Yes, I basically ripped off the bomb-Angel (the number slips my mind) by having the Evas catch the falling object. This was less of a big deal, since it was just the start of what I had planned, but yes, I unabashedly ripped off the series in this portion. Ritusko's explanation or reasoning for not shooting it out of the sky was the same 'at least address the plot-hole' method of solving a plot-hole problem as I used before. It's surprisingly useful, no?

Regarding the Angel itself, Ithuriel the learner, the 27th if my notes are correct, yes, it is just one Angel, but with several bodies that can be mistaken for multiple Angels. What would have resulted if they'd never been shot down by Unit 14 remains a mystery, we'll never know how Ithuriel would've reacted to humanity otherwise. Yes, I'm excusing my lack of an answer, but it's also a valid plot point thanks to Gendo's aggression toward the Angels closing on his assets. The function of the Angel is more simple. Each one 'bonded' to the Eva it faced, and once shot down, adopted the strengths needed to counter that Eva... its own. Since Cirus was just the star of the action in the plane-crash, I have him get his butt kicked pretty well right off the start of the real fight. Asuka gets some ego-boosting, Shinji's supremely powerful Unit 01 gets more page-time, and Rei gets hurt, to push forward the main plot-arc. Shinji's 'control' of the berserk Unit 01 stems from his greater understanding of his mother being inside. They're working together, and his mother is taking a bit more control, just without completely overriding Shinji. Unit 01 is the most powerful Eva, I'll never change that. Not necessarily the most effective, however *smirk*.

As always, having Rei get hurt implies two things. Cirus' guilt, and mine for inflicting it on her as the author. There's no tension with suffering and pain, and I always intend to fully heal Rei, so that's how I permit myself to do that. This time Cirus really did screw up. He got his butt handed to him, and then Rei was seriously injured to her arm (though she kicks butt anyway, of course. Go Ayanami-sama!). In case it's confusing, she stabbed the knife into the Angel's arm, but it didn't go all the way through, so she ripped it around the outside of the arm, and twisted the knife to break the 'seal' the limb had holding it together, popping it off from the upper-arm.

With Ithuriel successfully destroyed, Cirus comes to Rei to help her with her arm. He would anyway, but his guilt makes him all the more urgent about it. Worn down himself (used the S2 organ to recover from being knocked out), he us unable to heal the wound completely. Rei's refusal to go to the medical bay gets explained a few lines afterward, but in case it's not clear, here's the official deal: Originally Rei would simply accept all the tests and things, thinking she had no choice other than being Gendo's key to Instrumentality (and finding Yui), but now that she has Cirus, she doesn't want to deal with that whole mess, and the medical facilities are a powerful reminder. So now she refuses. It's a clear shift from her series self and her growth in Kenosis. The first part finishes with Rei's intuitive understanding of Cirus' guilt, but not sure why he would be. She is aware of him, but not always how he reaches such states.

The scene between Rei and Gendo in his office is one of the more harsh scenes in Kenosis, actually. I really villify Gendo this time, having him grab the already wounded young girl by the arm. Even a non-specific Rei-fan would feel angry at Gendo for wrenching a young girl's arm so badly. Fuyutsuki is not sure what to think about Rei yet, so he is simply unaware of the situation as he leaves. He would not have thought Gendo capable of blunt violence toward her, otherwise I believe he would have stopped and done something to help Rei, even at this point. Plot-wise, this scene really shows how I'm changing the Evangelion plot. Instrumentality does not have to happen. The Room of Gauf is not running on empty. In short, Gendo and SEELE are superstitious, but very powerful old men in need of a good whack upside the theological head. I've got just the bat to do it. Shinji's bumping into Rei outside the office is a bit stretched, but I needed an indirect method of getting the information to Cirus, so it seemed smooth when I wrote it originally. I revised the structure a bit to make it more flowing, but it's still a bit stretched.

The very brief section devoted to Rei's trip home is both character presentation for her, and building sympathy for her situation. She's conflicted, 14 years of Gendo's indoctrinization against her love for Cirus. The pain in her arm is a symbol for her heart's pain. Gendo treats her horribly, and the wound arm is just an echo of how brutally he's wrenched her heart. Throughout Eva and Kenosis, I'm sorely tempted to kill Gendo off...

I thought showing less perfection in Cirus was a good idea, so he arrives late, and I used a reference to his work for SEELE to make it even more realistic. Honestly, the entire point of this section is to get Cirus from NERV HQ back to Rei's house believably, so it has plenty of character interaction for very little plot. Again, Asuka picking on Rei really gets Cirus' hackles up, so he snaps at her at the finish of the section, but, as said before, he doesn't really hate Asuka, he just hates her attitude. He apologizes, and hurries off, leaving Asuka curious about this mental state. She still has a woman's intuition, after all... *smirk*

Once excusably away from NERV, Cirus' real panic takes hold, and he takes off to find Rei. He can immediately tell she's anxious about him seeing her arm, and it confirms what he learned from Shinji. At this point, he's afraid he did something wrong in healing her, and made her arm worse somehow. Rei is simply anxious, knowing he'll feel guilty, but not wanting to tell him what actually happened either. The factors combine into an indirect, but touching moment between the two. Rei is very emotional about her arm (because of the above-mentioned association with the pain Gendo causes her), and Cirus is simply sympathetic, knowing she simply doesn't want to talk about whatever did it yet. However, whereas Asuka has the benefit of being a young woman, it's rather good for Gendo that Cirus doesn't realize who hurt Rei at this point in time. Nothing would make Cirus homocidal faster. I imply as much with the last line of the chapter.