Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Heaven and Hell ❯ When Children Spread Angel Wings ( Chapter 7 )

Manga - Addicts Presents:
Heaven and Hell
Revelations 0:7 - When Children Spread Angel Wings

HTML version 09 May 2008

Neon Genesis Evangelion created by, registered, and copyrighted to GAINAX, Project EVA, Movic, and any other company and/or division associated with the creation and/or production of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A.D.Vision holds the copyrights to the English version of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

This work of fiction is not intended for any commercial purposes but was created for the entertainment of the Author and Fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

No copyright infringement was in any way intended.

Heaven and Hell written by Jino Turtlegod

Pre-Read by Kyo Tetsuei, Raymond Ryckman

M Rating. For mature readers only. Some scenes, themes, language, and situations are not suitable for younger readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Revelations 0:7 - When Children Spread Angel Wings

Only the stars and the moon gave light to the forest; beyond the mountains, the huge fortress city was blanketed in darkness. Birds flew shrieking from their roosts on a hill as the hum of large machines could be heard. Trees and boulders moved aside as the hillside parted to reveal a hidden tunnel. A loud rushing noise could be heard as two Evangelion platforms raced towards the entrance. The platforms slammed to a stop at the end of the gigantic rail tracks, the Evangelions still safely locked in a horizontal position in their respective cages.

Kensuke saw a flash and he screamed a warning as he forced his EVA to break apart its restraints. He made his EVA roll away from the tunnel which soon exploded in a blinding light.

Henri's eyes bugged out as his mouth opened to make a scream that he never even began. The cage broke apart like fragile bamboo and Henri's EVA was thrown back into the tunnel.

"Energy surge detected from target! Blood type pattern: Blue, confirmed! Angel logged as Angel 20!" Lt. Antoinette St. Croix shouted excitedly.

"Pilot Montblanc is unconscious, EVA-31's damage is within tolerance," Lt. Miyuki Kata reported in a calmer, more professional tone.

Col. Makoto Hyuga gritted his teeth as he saw Unit 31 thrown back into the tunnel. Kensuke's Unit 15 had deployed its cannon and was looking around for the target, the hillside behind it a blazing inferno .

"Close the tunnel route and seal all internal gates!!" Col. Hyuga shouted, the last thing he wanted was for the Angel to have free access into the Geofront.

"Where the Hell is it?! I can't see it!!" Kensuke Aida's voice cried in anger through the communicator. "It's supposed to be in front of me!! Where is it?!"

Makoto looked at the main radar. It showed a blue blip right in front of a red blip. The blue one was the Angel and should be visible to the EVAs. Unfortunately, there was nothing in front of the EVA's ocular cameras except the trees colored red by the fire.

"Just shoot in front of you!" Makoto commanded.

Growling, Kensuke started firing into the trees, hoping that he would hit something-- anything.

000

Misato saw a bright flash of light some distance from the city as she drove her car into the underground highway into the Geofront. She drove faster, knowing that the battle had been joined.

Juno saw the bright light, and she suddenly felt irrational fear. She began to pray, not that she really believed in it, rather because her aunt had trained her since childhood to pray during times of doubt and trouble.

Yuri saw the bright light, and she grinned, knowing that she will be fighting soon. She was in the mood for a bit of violence.

Allen saw the bright light, and he felt nothing.

000

Shinji and Asuka ran out of the building as the attack sirens finally stopped. They had pulled on heavy jackets over their sleeping clothes as they ran. A bright light appeared on the horizon, and they knew that the fight had already begun. Moments later the thunder of the gunfire reached them.

Asuka felt a premonition of doom pass over her. A cold shiver ran down body, the same sensation she normally felt in the presence of an Absolute Terror Field.

She blinked as she noticed something. She stopped her hand, which had unconsciously gotten closer to Shinji's. Asuka looked down at her hand then at Shinji, who was looking far away. Asuka frowned then drew her hand back to her side.

"Now what, Third Children?" she asked gruffly, her eyes averted to a side. Shinji winced at her tone, but there was no helping it, Asuka is Asuka.

"We--" Shinji grabbed at the front of his shirt as he suddenly felt as if his heart had been squeezed. He wheezed noticeably and tears came to his eyes.

"Shinji!!" Asuka cried out, her hands darted out to hold him up by the shoulders.

"I- I felt something call to me," he was able to moan out as he sank to his knees. "It wants me to come to it."

Asuka followed Shinji's gaze right into the heart of Tokyo-3, at the moon reflected on the blue waters of the lake which was the center of Tokyo-3.

000

Kensuke screamed in defiance as a bolt of energy slammed right through his AT Field and into his EVA. His EVA was pushed back by the energy bolt, the EVA's heels ripped up the ground, the EVA's chest armor began to crack. Kensuke resisted the urge to fall on his back and Unit 15 obeyed, staying on its feet, smoke trails scattered away and behind it. Kensuke squinted in pain, trying to find the invisible enemy. The energy bolt had come out of thin air. He caught his breath while red warnings came on-line to tell him that his EVA was heavily damaged.

On a hunch, he fired and saw the orange concentric hexagons as the cannon shell struck an AT Field. Kensuke smiled in relief before dodging an energy bolt on instinct. He fired his last shot and saw sparks fly once more.

"The bastard's invisible," Kensuke reported the obvious. He threw away the empty cannon and drew the progressive knife from his left shoulder fin. The blade extended from the hilt and glowed as it vibrated. "Shit. This is going to be complicated."

000

They ran down the street towards the center of the city.

Asuka skidded to halt outside a locked bicycle shop.

Shinji ran past her and had to double back. "What is it?"

"You know how to ride a bike?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"Good." Asuka smirked as she took out her gun and blew the lock off the store's door.

000

Maya and most of the staff jumped as a blue car roared into the control theater, its tires screeched against the floor as it tried to stop. "Misato?"

Misato jumped out of the car and ran to the elevator that would take her to the control deck. Juno, Yuri and Allen stumbled out of the car and looked at the main monitor. Kensuke's Unit 15 was firing at something they can't see. Henri's Unit 31 was nowhere to be seen. As one, the Children ran to the locker rooms.

"Is Shinji here?" Misato cried out as she stepped onto the control deck. She was about to scold Makoto for launching the EVAs without her authority before she remembered that he outranked her now.

"No. Most likely he and Asuka are trapped in a shelter somewhere," Hyuga replied as he took a step back to relinquish command to Misato.

"Get Unit 01 prepped! Contact Section 2 and get them to locate Shinji and bring him here! What's the situation?" Misato directed the question to Maya as the control officers did her bidding.

"The Angel is using a Dirac's Sea to capture and bend light, it's invisible to everything except our high-end radar. Unit 31 is down and the pilot is unconscious but unharmed. We're trying to use the life-support to revive him by remote," Maya reported, a bit perturbed that she sounded like Dr. Akagi - that is; too cold and impersonal.

Misato nodded in understanding. "Units 32, 30 and 40 are to be deployed. Prep Units 02 and 17, they are to be given deployment priority when Asuka and Hikari arrive."

"Negative on 02, the damage it suffered during the retrieval operation was greater than that received by Unit 40. It would suffer feedback problems once activated." Lt. Miyuki reported.

"Which could get the pilot killed..." Misato muttered. Her heart jumped into her throat as the gray Unit 15 took a hit in the chest. The EVA counter-attacked and hit the enemy with a knife thrust that rebounded off the Angel's AT Field. She breathed in relief. Kensuke seemed to have a lot of fight still left in him.

000

Shinji panted as he pedaled the bike. It was a mountain racer, just like the one he had on the farm, so he had no problem driving it. The only difficulty he had was with the redhead riding behind him.

"Pedal faster!" Asuka shouted into his ear as her long hair streamed from under her red helmet and flapped in the wind.

"I am!" Shinji shouted back as he used a hand to adjust his blue helmet to keep his bangs out of his eyes. `I need a haircut.' He quickly returned his hand to the handlebars. "Lean to the left."

"OK!" Asuka responded as she felt their old synchronicity come into effect. They began to act like a unit, one mind with two bodies. They cut the corner at breakneck speed that would have ended in disaster for anybody else.

"We're going to jump!" Shinji cried out as they approached the hill's downward slope. He felt Asuka nod, her grip tightened on his shoulders, the shift of her weight to even out with his. Then they were flying.

Shinji felt exhilaration at the familiar feeling. The feeling of becoming one with...

"Watch it!" Asuka screamed at the bike shook as Shinji lost control for a moment as they landed.

"Sorry!" Shinji glowered at the road in front of him as he regained control. He felt Asuka roll her eyes behind him.

"Pull over," Asuka whispered into his ear, her breath and warm lips tickled his ear.

"Wha-?!" He stopped the bike by the curb and looked at her. He found it hard to breathe. He could feel her racing heartbeat. He could feel the sweat covering her body. Even though she had turned away from him and her hair obscured her face, he knew she was blushing. He felt everything that she was feeling! As he sat on the saddle and watched as she walked over to a nearby wall, he wondered if she could feel what he was feeling.

"This is an emergency gate," Asuka pulled open a panel that revealed a card swipe and a numeric keypad. She still had her back turned towards Shinji. That time on the bike as she whispered in his ear, she had been tempted to kiss him. As Asuka placed her card at the top of the slot, her hand trembled a bit.

"ASUKA!" Shinji screamed.

Asuka gasped as Shinji threw himself at her as the building across the street exploded. Shinji wrapped his arms protectively around her as they slammed into the wall.

"Shinji..." her eyes were wide as she looked at the building on the other side of the street.

The boy followed her gaze and he looked at the huge feet of the EVA that stuck out from the ruins.

"That's Kensuke's..." Asuka gasped out as Shinji still held her in a protective embrace.

They looked at each other. Without hesitation they pulled Asuka's card through the slot.

000

Henri moaned and clutched his head as he regained consciousness. All he remembered was a bright flash and something burning on his chest.

"Henri! Get up! Kensuke's in trouble!" Henri heard a voice from the communication link. "Proceed to Tokyo-3 immediately!!"

"What?" Henri asked, still disoriented. "Where?"

"SNAP OUT OF IT PILOT!" Henri was suddenly awake as he recognized Misato's voice screaming over the Comm link. "Unit 31 is to proceed to Tokyo-3 and engage the enemy!"

"Yes, Sir!!" Henri yelped back as he manipulated his EVA to a standing position as the route entrance re-opened. Henri took a deep breath before he ejected the power plug and made his EVA run out into the night.

000

"Units 30, 32 and 40 are green and ready for deployment and are awaiting orders," Lt. Miyuki reported to Misato as Allen, Juno, and Yuri's respective EVAs came on-line.

"Unit 32 and 40 are to be deployed by Route 27, Unit 30 is to remain on standby." Misato looked at the main monitor, knowing that they can see the Angel on their scanners but they can't see it without it. "Feed main radar view to all units. Get the MAGI to generate the Angel's appearance from radar data, then over-lay it on the EVA's monitors!"

"Hmm... Yes that will work," Maya was impressed with Misato's plan, the woman's tactical genius was one of the reasons that they lived through the First Wave. However, all plans tend to hit a snag. "Unfortunately, the pilots will only be given a general position of the target. We still can't get a fix on its size and shape. The Angel is using a weak EMP pulse that hinders our ability to gather more useful data."

"And if the pilots start shooting blindly with cannons," Makoto interjected, "We will have a very damaged city."

"..." Misato became thoughtful, "No use destroying a city we just rebuilt... Deploy progressive lances."

"Hand to hand combat with an enemy we can't see?" Makoto asked, "Is that wise?"

"Got any better ideas... Sir?" Misato replied sarcastically, forgetting for a moment that she was now the subordinate.

"The Chief Pilot has just accessed Entry Point 08D!" Lt. St. Croix announced.

"Well..." Makoto started, still red from the sarcasm in his former superior's voice.

000

Yuri was raring to go. She could feel the bloodlust starting, fueled by the desire to get some payback for her brother and the nasty abdominal pains she was feeling. She looked around, making the EVA turn its head in synch with her movements. Units 30 and 32 were beside her Unit 40, all were powered up and ready to go, but because of legal precautions, only four Evangelions are allowed to be active from any base at any time. Allen's Unit 30 has been ordered to remain on standby because of his lower synch ratio.

"What's happening?" Yuri asked as the platform of Juno's Unit 32 was moved from the elevator and returned to the hangar area.

"I just got orders to remain on standby too," Juno said incredulously, her image on the mini screen was confused. "Unit 01 is to take point position."

"You mean the new pilot?" Yuri asked, "Kensuke and Hikari said he's impressive. But he doesn't look much, and his EVA's ugly."

Unit 32's platform stopped and a new platform, bearing a purple and blue Evangelion, replaced its position on the elevator. Unit 01 looked different from the latter model Evangelions. Its head had a backplate to protect its neck and a horn in front with no apparent purpose. Instead of a one piece chest armor, Unit 01's chest armor was doubled, with the second layer separated into two pieces protecting each side of the chest that left the middle of the chest protected only by the primary layer.

"Units 01 and 40, prepare for launch!" a mini screen appeared with Misato's image. "Unit 01 will take the point, Unit 40 will serve as backup."

"Backup?!" Yuri protested, unable to believe that a has-been pilot was upstaging her. "But- but he's out of shape! It's been two years since he piloted! I should be on point!"

"Yuri," Misato said in her scolding tone. She glared at Yuri until the young girl gave in. Satisfied that Yuri had accepted her fate, Misato gave the order; "Launch!"

000

"What am I doing here?" Shinji thought as he felt his EVA come to life. The familiar sensations coming back. The faint tingling of his cranial transmitters, the tightness of the plug suit over his body, the warm liquid sensation of the LCL... and the desire to run away. "I am not supposed to be here. I should be back on my farm. I should be raising vegetables and flowers. My watermelons are just about ready."

He felt his consciousness expand as he synchronized with the man-made
Beast. He felt stronger, and in a sense, more alive. It was as if he became complete, as something that he had discarded years ago consumed him. And he hated himself for liking it.

Shinji felt a tug as Unit 01 was catapulted towards the surface.

"Too late... mustn't run away," Shinji muttered.

000

"Unit 01 is green, what the--" Lt. Kata reported. "Unit 01's synchro ratio is bordering on eighty percent, 3 points below Pilot Soryu's max average"

"He's not concentrating enough." Maya said with a smile. She cocked her head to a side to listen to a control officer. "Misato, Pilot Horaki has been secured and is now in transit."

"Colonel, we can't wait for her." Makoto removed his glasses and calmly wiped them clean.

"I understand." Misato looked at the screen which showed Shinji inside his entry plug.

`The Angels have returned. We will need everything to win. Even against God's wishes, we must win.' Misato thought to herself as she fondled the crucifix hanging from her neck. `For ourselves.'

000

"Unit 40 ready to backup Unit 01," Yuri said in a sarcastic tone as both EVA platforms slammed to a stop on the surface, several blocks from each other. Yuri looked at her black monitors, which showed flashing signs saying: Connection Lost. "Um, I can't see a damn thing. Will someone give me my visuals."

A sudden explosion near her shook the EVA in its cage. Yuri became nervous as successive explosions rocked the cage. Yuri waited for several seconds before turning on her ocular cameras manually. The monitors blinked to life, showing the empty cityscape around her. Thick black smoke came from the ruins of Unit 01's cage. Yuri looked around for Unit 01 but failed to find it.

"Where's Unit 01?" Yuri asked. "Did it get vaporized?" She reflexively ducked her head as a bright flash of light illuminated the dark city, followed by thundering explosions. Yuri looked up and her eyes widened in disbelief. Above her were two figures shrouded in flashing lights, one was a white and black shape with multiple extensions, the other one was purple with neon green highlights. They were grappling with each other, claws tried to rip into each other, each hit produced a bright flare of energy from both as claws struck AT Fields.

Yuri saw the Angel take hold of Unit 01's hands, forcing its arms out as if crucifying it. A bright flash of light lanced out of the Angel and struck Unit 01's AT Field, breaking through it to hit the EVA dead on the chest at the same moment that the Angel let go of Unit 01's arms. The EVA fell from the sky and landed on some buildings on the other side of the lake. The Angel disappeared in a shimmer of light.

Yuri screamed in terror.

000

"Angel's ECM jamming intensifying!! Sir, we've lost all contact with all four Evangelions!" Lt. Antoinette St. Croix reported.

"All of our scanners, cameras, and relay stations within a ten klick radius of ground zero are jammed. Monitor and control ability is zero!" Lt. Miyuki Kata expounded.

An uncomfortable silence descended over the theater as impending doom became apparent. They were totally blind and deaf.

"AT Field is on the magnitude of the Seventeenth..." Makoto gasped out.

"Now what?" Maya asked her husband in disbelief.

"Now..." Makoto mumbled, "We pray for a miracle."

Misato remained silent, her knuckles turned white as she grasped her crucifix.

000

Yuri tried to access the MAGI13's main monitor and failed again, each time instead of displaying the MAGI's data on her screen the onboard computers kept displaying a "Connection Lost" sign. There was a time that the EVAs came with their own radar and sonar array and did not need to download such data from the MAGI supercomputers through wireless transmission. That was before someone thought it was an unnecessary waste of money and the subsequent EVA models were not fitted with personal sensor arrays and the current system was implemented. Who ever that someone was, Yuri began to damn him to Hell.

"Now what?" Yuri muttered as she backed her EVA against a building with her progressive lance held defensively in front of her.

000

Unit 31 finally arrived at Tokyo-3 and stopped to plug itself into one of the cable buildings. Henri saw several fires in the city and he feared the worst as he moved towards the nearest fire, Unit 31's cannon in its hands. Henri began looking for the Angel, not knowing that it was invisible. He had been trying to call Central Dogma several times and had gotten no response, which worried him.

He saw something glitter above him and he stopped. He tried to see what it was, but something in the back of his mind told him to dodge. He disregarded it and continued to watch as the bright light came nearer.

With a scream of realization, Henri brought his cannon up and began firing.

000

Rei lay on the hospital bed. Her red eyes stared at the ceiling's dimmed fluorescent lights. The ceiling shook and dust drifted down slowly.

"No." She whispered into the dark room.

000

"The Angel is using its AT Field to jam the EVA's ability to transmit and receive external data," Maya said in irritation "All our cameras and scanners in the area are inoperative. We can't gather any useful data from the EVA and the Angel. The EVAs may already be compromised."

Misato clenched her fists as she watched the map, which showed the last position of the EVAs. She had ordered the main monitor show the main map since its static-filled screen was giving her a headache. She needed an idea to save all of their asses. Too bad that sometimes the only thing one can do is trust in others.

"Shinji will pull through." Everyone looked at the main monitor as a transmission came from Hikari's Unit 17. Asuka looked at them from Unit 17's entry plug.

"Asuka! How did you-?!" Dr. Ibuki wondered how the girl changed Unit 17's personality data from Hikari's to hers.

"I didn't become Chief Pilot just because I'm pretty," Asuka replied with a smirk. "Please launch Unit 17 on number 14 catapult."

Maya, Makoto, Miyuki, and Antoinette looked at Misato, waiting for her answer.

Misato looked at the young woman who was her ward, the young woman who was like a daughter to her. She knew she couldn't send Asuka out there where she would be defenseless. "I -"

"Four of our pilots are out there," Asuka's smirk was gone and she became serious. "As Chief Pilot it is my duty to lead them."

Misato looked the girl in the eye. She knew the true reason the girl was willing to risk her life for.

"The monitors are down, no one can know we have five EVAs activated," Makoto noted from the side.

Misato took a sharp breath. She had to do her duty. "Make it so."

000

Kensuke looked up at the stars, then he decided there were too many of them so he closed his eyes and rubbed them. He opened his eyes again and the number of stars decreased significantly.

The last thing he remembered was lunging at the air with his knife, something grabbing his arm, then a bright light appearing right in front of Unit 15's face... Now his EVA was lying belly-up in some rubble inside Tokyo-3.

"Command, this is Unit 15, requesting extraction. My damage check shows 85 of all systems are down," Kensuke said, he felt his head throb as he waited for the response. None came. "Misato?"

Kensuke checked his communications system and found them undamaged but jammed.

"This sucks," he muttered as he slumped back into his seat and passed out.

000

Shinji coughed as he regained consciousness. He had forgotten that he could get himself seriously hurt in this job. He made Unit 01 stand up and he looked around, not at all surprised to find that he was on the other side of the lake from which he started. The fall certainly felt like it was worth several kilometers worth of inertia.

Shinji grimaced as he tried to look for the Angel. The Angel had been invisible but he had seen it, not through his eyes but by trusting Unit 01's instinct. The Angel had dropped its invisibility once Unit 01 had managed to strike it.

"Where is it now?" he asked the Beast. He had no illusions that the EVA was a machine. He had felt it bleed, he had felt its soul. He knew its secret. He trusted it because his mother's soul was in it. But he also feared it because he knew that the EVA hungered for souls.

Shinji looked in the direction that he felt the EVA wanted to face. He gritted his teeth and he opened the left shoulder fin to draw the progressive knife that was usually kept within. He stared in disbelief as the structure opened up and revealed that the knife carrier was empty.

Shinji nearly panicked as he looked up the predawn light. He felt the Angel right in front of him, not just because the ground shook with each step of the enemy but because he was just able to sense it. He needed a weapon but didn't have one. He could feel the Angel stop as it saw him, then the Angel charged. Shinji felt fear build up inside him; he needed a weapon!

Shinji screamed.

000

"Three minutes..." Antoinette muttered as she looked at her watch.

Miyuki calmly drummed her fingers on the surface of her workstation. Only she knew that her undershirt was drenched in nervous sweat.

A scream resounded over the communications system, catching everyone in surprise. A huge explosion soon followed. "Wha-- We have regained full contact with all Evangelions," Lt. Miyuki reported. "All wireless systems are back on line!?" The MAGI automatically updated the main monitor display.

"The target seems to be down," Makoto said as he adjusted his glasses nervously.

"Give me a full system analysis of the EVAs and pilot profiles starting with Unit 01!" Maya said, leaning over to Lt. Miyuki.

"Shinji?" Misato said, hoping that Shinji would answer. They knew that Unit 01 could operate independently of its pilot, so even if it's moving around it did not mean that the pilot was alive and safe.

"Yes?" Shinji replied, his voice tired. "Please wait."

Shinji looked at the now visible Angel, which lay crumpled in the ruins of a building. It looked like a headless white doll with overlong black arms with three claws each and short stubby legs which were also black. A white mask was attached to the main body, a jagged opening under two empty sockets served as a sickening parody of a mouth. Three pairs of white, branch-like extensions grew from its back like wings. The red core nestled below the head was cracked, and the Angel shuddered with pain.

Shinji had remembered feeling fear, then his consciousness was shoved aside as something bestial took over. He felt his EVA pull back its own AT Field then throw it forward in a devastating wave of destruction. He saw a hexagonal plane of light develop before it succumbed to the wave of his AT Field. A flash blinded him as the wave struck the Angel, throwing it back against some buildings.

Shinji tried to regain control as he felt himself on the edge of the berserker rage. He didn't want Unit 01 to go on a rampage and do something to him or to Tokyo-3.

Shinji felt a terrible headache, he wanted to scream. He could feel anger welling up inside him, and he knew it for what it was. The EVA was trying to corrupt him, to unleash its rage through him. He knew that he needed to destroy the Angel, what scared him was that he wanted to do it in the most violent manner possible. Shinji shut his eyes tightly and slowly exhaled, letting in the EVA's anger with each passing second.

Shinji took a deep breath, then released a roar, his EVA's jaw opening in time with his, its eyes flared white.

The screams finally ended.

000

"Target is silent. Pattern is negative. Target destruction confirmed." Lt. Miyuki Kata said in a shocked voice. Her eyes were still wide open from the shock of watching Unit 01 tear into the Angel with the frenzy of a chainsaw murderer. She wanted to run to the restroom and throw up. But her job was not yet finished. She looked over to where Lt. St. Croix had failed to control herself and had made a mess on the floor. Lt. Kata immediately fixed her eyes on her workstation.

"Shinji? Are you okay?" Misato asked, her voice tight with worry. The main monitor showed Unit 01 being held in a restraining embrace by Unit 17 in the lake which had turned red. White Angelic matter floated in the surrounding water.

"Yes," Shinji answered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Sir," Lt. St. Croix interrupted, a hand wiped her mouth. "Unit 31's pilot... "

000

The hospital waiting room was quiet. Yuri, Juno, Allen, Kensuke were still wearing their plug suits and were sitting on the couch. Kensuke was holding an ice pack to his forehead, waiting for the painkillers to kick in. Yuri was rifling through a magazine, trying to vent her frustration at being left out of the action.

Juno looked sick, she had seen the medics bring Henri in. Blood was dripping out of Henri's nose and ears and his breathing was shallow and labored.

Allen, who had also seen his friend being brought in, was still in a state of shock. He was prepared to die, but he was not prepared to lose a friend.

Asuka paced the floor, LCL dripped from her hair and onto the floor. In Unit 17 she had passed Unit 31 on her way to find Shinji. The EVA was slightly better off than the Angel after Unit 01 was through with it.

They all jumped as the door opened. They all settled down again when a figure stepped into the light to reveal a teenaged boy wearing a blue and white plug suit. Asuka walked to him and hugged him, forgetting that the boy had been raised in a culture that frowned on such displays of affection. But even if she had remembered, she was too distraught to care. Shinji just tensed up and allowed her to continue hugging him, though his face had began to turn red.

"Who's that?" Juno whispered to Yuri. Yuri looked up and was shocked at such a public display of affection, then she remembered that she had a grudge with the boy.

"Disgusting," Yuri said as she returned to the magazine.

"So who is he?" Juno pressed on, intrigued by their Chief's reaction.

"Shinji Ikari, the Third Children," Yuri said in irritation. "Just because he's a senior pilot, they think he's such a hot shot," she grumbled.

"Ikari?" Allen asked in disbelief. He looked up and stared at Shinji and Asuka. Slowly, his face twisted into a mask of rage as his fragile self-control shattered.

Misato walked slowly towards the waiting room. She heard shouting and the sounds of a scuffle. She burst into the room and saw Shinji standing, a hand on his bruised cheek, a shocked expression on his face. Allen was on the floor with a swiftly developing black eye and being pinned down by Juno; he was glaring at Asuka and Shinji. Kensuke and Yuri were trying to hold a thrashing Asuka back. Asuka was virtually foaming at the mouth, screaming a stream of profanity in all the languages she knew.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?" Misato shouted at the pilots in rage. They all froze and looked at Misato. Misato's rage subsided as she remembered the important news she had to tell them. Once she was sure she had their attention, she swallowed to clear her throat then she began.

"Henri suffered injuries from engaging the Angel... About five minutes ago, he..." Misato found it hard to speak, a lump forming in her throat. "He's gone."

Misato's voice wavered and she turned away from the shocked crowd and walked out of the room before she fell apart in front of the children. She had lost another one.

To Be Continued

In the Next Episode of Heaven and Hell:
Rei: One pilot lost. Dark plans are brewing. It's the anniversary of betrayal. Of sins committed in the past. Heaven and Hell 0:8 Dealing with Death. Is this what we're fighting for?