kaoru sat in a nearby chair, his arms hanging by his sides and his chin
resting on his chest. His breathing came slowly and evenly. He'd
fallen asleep some time ago, after he'd become convinced that Rei, as
usual, was not in a conversational mood.

Rei wished she could sleep. It felt like her body wanted to rest, too,
but she just couldn't clear her mind. Her thoughts were in complete
and utter pandemonium.

^I was able to touch Ikari-kun...^ she thought. Her left hand
twitched, as she remembered the feel of his cheek. Her right arm,
still sealed in a rigid cast, remained motionless.

For a moment, she was there with him again. She felt her hand gently
tracing the curve of his face, feeling the slightly rough skin, and the
warmth that comes from touching another. Though she had not been
touched, it was still warm, and...satisfying, nonetheless.

She'd been nervous. She'd been very, very nervous when she'd asked him
to come over, but...as soon as she'd touched him, the uncertainty had
vanished. A calm feeling, one of relaxation and safety, had come over
her. She had also felt...contentment. Although Rei was familiar with
the 'calm' part, and perhaps even the relaxation, the feelings of
security and satisfaction had been new to her. As had been the nervous
feeling that came before. Even now, after she'd had time to think
about her feelings, she didn't understand them very well. But she'd
been able to work through her confusion, and do what she'd wanted to
do.

^It seems there _are_ advantages to living beyond Eva,^ she thought.
^With Eva, life was centered on pain and eventual oblivion. Bringing
more into my life would mean living for more than pain. Yet my
existence also becomes more complicated...^

Though her life was more complex, now, there was no denying that she'd
enjoyed that moment. It was regrettable that it had ended so soon.

^I have heard that 'it always ends before you're ready'. But...it
ended before it even started. Soryu...interrupted us...^

Her eyes opened, looking up at the ceiling. However, since it was
afternoon, the sun was pouring in through a crevice in the wall,
falling across her face and blinding her. Rei turned onto her side,
facing the far wall and letting the sunlight warm her back. Her right
arm disappeared under her side, as the folds of her shirt covered it.

She let out a barely audible sigh. ^But he felt guilty. I could
discern that from his expression. I am also making an enemy out of
Soryu, when the last thing I need is for someone to hate me. So I not
only make my own life more complex by choosing to live beyond Eva, but
the lives of others, as well.^

She thought it over further. ^Was I not meant to live for anything
other than Eva? By choosing to do so, I have made Ikari-kun nervous.
Why can I not just follow Soryu's advice? Why can I not just be
satisfied with what I can get?^

It was the most logical course of action, really. It would make her
life, and everyone else's, so much simpler if she could just remain as
the designated pilot of Unit-00, and nothing more. To just accept that
Eva was, and always would be, 'all she could get', in Soryu's words.

^But then again...is Ikari-kun something I cannot have?^ she thought.
^I do not know. His sudden nervousness...what did that mean?^

She curled up, slowly, until she was sitting in an almost-fetal
position. Her eyes, half-closed, felt a little moist. She didn't know
the answer. She couldn't find the answer, not on her own. She
couldn't even decide whether or not it was worth trying for Shinji.
But every time thoughts of quitting entered her mind, a sick sensation
started crawling into her stomach, accompanied by a cold feeling she'd
never felt before, so strong she curled up tighter in an effort to keep
from freezing.

There was just something that felt...wrong, with quitting, with not
bothering to try.

Footsteps crunched outside of the doorway. Rei perked up, her eyes
opening as she rolled onto her back and sat up. Unconsciously, her
good arm went back to try and smooth out the tangled blue mass that was
her hair.

"Er...hello Ayanami," came a voice. Rei recognized it instantly as the
former Class Representative's. Her left hand dropped back down to the
bed, and her expression, which had lit up at the sound of footsteps,
sank back down into the deadpan look it always was.

Hikari walked in, hesitantly. Her eyes flickered to Kaoru's slouched,
unconscious form, then back up to Rei. "Did I wake you?" she asked,
quietly.

Rei shook her head slightly. Inside, she was chiding herself. ^I
wanted it to be Ikari-kun, even though I knew he would have other
responsibilities. Is something amiss with me? Why can I not get him
out of my mind?^

"I...I wanted to see how you were doing," she whispered. "I haven't
seen anyone visit, except him," she said, nodding at Kaoru. "And Ikari
and Asuka."

Rei nodded in response.

"Er...so I guess you're fine," Hikari said. It was obvious from the
tone of her voice that she'd been hoping Rei would be asleep. She'd
have been able to satisfy her guilt at not visiting the wounded, and
she wouldn't have had to talk to the girl that made everyone nervous.

Rei acknowledged this, but her thoughts trailed somewhere else.
^She...has had some involvement with Suzuhara,^ she thought, glancing
at Hikari's abdomen. ^Perhaps she could help me understand Ikari-kun's
response.^

"Feel better, Ayanami," Hikari said, turning to go. She stopped,
however, as she heard rustlings behind her. She turned to see Rei
getting out of the bed, trying to maintain her balance while keeping
her right arm stiff.

"Uh...Ayanami, be careful. You should stay in bed, the doctor said,"
Hikari whispered, trying to sound authoritative.

"I am fine," Rei replied. She saw a pair of shoes Kaoru had left for
her near the wall. She slid her feet into the shoes and turned towards
Hikari. "Where are you going, Horaki-san?"

"I was just taking a walk," Hikari replied. "Did...did you want to
come along?"

Rei said nothing for a moment. She wanted to say yes, but her habit of
avoiding human contact was kicking in. She could almost hear Kaoru
repeating himself, trying to convince her: ^Rei, you should try. It
worked for me.^

She finally managed a brief nod. Hikari looked at her, making some
kind of decision, before smiling and gesturing for her to come along.
Rei followed the girl outside, falling into step alongside her.

"So...uh...it's nice of you to be walking with me like this, Ayanami."

Rei glanced over at Hikari. The freckled girl was glancing at her,
smiling slightly, but it looked forced. Rei nodded in response to what
the other girl had said.

Hikari kept talking, feeling some aversion to letting silence fall
while she was around Rei.

"Asuka's always so busy, and she's really my only female friend. It's
nice to have someone...less occupied to go around with."

Rei nodded again. "I need to get exercise after my injury."

Hikari sighed at the response, inwardly debating whether this was all
an act, or if Ayanami really _was_ that uncaring.

"Or do you want a friend yourself?" Hikari asked, trying the direct
approach. ^Because being indirect with Ayanami would take days to get
her to answer your question,^ she reasoned.

Rei remained silent. She didn't even make eye contact. Hikari smiled
at this, silently hugging her stomach.

"So..." Hikari said, trying to start a conversation, "...do you want to
talk?"

"About what?" came the immediate reply.

"...well...about anything. "Uh..." the girl trailed off, gently trying
to probe into the mind of Rei Ayanami. "...how are you feeling? I
heard you were hurt pretty badly."

"I will heal."

Hikari groaned. "Ayanami, I don't know...what do you want to talk
about?"

The only response was silence. Hikari silently chided herself, knowing
that she should have seen that coming.

Rei was not as calm as she looked, however. Behind her impassive mask,
her thoughts were a tumult, as she tried to figure out what to say.
There were so many questions she had to ask, but she didn't know which
ones were appropriate, especially since she hadn't ever really talked
with Hikari, before.

"I..." Rei said, breaking the silence. In a flash, Hikari's attention
was on her.

"I...have occasionally wondered..." Rei trailed off, obviously
uncomfortable with talking to someone she didn't know very well.
Hikari gave the girl space, letting her choose her words.

"...how did Soryu and Ikari-kun come to be the leaders? There are
other more...qualified personnel."

Hikari nodded at this, trying to get over the surprise that Rei was
actually _starting_ a conversation. "Well...actually, I asked Touji
about that earlier. He said it just kind of...happened that way. They
were the first people to return, so they knew the most about what was
going on, and they had started setting up some shelters before anyone
else. When other people started coming back, everyone just kind
of...thought it was natural to follow them. I guess it _is_ kind of
weird...but no one's ever asked about it."

^But if their authority later comes into question...^ Rei thought.
^Then...what will I do?^

^I don't want you _ever_ to use the Dummy plug again! Never ever! Do
you understand?^ Shinji's voice resounded in her mind.

^If their command is challenged...I will support Ikari-kun. I am not
certain that I trust his decisions, but he has some ability as a
leader. As for Soryu...^

^The little invalid's trying to get some pity out of Shinji-chan?^
Asuka's voice echoed, in a recent memory.

^...I will make that decision if necessary,^ Rei reasoned.

"Understood," Rei replied. She concentrated on controlling her
breathing, thinking out _exactly_ what she wanted to say next.
Finally, she found the right words.

"How...did Soryu and Ikari-kun become involved?" she asked.

"What? You mean as leaders?"

"No...with each other."

Hikari blinked at the unexpected question. "Why do you ask, Ayanami?"

"You asked me what I wanted to talk about."

Hikari thought that over, shaking her head and giving up on trying to
pull an explanation out of Rei. "Well, I don't know for certain," she
replied. "When I...came back," she said, swallowing, "they were
already something of an item. I've seen them get a little closer, but
I honestly don't know."

"Oh," Rei said. Her voice was the same monotone, but for the shortest
fraction of a second, her face betrayed...disappointment.

^Something's up,^ Hikari thought. ^Either that or Ayanami's not quite
the same as I remember her. Either way...^

Her thoughts were interrupted as they walked into the middle of the
camp. Asuka was there, leaning up against one of the stone walls of
the shelters as she watched a few people sorting out the boxes of
emergency supplies the Americans had brought with them. She turned as
she heard the two girls walking in. She smiled as she saw Hikari.

"Hi there, Hikari," Asuka said, immediately walking out to meet them.
"How're you feeling? That Aida baka was saying he lost track of you."

"Well," Hikari said, holding one hand out apologetically while holding
her stomach with the other, "I just felt like going on a walk. And
Ayanami wanted to come along..." she said, gesturing to Rei.

Asuka looked over at Rei, her face betraying some surprise. Then she
shook it off and looked back to her friend.

"Well...that's OK, I guess, if you feel like socializing with
weirdos," she said, haughtily. "C'mon, let's get something to eat."

"Right. Ayanami, do you want to come along?"

"I..." Rei said, intending to disagree. She made herself think about
it, though, considering her choice to incorporate more than Eva into
her life. That meant doing something she'd never tried before: making
friends.

^I _do_ still have many questions to ask about Ikari-kun...perhaps it
will be beneficial to get on better terms with Horaki.^

"I...will consider it," Rei finished.

"Well, _consider_ fast, Ayanami," Asuka replied. "'Cause I'm hungry.
I want to see what else these Americans have brought with them."

The German girl gave no indication she was doing what Rei had asked for
by using Rei's last name. She just did it as though she'd
independently decided to start calling her that. Rei said nothing; as
she saw it, there was no point in discussing the matter. But inside,
she acknowledged that she'd managed to push Soryu into backing off, a
little.

Rei started following Hikari and Asuka, who nodded and began walking.
They were about to walk off when two of the three teens suddenly froze,
their bodies convulsing. Rei was shaken, leaning against a convenient
wall for support. Asuka shivered, rubbing her arms for heat and
fighting for balance as her vision blurred and a wave of nausea hit
her.

Hikari looked back at the two shivering girls. "Hey...are you guys
OK?" she asked.

Asuka shook it off and regained her balance. "Ah, I'm fine. Just one
of those things, you know?" she said, smiling.

Rei, looked up, her eyes betraying nothing. However, inside she felt
sick. As though something was crawling around inside of her.

"Excuse me," she said, turning away. "I...need to speak with Kaoru-
san."

"But, Ayanami - " Hikari said, holding out a hand.

"Ah, leave her," Asuka said, dragging Hikari off. "That girl's just
strange, that way."

Hikari watched, hesitantly, as Rei jogged off, trying not to jar her
broken arm too much. She felt a pang of worry for the girl, but then
mentally shrugged, figuring that Ayanami could handle herself quite
well.

Rei, on the other hand, was focused and intent. Somehow, she knew
Kaoru had just felt what she and Soryu had. And she knew he would at
least listen, unlike Soryu.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

* * *

As the former Children felt it, another of the MP Evas began to move.
It shook, as though something were inside of it and trying to hammer
its way out. The copy of the Lancea Longinus was abruptly ejected from
its chest, turning to dust before it could even fall to the surface of
the LCL sea.

A white protuberance began to swell at the stump of its neck, where its
head used to be. In moments, the white fluid grew and took shape,
forming a new head. It jelled, solidifying into the unmistakable
visage of an MPE.

Two red spots, right about where eyes would have been if the Eva's head
had been built with eyes, appeared, glittering lights on the dark
surface of the mecha. The Eva shuddered, a ripple going over its
surface. It finally stood up quickly, raising its arms above its head
in triumph. The rock that had been its skin cracked and began to fall
off, only to morph into white-and-black flesh before it could do so.

The red lights died off, vanishing back within the Eva. The machine
looked around, studying its surroundings. Its movements were already
smooth and powerful, as though it had been doing this for years
already.

The Eva raised its head up into the air, looking at the sky. Its mouth
opened and it growled quietly to itself. As it did this, its back
expanded, spreading out like a liquid and forming a pair of wings, of
metal given the shape of feathers. The Eva paused, looking at the wings
as though it had never seen them before. Then, with some hesitation,
it flapped them, seeing that, despite their thin construction, they
were, in fact, strong enough to bear its weight.

Satisfied with this new development, the Eva rose up out of the LCL it
stood in, the wind from its wings causing waves of the fluid to spread
outwards as it gained altitude.

Once it was high enough for its tastes, the MP Eva shifted direction
and began to glide, riding on air currents as it sought out its target.

* * *

Days later, Shinji was watching the skies carefully, his eyes probing
for a sign, any sign, of the impending arrival.

The Americans had given them a communicator just before they'd loaded
onto their helicopters and departed for the aircraft carrier waiting
for them off the coast. A few moments ago, that communicator had gone
off, alerting them that an air drop was coming in. Excitement had
visibly rippled through everyone listening. Most of them had run off
immediately, to watch the appropriate direction for the incoming plane.

Yet although everyone else was free to focus on coming arrival of the
plane, Shinji found he could not. His thoughts refused to focus,
refused to just _shut_up_.

^So...Touji will probably be marrying Hikari,^ he was thinking. ^He
tries to act tough in front of us, but I think he really cares for her.
He'll do the right thing.^ Shinji smiled, happy for his friend. But
it only lasted a moment, before his thoughts turned somewhere else.

^Then what about Asuka?^ he thought. ^Kensuke suggested we were ready
for the next step...whatever that step is,^ he thought, reviewing the
comments of his friends, both the moral and the perverted ones. ^But
am _I_ ready? No...no, I decided on this.^

An image flashed before him, of Rei's face as she gingerly touched his
face.

^No...I'm just not ready yet.^

Another image, this one of Asuka smiling at him as he'd left Rei on the
hospital cot.

^Still...maybe I should have talked it over with Asuka, before
deciding. Is _she_ ready? I can't tell with her. Wait a minute.
Does that mean that if she's ready, I'd go through with...whatever the
next step is, just to keep from offending her? Is that what's right?^

He shook his head. He knew that it _wasn't_ the right thing, to just
go along with what the stronger person said. But he also knew it would
be hard _not_ to do that. He looked back up to the sky, hoping that
would clear his head.

It was then that he noticed it: a black dot in the sky, slowly closing
the distance. He wasn't certain he saw it at first, and he didn't want
to let himelf get excited over something that could easily be a speck
of dust.

But then the silhouette had enlarged, growing until it was quite
obviously a plane. It wasn't much; it was using twin prop engines to
move. But it was still flying, and it looked big enough to carry a
signficant amount of cargo.

People around Shinji visibly relaxed at the sight. Tension flowed out
of them, as the plane closed the distance. No cheers broke out, or
even much talking; everyone was just too relieved to see that the
Americans were living up to their promises. That, and that it _was_ in
fact a plane, and not...something else.

Slowly, the plane closed in, staying high. It banked slightly,
correcting its course as it headed for the encampment. Shinji nodded
to himself.

He was distracted slightly by a glint of sunlight in his eyes.
Shielding his eyes, he looked up in the direction of the offending
glare...

...and was promptly shocked stiff.

^No...it wouldn't be...it couldn't be...^

But, there it was; another white, winged form. It had been previously
hiding in the sun, and was only now coming out of its cover. As it had
started moving, the light had reflected off of its wings.

^I didn't even know it was there...^ Shinji thought. He watched,
feeling his heart crawl up his throat as he watched it move. Even
though he knew it was an Eva, it was different watching this one move.
Because he had no idea of what it was going to do. It was completely
under its own control. And worse, its brother had been trying to
destroy them, or so it had seemed.

No one else had noticed the new arrival. They were too busy looking at
the plane to notice the Eva floating in the sky. Shinji opened his
mouth to shout at them to get to cover, but no words came out. His
vocal cords appeared to have failed.

Shinji looked up at the plane, to see if it was going to take _some_
kind of evasive action. But its pilot just kept going in a straight
line, oblivious to the danger.

As though following Shinji's gaze, the MP Eva swooped in towards the
plane. Finally, a shout escaped Shinji's throat.

"No!" he yelled, as though trying to command the mecha. "Leave it
alone! Go away! Go _AWAY_!!"

But the mecha didn't listen. It came in low, soaring just over the
plane, travelling in the opposite direction. _Now_, everyone else
began to notice it. Panic replaced relief in the space of a heartbeat.
The pilot of the plane also responded, pulling up and trying to bank
away from the continent in the hopes that the Eva would leave him
alone.

But the hope was futile. The Eva did a quick one-eighty, then came up
behind the plane, matching its speed and heading. Moving as though it
were underwater, it settled down just above the plane, and set its
hands onto the craft's wings. For a moment, nothing happened, though
Shinji could imagine the pilot already knew he was dead.

The Eva clenched its hands and pulled, tearing the plane's wings off
with a single motion. Roaring, it dropped the tattered wings and rose
into the air, watching coldly as what remained of the cargo plane
dropped like a rock, crash-landing on dry land, not far from the
coastline to the sea of LCL. Shinji winced as the thunderous crash
roared through the air, mirrored shortly thereafter by the Eva's
victorious roar.

He tore his eyes off the flying mech, looking down to try and order the
people around him to run for cover. But that wasn't necessary; they'd
all bolted already. Shinji took that as his cue to leave. He turned
and ran.

^Only thing I was ever good at, running away,^ he thought. ^It's
suicide to fight, but...I'm running away, letting the burden fall on
other people's shoulders...^

^Ayanami...and Kaoru-kun..." he continued, in his thoughts. ^You
probably know already. Good luck.^

* * *

Rei and Kaoru not only knew already, they were in motion. Riding on
Eva-00's shoulders, they were making good time across the landscape.

"Of all the times..." Kaoru muttered to himself. No response came from
Rei on the other shoulder.

"We may stand a better chance, though, Rei," Kaoru said, trying to
keep up his own confidence. "I've been practicing over the past few
days. I think I can control the Eva to a more complete extent, now.
Maybe it's just a matter of experience."

Rei still said nothing. Her eyes only glanced down, to the circular
dent in Unit-00's chest armor. It had shown signs that it was
regenerating, but this was just coming too soon. She also looked to
her arm, still stuck in a cast. The American doctor had said it would
have to stay that way for several weeks.

^And it has barely been a week, now,^ she thought. ^We did not have to
fend off attacks this frequently, even before Third Impact.^

Their target came into sight. Unit-00 halted, as Kaoru commanded it to
lower them to the ground. Riding down in one of its palms, Rei looked
at the MP Eva. It was flying around lazily, gliding on thermals from
the ground.

"It's looking for something," Kaoru called out, jogging over to stand
next to her. In front of them, Unit-00 stood to its full height, its
head rotating to track the other Eva's movements.

"How do you know?" Rei asked.

"I'm looking through Unit-00's eye," Kaoru said, pointing to his own
eyes. "It's amazing...I know I couldn't do that before."

Rei nodded. The new development was interesting, but this was not the
time to investigate scientific phenomena.

"We can't reach it from here," Kaoru commented. "It's just too high.
We'll have to wait for it to land somewhere before we can destroy it."

"The last Eva seemed indifferent to attacking, until something angered
it," Rei commented. "We must not go in expecting a fight. Perhaps it
can be avoided."

Kaoru glanced at her. "Avoided? Perhaps. But the most efficient way
would just be to destroy it, correct?"

Rei said nothing. ^Perhaps so, Kaoru-san...but if this one's abilities
are similar to the last MP Eva's, your control will not be enough. We
would have to use the Dummy plug...^

Shinji's words again echoed in her head. ^I don't want you to use the
Dummy plug ever again!^

Rei shook her head. "Why give up an advantage?" she muttered to
herself. "I cannot understand you, Ikari-kun..."

"What was that?" Kaoru asked.

Rei decided that now was not the time to be discussing these matters
with Kaoru. As such, she conveniently changed the subject. "The Eva
appears to be landing, Kaoru-san."

And indeed it was. It landed not far from where Unit-00 stood, just
outside of the rubble that had once been Tokyo-2. Its wings retracted
into its body, and it lumbered around slowly, its head jerking back and
forth rapidly. Kaoru could also see what passed for nostrils flaring
on its nose, almost as though it was searching for a scent.

"Let's go meet our visitor," Kaoru said, taking up a jog as Unit-00
began slowly walking towards the Eva. Rei paused, deciding if this
was a good idea or not, then jogged after the boy, her left arm holding
her right in an attempt to keep it steady.

As they reached the site, the MP Eva apparenly found what it had been
looking for: the crater dug up by the final blast of the last MP Eva.
The white mech moved slowly, its wings twitching, threatening to deploy
out of its back. It got down on its hands and knees and sniffed the
dirt at the bottom of the crater. Its snout pushed around some of the
leftover debris; some charred circuitry and a few scraps of metal were
all that remained.

As Kaoru and Rei reached the site, the Eva threw its head back and
howled. The sound was disturbing, being loud enough to shake their
very bones, yet shrill enough to hurt their ears.

^It sounds...mournful,^ Rei thought. ^Does it know the other MP Eva
was killed there? Does this disturb it?^

The Eva stood up quickly, looking around. Its nostrils flared again.
As its eyeless gaze trailed over Unit-00, it paused. Almost casually,
it held out its hand and willed an AT field into existence. It then
shoved the field forwards, towards its blue-colored counterpart.

Kaoru didn't even have the time to react. Before he knew what was
happening, he, Rei, and Unit-00 were all thrown off their feet by an
powerful, invisible force.

Kaoru got to his feet quickly, the blow having not been meant to kill,
only to push away. Rei and Unit-00, however, were much slower. The
Eva was taking its time, Kaoru having to divide his attention between
keeping his own balance and controlling the mech. Rei, for her part,
was trying to get up without disturbing her injured arm.

^So the Eva is still just as fast,^ Rei thought. ^And ours...is still
inept at combat maneuvering.^ She finally succeeded in getting her
legs under her and standing up again. She checked her arm, making sure
it wasn't injured any further.

The white Eva suddenly shook. It went to one knee and hunched over,
its hands clutching the top of its head as though in great pain. Its
mouth opened in a silent scream, as it shook even more.

Then, it happened: colors flowed across its surface, like small tides
moving in defiance of the law of gravity. The colors' shifting
movements slowed quickly, but as they did so, the coloration of the Eva
changed. White armor changed to black, and the black panels changed to
a shade of pink. Its arms also became a bit more gangly, lengthening
to the point where they were slightly out of proportion with the rest
of the mech.

"Interesting..." Kaoru commented. "What just happened?"

Rei said nothing, not even to acknowledge Kaoru's question. She had no
idea why the mech would change its coloration, apparently surprising
itself as much as them.

The Eva stood, looking at its hands and noting their new color. Then
it grinned and turned towards the city, trotting over the terrain with
a ground-eating stride.

"It's threatening the others," Kaoru said. "I'm going to try and stop
it."

He looked to Unit-00, which immediately regained its balance and took
off, sprinting after the other Eva.

Kaoru grit his teeth at the effort this was taking. Unit-00 was
definitely more responsive to his commands, now, but he apparently
still had his limits. At least it could run now, instead of lumbering
around like a drunkard.

Unit-00 closed the distance quickly, spreading its arms in preparation
for a grappling move on the enemy. As the gap narrowed, Rei watched,
carefully. Something was wrong with the change the MPE had just
undergone; she just hadn't figured it out, yet.

Unit-00 launched itself at the other Eva. The MP Eva halted, turned
around quickly to face its lunging opponent, and _moved_. Quickly.
Its arm lashed out, fingers digging into Unit-00's chest as the blue
Eva came down. Its arm flexed with the weight, dropping Unit-00 back
to its feet even as it tightened its grip. Kaoru cringed, as some of
the pain was transmitted to him through his link with the machine.

Rei finally realized what was worrying her about the MPE.

^With that new color scheme, the MP Eva bears a significant resemblance
to - ^

The MP Eva's arm stretched. Extending to over five times its ordinary
length, it shoved Unit-00 backwards while maintaining its hold on the
blue Eva's chest.

^ - Unit-03,^ Rei finished.

The MP Eva let go, finally, letting Unit-00 fall on its back. Its arm
retracted, going back to its previous length. The MPE clenched its
fist, as though checking to make sure it still worked. Grinning, it
turned back to the camp.

"Get the Eva back to its feet," Rei said, starting to run after the
other Eva, if only to keep it in sight.

"I'm trying..." Kaoru said, as Unit-00 picked itself up off the ground.
He took off after Rei.

Rei!" he called out, catching up to her. "That machine had very little
trouble stopping Unit-00, and it doesn't even seem concerned with
fighting it."

"But it is still a threat," Rei replied, choosing her words to best
conserve her breath while running.

"Yes," Kaoru responded. "So why don't you activate the Dummy plug in
Unit-00? That would give us a better chance."

Rei remained silent.

"Rei?" Kaoru asked, glancing at her.

"I...I cannot," Rei said, looking at the ground as she dashed over it.

"But...why?"

Rei didn't answer. She just couldn't get Shinji's words out of her
head: ^Never ever! Do you understand?!^

^Yes, I do understand...sir...^ Rei thought, in response. ^But why
does hearing that still make me feel angry? Just because I think that
I am correct? Perhaps if I had more time to think the subject over...^

* * *

Touji, much like everyone else, was running. When he'd seen the MP Eva
take its first steps towards the town, he'd grabbed Hikari and run his
ass off.

Hikari, for her part, was doing her best to keep up. One hand was
supporting her ever-growing abdomen, while the other was clutched in
Touji's hand. The boy was holding her hand a little too tightly, but
given the circumstances, she was willing to let it slide.

Around them, dozens of other refugees were also running for their
lives. There was no order, just a raw need to survive. Some of them
were running with their loved ones, but many others had chosen the
"every man for himself" approach, abandoning everyone so they could get
away faster.

Hikari felt a swell of pride in her chest. Touji was just as athletic
as he'd always been; perhaps more so, now that he had to do physical
labor nearly every day. There was no question to if he could run
faster than her. But he was slowing himself down, putting himself at
risk, just so he knew she was safe, too.

Touji's thoughts were not running quite as deeply. Leaving Hikari
behind hadn't even crossed his mind; it had just been the only option,
the way he'd seen it. He had to get them both away from that
monster...

His stomach lurched as an enormous shadow passed under them, blotting
out the very sun for a moment. Touji was sure the temperature dropped
a few degrees, even for that split-second it took the shadow to pass.

He looked to his left and right, seeing the wide-eyed, panicked faces
on everyone else. He also saw how they were all turning away, running
in different directions. Touji, for his part, slowed. Deep down, he
could feel that he was already doomed.

He looked forwards, in time to see the MP Eva's feet crash to the
earth, no more than ten meters in front of him. The quake caused by
the rough landing shook both him and Hikari. Touji looked up...

and up...

and _up_...

Until he was finally looking at the Eva's "face". It was just a huge
_mouth_, with a set of wide lips, locked into a permanent grin. It
looked like something that belonged on a monster from a bedtime story,
not a mech. But, bedtime story or no, it was there, standing right in
front of them.

His feet refused to move. The Eva was looking directly at them, its
smile widening. He was frozen stiff. He'd heard Asuka talking about
how the MP Evas looked, and what monsters they were, _and_ he'd heard
how one had attacked. But seeing one in the flesh,
_right_in_front_of_him_, was completely different.

Acting almost entirely on instinct, he pushed Hikari away. Using the
momentum from the push, he made his feet move, starting off in the
opposite direction.

"Oh!" the girl cried out, as she stumbled away. "Touji, what - "

"Hikari. Run. Now," he said, his voice dead calm. In front of him,
the Eva watched, motionless. But the hiss and snarl of air moving in
and out of its lungs could still be heard loud and clear. Touji turned
away from Hikari and ran.

Behind him, Hikari watched his back as it shrunk with distance. She
was confused for a moment, until the Eva began to move again.

With its first step, the Eva planted its foot down right where Touji
had been a moment ago. The shockwave was enough to jolt Hikari off her
feet, making her sit down hard on the ground. The mech turned towards
the sprinting boy, and started following him.

It was clear who held the advantage; Touji was running at full tilt, so
hard he could hear his blood humming in his ears. The Eva, however,
was walking slowly, as though it had decided to go on an early-morning
stroll. Yet the Eva's stride, orders of magnitude longer than Touji's,
let the mech easily close in on the boy.

"No..." Hikari mumbled, not moving from her seat on the ground. She
raised her voice, desperation fueling her. "NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The Eva didn't listen. Even as Hikari was yelling at it, it had come
right up to Touji. While walking, it leaned down, its hand reaching
for him. Touji's blood went cold as he saw the huge black fingers
extending past him.

In a flash, the monster's fingers touched the boy. They grasped him
with the strength of metal come to life, pinning Touji's arms to his
sides and lifting him off the ground. Slowly, the MP Eva brought the
boy up, until he was level with its eyeless gaze. Touji was sure his
heart stopped, as he watched the monstrosity peer at him. Its
expression - if it could be called that - appeard similar to the
sadistic look that a child gives to a fly whose wings it has just
plucked, and is writhing helplessly in its hand.

Slowly, the MP Eva's mouth began to open, as if to consume the boy
within its hold. It finally clicked it Touji's mind that this was the
end. A scream found its way out of his throat, as he was raised even
higher into the air. He struggled at his bonds, writhing about for all
he was worth, but the Eva's grip was much too strong. It was as though
he were encased in concrete all the way up to his neck.

It was then that he made the mistake of looking down, right into the
demon-mech's maw. The beast did not move to please its appetite yet;
rather, it continued opening its mouth, wider and wider until it was
clear that it was anatomically impossible to do so any further.

Yet still it opened, jawbones cracking and twisting, the swollen gray
tongue dangling out of the dark throat until the jaws were forced apart
at a reflex angle. The horrific disfiguration continued, until the
tounge was pushed entirely out of the monster's head, falling limply on
the ground as the jaws were forced farther and farther apart.

Down in the creature's throat, a bulge appeared. The bulge was
obviously metallic, and possessed the same coloration as the Eva's new
skin. It thrust forwards, its girth being too much for the Eva's head
even at its current state of expansion. The Eva's head exploded into a
fountain of blood. Touji nearly retched out his guts on the spot. Now
freed, the bulge came into full view.

It was actually a new head. This one was much more humanoid in shape;
so much so, in fact, that it had a much more discernible face. Touji
stopped screaming, as he saw the face. He had only seen that face once
before, in another life.

"NO! NOT YOU AGAIN!" he screamed, in stark fear at the memory and the
present reality shown in what sat before him.

The new head had 2 white eyes, frozen in demonic intimidation, capped
by a large gray metal piece that covered the bridge of its nose.
Somehow, Touji could see recognition ignite in those eyes, as they
mirrored his own reaction in their reflective surfaces. How could that
_thing_ inside know him? It had been destroyed...

The regenerated visage of Unit-03 opened its new mouth. Its jaws were
replete with large crimson teeth, colored so as if it had recently
feasted on the living. Pink spittle dripped from its mouth, the beast
salivating in anticipation of its meal. It had devoured the boy's mind
once, and would devour this tasty morsel again, in mind, body and soul,
for all time.

Touji screamed again as the hand holding him began to lower into the
dark cavern of the Eva's mouth.

Just before he sank between the jaws, a flash of light hummed through
the air. The Eva looked down from its meal just in time to see a knife
the size of a tractor trailer plunge into its chest.

The Eva roared in pain. The Prog knife was at full charge, its blade
glowing like a minature sun as it scorched the Eva's flesh. The Eva
unclenched its fists and grabbed at the knife. In doing so, it let
Touji fall.

Touji, for his part, slammed his eyes shut and waited for the end. He
was going to die, he knew it. If not by getting eaten, then by the
impending impact with the ground. But he only fell a little further
before the world rippled around him. He felt the air suddenly lose all
velocity, the shock of it making him open his eyes.

He saw that he was still falling, but at a much more controlled
velocity. He reached a distance of no more than half a meter before
the AT field around him dissolved. He fell to the dirt with a loud
'thud'.

He rolled onto his back and looked up in time to see the treads on the
underside of Unit-00's foot pass over him. He didn't even have the
energy to curse as the foot continued on, crashing down several meters
beyond him. Its partner followed soon after, and for a moment Touji
was granted a vertical view of the blue Eva as it strode over him. As
it moved, the air rippled around it, the AT field it had been using for
a makeshift landing cushion wrapping itself back around its owner.

Unit-00's left shoulder pauldron snapped closed. Meanwhile, the black
Eva squealed in pain as it ripped the massive vibroblade out of its
body. Disgusted, it threw the weapon away. It glanced at Touji, then
turned its gaze up to Unit-00's head. Its metallic lips curled back
into a snarl, as it realized the blue Eva was going to keep getting in
its way.

The enemy Eva dropped into a combat stance, its over-long arms
spreading wide as it circled around. Unit-00 didn't let it circle, as
that would allow it to get to Touji. Instead, it bent over and
charged.

It didn't get very far. The MP Eva's arms lashed out, stretching over
the distance and grabbing onto Unit-00's shoulders. It turned quickly,
its limbs straining with the weight. Unit-00 was whipped off of its
feet and slung through the air, until the MPE finally let it go,
allowing it to crash-land hundreds of meters away. The blue Eva
tumbled across the dirty landscape, throwing up fans of dirt three
stories into the air.

Some distance away, Kaoru's breath caught, and he coughed violently,
holding his shoulders in empathic response. Breathing hard, he forced
the Eva back to its feet.

In another location, closer to the battlefield, Rei was watching.
She'd expected the Eva to turn towards Touji again after it had thrown
its attacker away, but instead, the Eva was standing there waiting,
watching its opponent move.

^It wants to make sure Unit-00 is destroyed, before it continues,^ Rei
reasoned.

Kaoru finally succeeded in getting the Eva up. The mech ran again,
covering the distance quickly. ^This time,^ Kaoru told himself. ^This
time, I am ready for the arm attack. It may be fast, but its power
comes mostly from surprise.^

The MPE's arms didn't move, though. They just hung limply at the Eva's
sides. Unit-00 didn't let up, didn't let it try and set up any kind of
trap. As soon as it was close enough, it lunged at the MPE.

It never made contact. An AT field formed under the MPE's feet,
literally blasting it off the ground and throwing it into the air like
a rag doll. Unit-00, already in midair, could not course-correct and
crash-landed again, plowing a deep rut into the ground with its face.

Unit-00 rolled over just in time to see the MPE had deployed its wings
and taken control of its flight. The wings were unaffected by the
altered coloration of the MPE, and remained pure white in color,
highlighting the drastic changes to the Eva. The wings swept back, and
the MPE dove.

Kaoru knew he didn't have enough time to get Unit-00 to its feet. He
improvised quickly, raising Unit-00's AT field on the spot. The MPE
slammed into the field, sending out the glowing hexagonal pattern
across the landscape. Luckily for Kaoru, the attack didn't hit with
nearly as much force as the last MPE had used; apparently it had
been trying for an improvised tackle, instead of an all-out dive bomb.
As such, the weak AT field Kaoru could make Unit-00 generate was enough
to stop it.

Unit-00 got its legs under the MPE and kicked, shoving it away in a
tustle of feathers and limbs. The MPE retracted its wings, not wanting
to bother with them any longer. It extended one arm, touching the
ground and giving it a handhold to turn itself in midair. The MPE
succeeded in this maneuver, and landed on its feet as its arm snapped
back to its normal length. It began to advance on Unit-00, its
midnight-colored hands clenching into fists.

Kaoru nodded to himself as he saw the enemy advancing. The MPE/Unit-03
chimera of an Eva had quite obviously hav given up on assaulting humans
for now. Kaoru took advantage of the situation, making Unit-00 turn
tail and run. ^If it's focused on me, now,^ he reasoned, ^then
I can lead it away from human settlement. I just have to get some
distance, now...^

Unit-00 never made it. One of the MPE's arms lashed out, grabbing the
blue Eva's ankle and sending it face-down into the earth. The MPE
tightened its grip into iron, cutting off the circulation to that foot.
It began to retract that arm, dragging Unit-00 along with it. The MPE
growled in anticipation.

Unit-00's fingers dug into the ground, fighting the pull. But it was
like fighting gravity; the MPE was just too strong. Unit-00 only
succeeded in leaving ten long ruts in the terrain where its fingers
tried to grab.

It turned its head back and forth, looking for a better handhold.
Kaoru, looking through the Eva's optics, noticed something: the way it
was being dragged, it was going to go right past the abandoned Prog
knife! All the Eva had to do was reach that weapon, and it would have
a chance...

The knife, unfortunately, was just a _little_ too far away to reach
easily. Unit-00 reached out, its arm creaking and its body contorting
as it tried to extend its reach as far as possible. Its fingers
brushed the knife's grip.

But then, a black fist wrapped around the knife's grip, snatching it
away like a parent would wrest a toy from a disobedient child. Unit-00
rolled over, so that it was now being dragged on its back. Its
cyclopean eye looked up, in time to see the MPE's free arm retracting.
It its fist, it clutched the stolen knife. Worse, it was holding onto
it instead of throwing it away. It apparently intended to use the
knife on its very owner.

Kaoru struggled even more, doing his best to fight off the pain and
panic that were filling him. It was bad enough having to put up with
an Eva that was stronger and faster, and could fly to boot. If it had
the Prog knife, too...

Suddenly, an explosion went off in his brain. It felt as though
someone had cut his skull open with a chainsaw. The world turned to
sheer pain, his vision blurring to a flash of white. And then, the
white turned to black, as he collapsed.

^It was necessary,^ Rei told herself, glancing back at Kaoru's already-
limp form. She looked back to Unit-00, which had begun to move a
little more...aggressively.

Unit-00 rolled forwards, moving more quickly than the MPE could retract
its arm. As such, it successfully got to its feet. Its eye glowed
brightly as it charged for a third time.

The MPE could not react as it had before. Its arms were already
occupied, and its wings would not be strong enough to carry Unit-00
along with it. However, it was still able to lash out with the knife
as Unit-00 finally closed to melee distance. The Prog knife in its
free hand dug into Unit-00's abdomen, striking flesh underneath and
sending out a spray of blood that soaked both fighters.

But the MPE did not have time to relish the taste of victory.

It did not have time, because Unit-00 had attacked at the same moment
as it was being stabbed. All of the blue Eva's strength, along with
its accumulated momentum, went into a single punch, impacting in the
MPE's chest.

Unit-00's fist penetrated through the black armor-flesh of the MPE, raw
physical power making up for the lack of a cutting edge. The huge fist
pushed through the Eva's guts, before hitting and penetrating armor
again, coming out the MPE's back.

The MPE screeched in agony, as a veritable river of blood poured out of
it. It stabbed Unit-00 again and again. Unit-00 didn't seem to suffer
from the troublesome sensation of 'pain,' though. Unfazed, it grabbed
onto the MPE's knife hand with its free arm, stopping it before it
could cause more damage. It began to squeeze, both of them fighting
for supremacy.

Meanwhile, Unit-00 shoved other its arm further into the MPE, going in
past its elbow. Its hand, covered in flesh and gore, reached up,
shakily.

The MPE lost the strength contest, the pain flooding its mind making it
lose concentration. Unit-00 tore the knife out of its opponent's hand.
Meanwhile, the MPE tried to yank Unit-00 off its feet again, using the
hand that was still wrapped around its opponent's ankle. Unit-00 had
already braced itself, however, and the attempt was in vain.

Unit-00's hand reached further, finding its target. It grabbed onto
the back of the MPE's recently-grown skull, fingers digging into flesh
and bone. It pulled backwards, lifting the MPE's chin up and exposing
its neck. Unit-00 set to work, lifting up the knife and bringing it to
the exposed neck.

The MPE finally relinquished its hold on Unit-00's ankle. Its hand,
now freed, lashed up and grabbed the blue Eva's face. One of the pink
panels on its arm began to flow, as though melting. The pink fluid
crawled up the black arm, touching Unit-00's head and sinking in. Blue
armor cracked and vein-like protrusions appeared, as signs of the
invasion.

Unit-00 didn't even notice. Working blind now that the MPE's hand was
over its eye, it plunged the knife into its opponent's neck. The MPE
screamed as blood geysered out, raining down on both the Evas and the
battlefield around them.

The invasion of Unit-00 was spreading. The veins were reaching down
its neck and into its shoulders, now. But Unit-00 kept cutting,
reaching further back with the knife. It paused, as though gathering
itself, then finished it with one broad slash of unbelieveable
strength.

The MPE froze, shuddering. Then, it went limp. Unit-00 let go of the
Unit-03 copycat head, which promptly fell off the neck, landing on the
ground with a clang, accompanied by a wet squelching noise. Unit-00
viciously tore its arm out of the MPE's chest, allowing the black body
to fall to the ground. As it did so, the invasion of Unit-00 stopped,
the pink fluid hardening and breaking off as though it were glass.

Unit-00 stomped on the head as though it were a mere insect, sending
brains and teeth spraying out in all directions. Then it got down onto
its knees, straddling the downed MPE. Its opponent wasn't finished,
yet; the MPE was still twitching, its S2 organ trying desperately to
reactivate it. Unit-00's eye, unmarred by the cracked, veined
condition of the rest of its head, scanned over the MPE, searching.
Finally, it found what it was looking for. It raised the knife up into
the air, and, with one final thrust, sent the blade directly into the
MPE's guts.

The hot blade sliced through armor as though it were butter. It cut
through blood vessels, organs, and nerves, until it finally found its
target. It hit the red orb at the heart of the MPE dead-center,
cutting into it and sinking in deep. The MPE immediately exploded,
Unit-00 vanishing in the flash of light.

Rei watched, as the blast covered the whole area. Touji, Hikari, and
many others vanished in the blinding light. She closed her eyes and
shuddered at the sight.

^It needed to be done,^ she thought to herself. ^There was no way to
avoid - ^

Her thoughts were cut off as the shockwave hit her. She was pushed
down, surprised that it had been able to reach her even at this
distance. Pain flooded her, her body contorting with the sensation.
But it only lasted a second. Just as suddenly as it had come, the pain
left.

But it left a cold feeling. A cold that didn't attack from the
outside, but which had seemingly taken up residence _inside_ of her.
It felt as though her bones had turned to ice, and were slowly freezing
the rest of her, as well.

Rei looked down at herself, to see if she could do anything. This
coldness was not normal, she knew. She had to do something...

Her thoughts stopped, though, as she looked at herself. She was
glowing. Her skin had become luminescent, glowing a strong white. And
her body felt cold and lifeless.

The cold feeling finally crawled up into her brain, freezing it just as
it had frozen her bones. The world went dark, and Rei collapsed.

* * *

Not far from the shore of Japan, an AT field came into existence. It
strengthened quickly. LCL quickly responded to the commands of the
unseen controller, focusing on one point. It began to alter its
composition, sorting out its sundry particles as per what was
necessary. A depression sank into the LCL, forming a gooey, liquid
crater.

Bones formed, then hardened into a skeleton. Organs took shape, first
as globs of LCL, then becoming more discernible: a stomach, brain,
eyes, heart, and so on all soon became obvious. Bundles of fibers
spread over it all, forming muscles. Then nerves grew, tiny
capillaries growing like vines and spreading throughout the body.
Finally, skin and hair grew, spreading out in patches until they
covered the whole form.

The body's eyes opened, as the soul took command of it. And as that
happened, the depression in the LCL broke, like a bubble.

SPLASH.

* * *

Kensuke Aida was nearly panicking, as he ran over the hilly terrain.
Every few seconds, he'd look over his shoulder, at the two Evas engaged
in combat. The black one looked to be impaled on Unit-00's arm, but
somehow, it was still moving.

^Oh, man,^ he thought. ^I thought this day was going to be a step _up_
in life! Then we get a plane crash, and an Eva fight. I hope
everyone's OK...^

He was cut off by a boom of thunder, reminiscent of one he'd heard just
a week ago. He turned around, just in time to see the billowing
mushroom cloud and the flash of blinding light that signified an Eva's
death.

His pulse accelerated. ^Did we win?^ he thought. ^Please tell me that
other Eva didn't beat us...^

Finally, the smoke cleared enough to show one of the mechs was still
standing. As the dust settled, the blurry outline of the mech became
more distinct, until it became apparent that Unit-00 was still
standing.

He let out a sigh of relief, as the blue mech stepped back from the
blast crater. It had obviously taken some damage in the battle;
Kensuke could see the cracked armor on its head and shoulders, even at
this distance.

He watched as Unit-00 powered down once more. ^I hope everyone's OK,^
he thought. ^But still, I managed to see the Evas up close...^

He looked up, blinking and staring at the sky. ^The Eva came from the
sky, just like the last one...I wonder if we'll be seeing anything else
from that direction?^

He remembered the time he'd watched Unit-01 fight that flying monster.
He'd thought it would be cool to see that, but instead it had been one
of the most frightening experiences of his life. Seeing another Eva
fight drift right into what had become his home had been no less
frightening. He felt ashamed for having run away, but he hadn't wanted
to stay around.

He was still a little shaken. He needed to clear his mind. He turned
and started walking away from the camp. It was a good twenty-minute
walk, but he made it to the coast of the sea of LCL. There, he sat
down. He looked out over the orange surface, and let out a brief sigh.

^I wonder how many people would actually come back, anyway?^ he
thought, mentally changing the subject off of Evas. ^Half? A third?
I dunno...kinda makes you wonder how many people would choose the easy
way, fantasy or not...^

His lips curled into a faint smile as he remembered the glimpse of
_his_ perfect world. He'd been the commander of an elite squadron of
giant mechs. None of his men had ever died under his expert command,
and they'd defended Tokyo...

He leaned back, lying on the ground and crossing his hands behind his
head. ^Yeah, that was nice,^ he thought. ^But I knew it was a dream.
Just took me a while to want to wake up from it.^

His thoughts were interrupted by a barely audible noise, of someone
crying out in pain.

He sat up quickly, straightening his glasses and looking out over the
landscape. A while back, he might have just passed the noise off as a
figment of his imagination, but caring for Hikari had taught him
otherwise. He'd soon become proficient at picking up on every little
moan and groan from the girl. And now, he was hearing someone else...

His eyes panned around, until it: a girl, lying face-down in the sand,
seemingly having ridden in on the tide.

Kensuke jumped to his feet and ran down to the beach, fighting for
balance. He stumbled on a rock and finally fell, tumbling onto the
beach in a storm of sand and whirling limbs. He got up quickly,
dusting himself off and readjusting his glasses. He jogged out to the
LCL tide.

As he got closer, he became more assured that he wasn't seeing things.
Someone was _really_there_. Maybe she'd...just returned, from the
LCL...

He knew he had to do something; he knew how it felt to come back. You
were left tired, disoriented, dizzy, and above all, lonely. It was a
necessary side effect of leaving a collective consciousness, choosing
individuality instead of safety.

The girl was only barely moving, having still not come out of her face-
down position in the sand. In addition, she was naked. Kensuke did
his best not to look where he shouldn't, but it was difficult. To keep
her warm, as well as to make it easier to keep his hormones in check,
he shucked off his jacket and slung it over her.

The girl shuddered at the contact, her hands clenching weakly into
fists. She levered herself up onto her forearms, exposing her face to
the air. Looking at her, Kensuke guessed that she was actually about
his age. He'd first thought she was much older, since her hair was
almost pure white.

The girl tried to breathe, and quickly found that it was very hard to
breath _air_ when your lungs were full of _LCL_. She choked and
spluttered, eventually figuring out the trick to it and coughing up the
fluid in her lungs. She finally took a breath, shivering as the cold
air flowed into her. Unconsciously, she pulled Kensuke's jacket
tighter around her.

She blinked a moment later, her brow furrowing. She released the
jacket, letting it fall open and forcing Kensuke to look away. She
looked at her hands.

They were just ordinary hands for a teenage girl; the skin was slightly
tanned, but also smooth and unblemished. She flexed her hands, turning
them over to look at the backs, then over again to see the palms.

Kensuke risked a glance down at her, to see what she was doing. He was
a little hesitant to look too far down, but he managed to see the
relieved smile on the girl's face.

The girl laughed, a ringing, melodious sound. She rolled over onto her
back, staring at the sky and still laughing. She held her arms up in
triumph. Then, she started studying her arms, as though she'd never
seen them before.

Kensuke figured he'd better do something about this, just so she didn't
go crazy on him. He knelt down next to her. "Hey, there..." he said,
slowly.

The girl jumped at his voice, rolling away from him and trying to get
to her feet. Her body, however, was still weak, and could not support
the move. So instead of running, she collapsed back down onto her
face.

Kensuke averted his eyes again; with that rolling move, she'd left his
jacket behind. He decided to let it be for a moment, at least until
she stopped trying to get away. He moved over to her and lightly
touched her back. The girl squirmed, but was unable to run.

"Hey, hang on, calm down," he said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl finally stopped struggling. She turned, looking up at him.
Recognition flickered over her face. Kensuke also finally got a good
look at her eyes: they were colored a deep pink. That in itself was
odd, but he decided to let it slide, for now.

"Hey, can you understand Japanese?" he asked. He mentally reviewed the
other languages he'd studied in school, wishing he'd paid more
attention in those classes.

The girl nodded slowly, her smile widening again. "Lilum..." she
said, slowly. She coughed, her eyes widening as she heard her own
voice. "Lilum..." she said again, more confidently. Her smile
widened, revealing perfect teeth.

"Is that your name?" Kensuke asked, pulling his hand back and trying
his best to keep his calm. ^Just my luck if she came back stoned,^ he
thought, remembering her actions up to this point.

The girl shook her head. "A...Ah..." she said, trying to get her
tongue to work right.

"Ah..." Kensuke repeated, trying to encourage her. "C'mon, at least
tell me your name."

"Ah...Air..."

Kensuke did his best to look supportive, seeing she was struggling to
get the words out.

The girl nodded resolutely. She took a deep breath and let it out
slowly, shivering again. Finally, through a sheer effort of will, she
forced her mouth and vocal cords to work correctly.

"Ar...Arael..."

------------------------------ ----------------------------------------
Endnote: Yes, that _is_ who you think it is. I'd suggest you read the
side story to this one.

Don't worry, I'll be telling you more of the aftermath of this mech
fight in the next chapter. I just wanted to end this chapter on a high
note.
-------------------------------------------------------- --------------
Started: May 5, 2001
Version 1 Ended: May 27, 2001
Version 2 Ended: June 12, 2001

Send comments to: otakusadist@hotmail.com
And visit my site: http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/shinjirei

Thank you, Avatar of Dragonia, Heavyarms Kai, and Judging Eagle, for
prereading my fic. Thank you especially Judging Eagle, for giving me
the idea for the title of this chapter. Also an extra thanks goes to
Avatar of Dragonia, for having given me suggestions for so many things
I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.