Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Heaven and Hell ❯ Runaway Angel ( Chapter 11 )

Manga - Addicts Presents:
Heaven and Hell
Revelations 1:1 - Runaway Angel

HTML version 16 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

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

Revelations 1:1 - Runaway Angel

Liquid sensations flowed over his body as he sank in the water. He tried to relax, to stay calm - to bury the instinctive terror brought about by this experience.

`Think of it as LCL,' he thought to himself and the terror faded a bit as he imagined that he was submerged in the Life Water of the EVA.

Then he made the mistake of breathing in.

He panicked as his lungs rejected the chlorinated water. His arms thrashed out as he tried to get his head out into the surface and taste the cherished air. He tried to scream - which made everything worse.

And then she was by his side, her strong arms pulled him up as he clung desperately to her.

He gasped in the delicious air greedily as soon as he felt the cool air on his wet skin.

"Shinji?" she asked, worry and discomfort in her voice. Maybe the choice of a red two-piece suit was not a good idea. She could feel the warmth from his body where they touched each other skin-to-skin, it was worse where his body heat seeped past the meager pieces of fabric she wore. Asuka felt uncomfortable at the exchange of body heat. It made her feel...

"Y-yes, Asuka?" Shinji wheezed out.

"You can let go now," Asuka whispered almost hesitantly. She wanted to hug and comfort him but she didn't want to seem too forward and scare him away.

"Sorry..." the boy trailed off as he finally managed to stand up in the waist-deep children's swimming pool.

Asuka felt a bit of regret as the boy waded towards the steel ladder and dragged himself out of the pool and lay down on a lawn chair. With a resigned sigh, Asuka followed the dark haired boy and sat down on an adjacent chair. She reached for a tall glass of juice on a small table between their lawn chairs.

"It's hopeless," Shinji muttered.

"Hey! If I can learn to ride a bike in a day, you can learn to swim in a week!" Asuka declared belligerently, a bit annoyed at his pessimism. "All we have to do is cure you of this silly fear of water! Try to relax, damnit! I'm beside you and I won't let anything bad happen to you!"

Shinji turned on to his side, facing Asuka. He watched as she angrily sipped from her glass. The beads of water on her skin glistened in the sunlight that filtered through the skylight of the indoor pool, her wet hair clung to the sides of her face. She was so... breathtaking.

And before he knew it, he was smiling.

000

A train car filled with the amber light of sunset rolled across a plain, empty scenery. A boy in a workout outfit lounged on a bench, his right leg stretched on the bench, his chin resting on his arm which was resting on the backrest, his left foot was flat on the ground. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, he was only aware of what he had thought for all that time.

He thought of his sister, a little girl broken by the War, naively following a path of destruction and despair in the belief that it would be her redemption. He sighed tiredly. He may not be as perceptive as his friends but he would have made for a bad brother if he didn't know how his little sister felt about the loss of their Grandfather. Now, she had the power to save people, and that was what he was afraid of. She doesn't know or care for the cost of such power.

He thought of his father, slaving away in the bowels of the NERV's laboratories to come up with something to aid his children in fighting their enemies. How he would have loved for his father to only worry about feeding his children and making them content with life, not having to worry if the children will die and he will be faced with a coffin. The boy gritted his teeth, a little angry at his sister's decision, a decision that added to their father's burden.

He thought of his friends. The redhead who lashed out at the world in order to protect herself and others under her care. The one with blue hair and red eyes who would readily give everything for others. The boy with brown hair and glasses who paid for his dreams with his innocence. The naïve boy who had carried the burden of all life on his fragile shoulders.

And finally, the girl he loves.

"Then go to her," a voice whispered from the opposite bench.

Toji turned to a boy with blond spiky hair. The boy was wearing a skintight black plugsuit very different from the EVA pilots'. It had no armored torso like those found in the male version issued by NERV. It had no sleeves to cover up the boy's pale, almost luminescent, white skin. The blond boy also had a gold cross earring on the left ear.

"How long have you been there?"

The boy shrugged. Toji sighed. He really shouldn't expect the boy to answer. Toji knew from experience that the only reason the blond boy talked was probably because he was bored.

"You know, you remind me of a friend of mine," Toji laid down on the bench and watched the swaying of the hand rings which hung from the ceiling on plastic straps.

"Lady Rei?"

"Uh, yeah." Toji tore his eyes away from the hand rings to look at the other boy. "You know about her?"

"Yes." The blond boy rolled his eyes and sighed like a very patient man on the limit of his patience. "Mr. Toji."

"Yeah?"

"You do know about Ms. Hikari? I would gather that you would be the only one she would tell of her suspicions."

Toji's face flushed and he looked away from the other boy.

"The others don't know yet. But Ms. Hikari is scheduled for a physical sometime this week, and it will be confirmed then. Their future will be uncertain as piloting may be dangerous for them. You must be there to reassure them."

Toji looked at the boy and was surprised to see the other boy's red eyes look in irritation at him.

"So will you please get off this train."

"H-how? Don't you think I would already have done it if I knew how?" Toji didn't like the look on the other boy's eyes.

The boy grinned.

000

"Come on," Allen said as he yanked Juno by the arm as he began to cross the street. "You know how Misato hates it when we're late!"

Juno shook her head to clear the cobwebs. `Crap! Was I spacing off again?' She blinked. "Misato?"

Allen gave her an annoyed look. "Y'know, the Colonel, the lady who eats dinner with us and sleeps in the same apartment, that Misato."

Juno frowned, "Of course I know who she is you butthead! But what the fuck is she doing supervising this synch test?!"

Allen sighed, not at all troubled that his friend had just called him a butthead. From Juno, it was actually a term of endearment. "They're going to use us as a baseline for Ikari's test. Misato said she wanted to be there when they test him."

"Ikari." Juno gave a sidelong glance at Allen as she repeated the name to herself. Allen had said the name with seething hatred and his jaw had clenched dangerously at the word. Thankfully, their home life with the older boy was still violence-free as Misato had made Allen promise not to attack the older boy again. So far Allen had kept his word.

"Hey, wanna go watch a movie after the test?" Allen asked.

000

Yuri sat in front of the portable TV set with her back to her brother's comatose form. She watched a boring show about the Second Impact while she tried to finish her Summer homework.

Hikari sat on a chair by the bedside reading a book. Now and then her eyes would tear up, whether from the book she was reading or from her current situation, only she could say.

Kensuke stood by the window and looked out at the city as he brooded. His brow was furrowed by the weight of what he pondered.

"Hikari..."

Hikari was startled by the weak voice that said her name. She looked and saw Toji's hand twitch. She reached out and held his hand in both of hers.

"Hikari..."

Biting her lips in uncertainty, she answered, "Yes, Toji? I'm here."

"I'm glad you're here."

Hikari stood there, frozen by the words. She smiled and closed her eyes as she felt tremendous joy. A tear streaked down her cheeks as a single thought ran through her mind, `He's back.'

She felt a clammy yet gentle hand, wipe away the tears with a finger. She opened her eyes and looked right at Toji's half-open eyes.

"Don't be sad..." he said weakly.

"Silly, I'm not sad," she sniffed. "I'm just happy that you're back."

Yuri and Kensuke turned at the sound of sobbing.

000

`Asuka.'

Flashes of images of the redhead. Asuka in her yellow sundress smirking imperiously as she surveyed those before her. Asuka in her school uniform, her chin on her hand as she looked out the window in boredom. Asuka in her red and white bikini looking disappointed as she stood with hands on her hips by the pool.

`A girl in red.'

Various images of Asuka in her blood red plugsuit. Her red hair. Her red cranial transmitters. Her breasts, thighs, and rear, covered by the skintight plugsuit. Asuka, naked, covered in blood.

`Temperamental.'

Asuka shouting.

`Arrogant.'

Asuka with her chin up, looking down at someone.

`... Bitch.'

Asuka scowling, her mouth wide open in an angry scream.

`No. No more.'

Asuka sitting listlessly at the kitchen table. Asuka sleeping in a drug induced sleep, her cheeks sunken, her skin pale. Asuka huddled in a fetal position, blood covered her naked body.

`She hides her true self.'

Asuka shouting and stomping her feet.

`Gentle and caring.'

Asuka outside the door, trying to hide herself from the occupants of a hospital room. Asuka sleeping on top of someone. Asuka giving swimming lessons.

`I like her.'

Asuka smiling, her blue eyes shining with life and happiness.

`But...'

Asuka looking downcast.

`Is this love?'

"Three. Two. One. Absolute borderline passed. Unit 01 is active. Synch graph is climbing." Lt. Miyuki Kata announced from her workstation. Several other control officers and technicians flanked her on either side. Outside the observation window before the workstations was a huge room that contained Unit 01 which was locked onto a cage. On either side of the monstrosity were two empty cages.

Shinji opened his eyes. He stared at the observation room that his EVA faced. He ignored the other people. She was there and that was the most important thing.

"Roger," Shinji replied as a small smile formed on his lips.

"Synch graph is rising. Combat requirement has been surpassed." Lt. Miyuki Kata reported. She still felt fear being so near such a barely controllable pilot. What the boy had done to the last Angel... She looked at the innocent face on the monitor. His eyes had closed again, intent on concentration. `You can never judge a book by its cover,' she thought.

"He's still the best." Misato said with a tone of pride. Her arms were crossed in front of her black turtle-neck shirt, framing the silver crucifix she always wore. She briefly wondered why Shinji smiled, he had almost never smiled during any of the tests before. `It's as if he's actually happy being back in an EVA.'

Asuka nodded, her wet hair stuck to the sides of her face. She had just finished her own synch test and still wore her plugsuit. The girl stood mimicking Misato's stance.

Juno and Allen leaned against the far wall behind Misato and Asuka. They had been tested with Asuka. Allen stared at the Synch graph. Shinji had already surpassed everyone's score except for Asuka's - and he was catching up. Allen felt a twitch at his heart...

"Mom, faced him..." he said ruefully. Juno looked at him. His eyes seemed to have moistened.

"Synch ratio has just caught up with Asuka's average," Maya observed. She wore a white lab coat over her blue and black uniform. "Begin running tests four-six to one-oh-three."

"Test four-six to nine-niner passed at 100percent," came Lt. Kata's report.

Maya leaned forward and clicked on the comm link. "Shinji, how do you feel?"

No answer came. Shinji's eyes were still closed. The screen with the boy's image flickered.

"Error reading at tests one-oh-zero and one-oh-one." Lt. Kata intoned without emotion as warning signs came on-line.

000

Shinji saw the fog covered mountains and he could feel the cool mountain breeze caress his face. He was somewhere in the mountains that surrounded Tokyo-3. He had passed here before when he had tried to run away after his first scolding from Misato.

Shinji saw the path that led to the field where Kensuke had his tent. He walked towards it, feeling the moist ground beneath his bare feet. He looked down and noticed that he had slung his sneakers over his shoulders by knotting their laces together. He walked forward.

Soon, Shinji found the tent in the clearing. Its flap was open, an empty sleeping bag was inside. A small campfire was lit outside, crackling in the afternoon light. Shinji bent down and placed the nearby pot of rice onto the fire. He was not hungry but it seemed right.

Shinji went inside the tent and laid down on the sleeping bag. He waited. He didn't know why he waited or for what, but it seemed right. Cicadas began to chirp as the sky became darker with the advent of night.

He heard someone hum a familiar tune and then the sound of footsteps. He looked at the tent's flap and saw the black pant legs and the white sneakers. He crawled towards the tent flaps on his hands and knees and the legs moved away. Shinji stuck his head out and saw a familiar boy sitting on a log by the fire.

The boy wore a black and white high school uniform without the black jacket. His fingers were comfortably woven together in front of him in a praying manner, while his elbows rested on his knees. He wore a serene smile on his face, and the gray locks of his hair fell gently over his red eyes.

"Shinji, it's been a long time," the boy said in a melodious voice.

Shinji nodded and walked over to sit beside the boy.

"I see you're back with your mother." The boy said while staring at the fire. Shinji just looked at the boy whose red eyes seemed to dance with the fire it reflected.

Shinji shifted his eyes as if trying to feel something. He felt a warm, reassuring sensation caress him. Then he smiled happily.

"That is good." The boy stood up and faced Shinji. "Man was not meant to be alone, but to be a complement. Man denies this, refusing to depend on others. Wishing to be alone, to be free. Man does not know that to truly live, one must open his heart to the Other."

Shinji glanced up at the boy, wondering what he meant. The young pilot often wondered if he could ever truly understand his friend. Shinji suddenly blushed. Was his friend hinting about the talk they had so long ago, when Shinji had revealed his heart?

His friend kneeled in front of him, making Shinji uneasy. The boy reached out and lightly touched Shinji's shoulder, making the other boy blush even redder. Shinji closed his eyes and decided to enjoy the sensation of being cared for. Then the other boy slowly pulled away and stood up.

"Go back, they're getting worried." The boy said as he started walking away through the tall grass. He smiled tenderly. "She is getting worried."

"Will I see you again?"

"We'll see, Shinji. We'll see." The boy turned his head to look back, one pale, thin arm raised in farewell.

"Then I'll be seeing you again." Shinji said with conviction as he stood up to leave. He turned away from his friend and started to walk in the opposite direction.

"SHINJI!! ANSWER ME!!" Shinji opened his eyes at the frantic call over his comm link. The worried face of a young auburn haired woman greeted him from a small monitor. He was touched that she cared.

"Yes?" he asked in an unaffected tone.

"Yes?! I that all you can say!? You've blanked out for five minutes! What happened?!" Asuka scowled in worry.

"..." Shinji could feel Unit 01's contentment and he smiled. "Nothing, Asuka, it was nothing." He could see Asuka frown, unconvinced at his answer.

"Um, Asuka, may I continue with the testing?" Maya's anxious voice could be heard in the background and he could swear that Asuka had blushed for a moment. Several control officers suppressed their giggles.

"Tests one-oh-zero to one-oh-three are cleared at 100percent," Lt. Miyuki noted professionally.

"Shinji, do you feel anything strange?" Maya asked.

"Not really, just a bit tired."

"All right, if you say so. Anything else?"

"No."

"Synch graph, holding at 98percent." Lt. Miyuki noted professionally.

000

Rei sat on her bed, in her hospital pajamas. An open cookbook laid on her lap but her eyes stared out the window.

"Rei?"

The girl looked away from the window and looked at the doctor who had spoken.

"doctor akagi." Rei monotoned. The girl looked at the dark haired scientist with cold, dispassionate, red eyes. She saw the brief look of fear cross Ritsuko's eyes.

Then, Rei smiled. "Fooled you."

Ritsuko made an annoyed sound. "Don't do that again, Girl!"

`Damn. Where'd she get that sense of humor?' Ritsuko took the clipboard that hung by the foot of Rei's bed. She raised her eyebrows. "The doctors say you can't walk."

Rei nodded her head. "I cannot feel my legs."

"Numb?"

The girl shook her head. Where others would have probably been afraid of the sudden immobility, she merely felt curiosity. "I cannot feel them. It is as if they are not there."

Ritsuko calmly checked the girl's records, she didn't want Rei to see her nervousness.

"They scanned me earlier. My spine is in excellent condition." Rei stated helpfully to Ritsuko.

"oh." Ritsuko replaced the clipboard. "Then it must be psychological. I'll see what I can do." She did not want to raise the other possibility.

"Is that not Doctor Ibuki's responsibility?"

"Well, Maya's under a lot of stress right now so I've taken the care of the pilots away from her for a while. Since my job's already finished, the Commander wants to make me useful until my contract expires."

Rei simply nodded her head.

"Well, I'll see you later then." Ritsuko bowed to the pilot.

Rei nodded goodbye and then returned to staring out the window and continued what she was doing before Ritsuko came.

`Should we not warn them?'

`no. it is not necessary. they know. you must not interfere.'

`The Other.'

`he comes.'

Rei sighed and settled back on her pillows, her conversation with herself finished.

000

Misato walked down the corridors of the third Pribnow Box after leaving the testing facility. The Colonel was on her way home for some well needed sleep and had to pass through a dimly lit section of the corridor. She looked up as a figure detached itself from the shadows, her hand reflexively went to her gun.

"It's me, Colonel," Lt. Corrie Hayes announced as he re-holstered his gun.

Misato nodded as she scanned the area one more time. Finally satisfied that the meeting place was secure, Misato removed her hand from her gun. "What did you find out?"

"Five more disappeared over the last week."

"That makes it nine."

"Un." Corrie shook his head. "Eight. They found the body of a girl."

Even in the dim light, Misato could see the anger in the young man's frame. She could deduce what the enemy did to the girl. "That means they'll make their move soon."

Corrie nodded. "I'll return to my post now."

"Thank you Lieutenant."

Corrie nodded once more.

000

The Combined Operations Command theater was in utter chaos. Red warning lights had appeared on all available monitors and alarm klaxons wailed. The control officers and techs had discarded whatever premise of order they had and started shouting at each other in order to be heard over the din.

"ENEMY HAS PASSED THROUGH AREAS TWELVE TO THIRTY-NINE!!"

"TWO GROUPS ARE PROCEEDING TO THE EVA CAGE!!"

"ENEMY HAS BREACHED CENTRAL DOGMA!!"

"NERV-9 MAGI IS DELIBERATING SELF-DESTRUCT!!"

Commander Santiago sat impassively at his command desk. This was one situation that he could do nothing about. Half a world away, one of his sister branches was under attack by rebel elements. And by the looks of it, NERV-9 was losing.

Beside him, Colonel Makoto Hyuga trembled in rage. His hands were balled into tight fists, the nails dug into the palm and caused them to bleed.

"They killed the Children..." Makoto kept repeating. In one monitor was a list of NERV-9's Children, beside each name were the words: Status Unknown. He remembered when NERV-1 had been attacked all those years before. The main targets were the Children, for without them the Branch's defenses were all but halved.

"UNIT 27 ACTIVATING!"

"ENEMY HAS REACHED THE EVA CAGE!!"

"WARNING! ANGEL APPROACHING TOKYO-3!!" Lt. Corrie Hayes shouted at the top of his lungs. It took several moments before his words took effect. The other control officers and techs all looked up at the command bridge, not knowing what to do.

"What are you waiting for?! There's nothing we can do for the Ninth Branch. PREPARE FOR FIRST LEVEL COMBAT!" Santiago's voice was raised in irritation.

"YES, SIR!" the control officers and techs shouted in reply as they furiously prepared the fortress city for battle. They all felt uneasy that their commander had shown emotion in a crisis.

000

Shinji's Unit 01 stood in the center of a V-shaped trap with Asuka's Unit 02 and Juno's Unit 32 as the other points in the triangle. Allen's Unit 30 was in backup position several kilometers away. Birds fluttered in the trees surrounding the gigantic EVAs. Small woodland animals scurried about the EVA's feet and umbilical cords that stretched towards hidden power relays in the trees. All four units had their positron cannons slung over their shoulders. Their lances were stuck vertically to the ground beside them just in case the Angel decided to get close and nasty.

By the coast, on the rooftop of a ruined building sat a boy with spiky blond hair and a gold cross earring on the left ear. He brought a cup of instant ramen to his lips and used his chopsticks to bring the noodles to his mouth.

He looked up as the sea water shot up into the air as a large object breached the surface violently. He noisily slurped up the noodles as he raised an eyebrow.

"This is going to be interesting." A grin was on his face.

000

"Target has just made landfall! Visual confirmation of the target in three, two, one." Lt. Antoinette St. Croix reported. She tried to keep her voice calm and professional. She had been severely reprimanded after Unit 18's last extended operations exercise and did not want to get another blemish on her record. Her parents had pulled a lot of strings to get her this job and she's not about to disappoint them by getting sacked. "...Zero. Displaying on main monitor."

The main monitor blinked and displayed a large, white, shapeless mass that glowed with an ethereal light, seemingly flowed over the trees, knocking them down in the process. A huge dust-cloud marked its passage.

"AT Field is minimal." Lt. Miyuki Kata added. "Positive pattern blue. Target logged as Twenty-first Angel."

"Its AT Field seems to be concentrated to the front to be used as a plow," Maya said after checking some displays. "The AT Field is weaker at the sides and the rear."

"The weaker it is the better for us," Misato said as she pulled on her jacket as she came up onto the bridge. She glanced up at the main monitor to check that the orders she had phoned in had been followed. "But then again, the Angel might have a nasty surprise waiting for us."

"Target is accelerating, AT Field is intensifying on the forward section," Miyuki said as the huge mass suddenly began to move faster.

"Target is entering the kill zone." Lt. Corrie Hayes announced. On the map a red triangle entered a large yellow triangle with blue corner points.

"Well, at least it moves fast. It covered sixty kilometers in under ten minutes." Maya replied.

Misato growled. It was moving too damn fast and would leave the trap in under ten seconds. "FIRE AT WILL!!"

The edges of the Angel began to blur as it accelerated to somewhere just below the speed of sound. The three Evangelions on the points of the triangular trap began to open fire, the explosive bursts of their cannons scared the woodland creatures.

Allen watched as the first shell made contact with the Angel. A huge red spray arced into the sky. The Angel continued to move through the kill zone's center as pieces of it got blown off as the EVAs started to pump it full of anti-matter. A fine red mist was left behind it.

"IT'S STILL COMING!!" Allen heard Shinji's desperate voice as the Angel bore down on Unit 01. The Angel had already lost half of its original mass but it was still larger than all four EVAs combined and at the speed it was going, it hit Unit 01 like a gigantic express train! Unit 01's cannon shattered on impact. Shinji screamed as Unit 01 tried to push back against the runaway Angel. Unit 01's hands sank into the Angelic matter. Shinji tried to grab for his lance but he got pushed away too fast and the lance got knocked down by Unit 01's frantically groping arm. Trees fell down as Unit 01's feet tried to find some purchase on the forest floor. The EVA's heels dug furrows upon the forests floor.

Allen moved a moment after Asuka did. Unit 02 and Unit 30's umbilical cables rocketed away from the EVAs. The EVAs discarded their cannons for their lances and gave chase to the Angel. Juno continued firing her cannon at the grappling pair, making sure that she did not hit anyone she's not supposed to. A huge dust cloud mixed with Angel blood was left behind the runaway Angel.

"Shinji! You're approaching Tokyo-3! STOP IT!" Misato screamed over the comm link. The Angel had slowed down because of Unit 01's resistance but it was still moving too fast for comfort.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?!" Shinji screamed back in annoyance.

Lt. Antoinette looked at the main screen as a fact suddenly screamed at her mind. "Be careful of the cliff!"

"What cliff?" Misato asked in horror.

"They're approaching Lookout Park!" Lt. St. Croix pressed some buttons and the main monitor highlighted the cliff she was talking about.

"WHAT?!" Misato remembered the place where she had brought Shinji to look at Tokyo-3 all those years before. She remembered the park because she always went there when she wanted to remember what she was fighting for. She remembered the neat, manicured picnic grounds, and the coin operated telescopes that allowed one to fully appreciate the park's beautiful location. She remembered the steeply sloping ground. "Shit. That's a long fall."

"A cliff?!" Shinji cried incredulously and gritted his teeth, of course he would most probably live through the fall, it just would be very, very painful once the valley floor stops him. Pain was never his favorite part of this job. "Shit. Stop, damn it! STOP!!"

"HOLD ON!!" Asuka had caught up with the Angel and brought down Unit 02's lance into the Angel's flank and dug her EVA's heels into the ground and tried to slow the Angel down. Unit 02 lost its footing and got dragged behind the rushing mass as Asuka refused to let go of the lance.

Allen was still some distance behind but catching up fast. Juno had ran out of shells and was trying to catch up to the runaway Angel.

There was a sudden boom that sounded like something really big hitting something even bigger as air was pushed out of the way as a phase space developed between Unit 01's hands and the Angel. The AT Field stopped all forward motion and prevented the Angel from flowing right around Unit 01.

There was a great sigh of relief all around as Unit 01 stopped right at the edge of the cliff, its heels had crushed the protective metal railing. Asuka took the time to brace Unit 02's legs against the edge of the park's concrete walkways. Allen skidded to a stop on a side opposite Asuka and buried his lance up to the hilt, Angel blood sprayed on Unit 30's white surface. Juno jumped up and landed right on top of the Angel her lance buried itself into what she considered the Angel's bloody back, Unit 32's heels dug into the soft, bloody Angelic matter.

Shinji panted in exertion, a throbbing tic in his temples. "Now what?"

"Everyone, pull it away from the cliff!" Asuka ordered.

"OK!" the other three pilots replied. Juno belatedly realized that she couldn't possibly pull at the Angel since she was on top of it, standing on its very back.

Shinji started to push his AT Field forward and away from the cliff when he felt something give way under his feet.

Shinji's eyes bugged out as Unit 01 began to fall backward as the cliff edge crumbled under Unit 01's feet. The Angel seized the moment and pushed itself forward.

All four pilots screamed as they all tumbled over the edge with the Angel.

Shinji grunted each time his EVA's back bounced off the cliff side. He was falling faster than the Angel and he had some time to reflect that the Angel would crush him when they finally hit the bottom, in which case he wouldn't live through this.

Asuka and Allen both tried to stop the avalanche-like Angel by digging their EVA's feet into the cliff side and pulling back on their lances. There was a scream as Allen's Unit 30's lance snapped in half and sent Allen's EVA flying back, it hit the Angel before bouncing down the cliff side alongside it. Juno tried to keep her EVA balanced on the Angel's back, her lance still buried in the Angel. It was the only thing she could do besides screaming in terror and impotent rage.

Shinji finally felt the ground slam into his back, momentarily stunning him. The boy looked up at the Angel that was a white avalanche bearing down on him, dust and blood in its wake, the sunlight flashed off the Angel and Unit 32's white forms.

Shinji raised Unit 01's arms and spread its hands before it. Shinji knew he had only one chance to survive. He searched within himself for the ability that allowed him to pilot an EVA. He needed all of that ability for what he needed to do. He found it almost instantly. As Maya had once remarked, he had been born to pilot an EVA.

"AT Field, FULL POWER!!" Shinji screamed as he pushed his control sticks forward. He felt his consciousness spread forward in a tight beam. The Angel exploded into a mist of blood as its weak AT Field failed against Unit 01's concentrated AT Field. There were several large crashes as the three other EVAs landed in disarray around Unit 01.

Shinji saw a shadow pass over him and his eyes widened as he saw a lance fall towards him. Unit 01 blurred as it rolled away and jumped unto its feet as the lance buried itself into the ground where Unit 01 used to lie. A light red haze hung over the air, disturbed only by Unit 01's movements.

Allen managed to keep his eyes open long enough to see all of it. The Sun shone down from behind Unit 01. The blood tinged sunlight outlined the purple beast. Allen smiled ruefully. "Shit, he's good," Allen whispered before he blacked out.

"Prepare to retrieve the EVAs," Misato ordered, a satisfied look on her face. She could still feel her heart racing, for a moment there she thought someone was going to die... She felt proud of the pilots for acting on their own initiatives and stopping the enemy without being told what to do.

"That was easy enough," Maya teased as she walked away, she could feel Misato glare at her and she smiled. She stopped and turned towards the Command desk when she saw her husband put down the phone and lean over to the Commander. They both stood up and left.

"What's going on?" Maya asked.

"Ninth Branch was under attack a few minutes ago." Lt. Antoinette said uneasily.

"Angels?" Misato asked, a knot forming in her gut. She would feel a lot better if it were an Angel but Misato knew that it was asking too much.

Lt. Antoinette slowly shook her head. Maya made a horrified sound at the news. Misato reached for her phone when she felt it vibrating in her jacket pocket. She read the message in the textbox and walked towards the Commander's office.

The enemy had made its move.

Sometimes she really hated her job.

To Be Continued

In the Next Episode of Heaven and Hell:
Misato: Shinji's sin is revealed as darkness consumes him! The servants of Heaven have rebelled against the Iron Hand! The blood of innocents is spilled and stains the grounds of paradise! In the next episode, Heaven and Hell 1:2 A Red Haze of Sadness! RED ALERT! It's not finished yet!!