Chain Lightning Studios Presents Together We Stand Book Three Carpe Diem By T. L. Webb hey you don't help them to bury the light don't give in without a fight Hey You Pink Floyd, The Wall []=====================[] Book Three, Part Three []=====================[] As the gateway to Nerv's LCL plant cycled open, Gendou Ikari found himself staring at the glove covered palm of his hand. Something would have to be done about it before he could enter. He'd known from the moment he'd allowed Rei to go there was no other way. Without her there by his side, the danger from that which lay under the soft white material on his hand was too high. Something might go wrong while in Lilith's presence if it was not dealt with right away. Now that he was committed to this new path, he refused to allow anything to alter it further. This was why when he saw the shadow on the other side of the gate, he drew his weapon and turned Ritsuko's advantage of surprise to a stalemate in one quick blur of motion. She blinked as she saw him aiming the pistol at her, but she did not drop her gun or flinch. Each of them looked down the barrel of the other's weapon. The seconds ticked by- moment after agonizing moment. Finally, they both broke out into a nearly identical pair of smirks. "Hello, Gendou," she said- her tone dripping with honey and poison, "funny meeting you here." "Yes," he replied- his tone as unreadable as ever, "the timing is unfortunate, however." "That," she said, " is strictly is a mater of point of view. Personally, I'd say the timing is perfect... incidentally, where's Rei? I expected you to have her in tow like a good little puppet." "Let us say that Rei is currently engaged in another project... I assume you mean to use that?" he asked as he nodded in her gun's direction while keeping his own aimed right at her heart. "You seem to have as firm a grasp of the situation as ever," she replied in a voice that was almost regretful. "I see. Perhaps I could persuade you to wait for a moment before pulling that trigger?" he asked her as he lowered his weapon. She stared at the gun at his side blankly for a moment before shaking off her shock and nodding. Gendou slowly placed his weapon in it's holster, and as Ritsuko looked on he tore a strip off of his jacket and placed it in a pocket. "What are you doing?" she finally demanded as he began to peel off his glove. The answer came to her a second later in a horrified gasp. Ever since his accident with Unit Zero's entry plug he'd claimed that he disliked removing the gloves-- and in fact she'd only seen him do so twice. Once just after the fourth angel and again now. She had to fight no to throw up as she saw what had been-- until now-- concealed from her sight. In the palm of Gendou Ikari's right hand was a twisted mass of flesh that was not his own. It covered nearly half his palm, and resembled a human fetus. It seemed to be grafted on, and it took her several seconds to actually realize what she was seeing. "Oh my God..." she whispered as he held it up in front of him. Her gun clattered to the floor-- and so great was he shock that she did not realize she'd dropped it, "is that..." "Yes," he said as he reached into his jacket and removed his weapon, "this is Adam." "You insane son of a _bitch_!" she screamed at him, her horror dissolving into rage as she began to put the pieces together, all the horrifying implications and hidden meanings coming together in one sickening rush. He could picture what was going through her mind at that moment-- how he'd actually touched her with that hand, held her, and made love while that thing had been imbedded on it. He didn't fault her for becoming upset. As she started towards him her fists clenched shut, he chose that moment to remove the gun from its holster. He pulled the trigger and as she flinched, her gun skidded several feet backwards, making a splash as it landed in LCL. She froze in place, glancing from him to where her gun now lay and back to Ikari. "Make it clean and quick," she said to him as she closed her eyes, "you owe me that much at least." "That will be unnecessary," he said as he placed the barrel of his gun against the palm of his hand and pulled the trigger again. []====[] []====[] Shinji wasted no time. His overly dramatic entrance had resulted in a moment's pause in the battle. Everyone stared in shock at Unit One as it towered over the battlefield, and whatever these white monsters were they were as surprised as everyone else that he'd arrived. That hesitation had allowed him to get over the insanity of what he was seeing. Accepting Asuka's awakening as something to deal with later, he turned his attention to finding Hikari. Not seeing her anywhere in the Geofront itself, he decided to look up top. He leapt up to the air from the pyramid-- instinctively taking to the air on Unit One's wings. The deadly purple and black Evangelion shot skyward and, as he rose, he saw one of the two incoming MPs' swerve to give him a wide berth. It, and the other both proceeded to dive into the Geofront towards Unit Two, who was racing toward one of the armament stations. 'Why aren't they attacking me?' he wondered as he burst through the cracked ceiling of the Geofront. The four MPs that had been perched along it leapt out of his way-- scattering like the carrion eaters they were-- and he saw Unit Three just as it drove a long spear into the head of an attacking MP. He noticed in shock that the black armor was streaked in crimson, and in his mind's eye he could see it as it had been after the thirteenth. The mental image was so overwhelming that it took him a moment longer to focus again on the battle. He wouldn't realize until much later that it was more than just surprise that was causing him to have trouble focusing. "Hikari!" he cried as he landed on the twitching MP-- pushing the spear deeper into the ground and through association its head. Her Eva's arm hung limply at it's side and blood poured from huge gouges in it's armor, but when her face came up on the window beside him he could see that she was comparatively unharmed. "Shinji!" she yelled suddenly, "look out!" He did not jump or dodge to the left or right, he merely gestured with the glowing wings of energy, and Unit One drifted backwards just in time to dodge two spears--no lances! -- that crashed to earth where he had been moments before. Whatever their earlier hesitation to attack him had been must have worn off-- he assumed, not realizing that the spears had been aimed at Unit One's hands. He turned to look at the sky where the MP's circled and growled-- not realizing that Unit One was doing the same. He was using the wings as if he'd been born with them, but he didn't know if that had been just reflex... or something else. What he did know was a basic fact that Misato had taught him about combat. The MPs had the high ground and therefore the advantage at the moment. He'd have to do something about that. Dashing foreword and grabbing hold of Unit Three, he reversed directions, and with the wounded Eva in arm, flew back into the hole in the Geofront. He was fearful for a moment when he didn't see Asuka, but then he saw the Two MPs hovering around the armament station and he cracked a smile as he realized they were playing right into her hands. "Shinji, what are you doing?" Hikari demanded, "we're sitting ducks down here!" "No," he countered, "they are! They have no room to maneuver. They'll have to land to keep us from picking them off, and puts them on even ground." Even as he spoke, the remaining MPs' began to dive through the gap after them one after the other in a stream of white winged violence. "I hope you're right," she whispered. As the MPs closed in, however, Shinji noticed that he suddenly felt very dizzy. []====[] []====[] Asuka stood in the darkened cavern with her total attention focused on it's entrance. She was just beyond the light's reach and she had to resist the urge to tap her foot in impatience. In Unit Two's arms was one of the most powerful weapons in Nerv's arsenal. The UN's Particle beam rifle. "We've got all available power diverted to you Asuka, "Yuri told her, "you can fire at will." "Roger that," she informed them as she adjusted the targeting system for manual fire, "Come on you asshole, take a peek," she muttered impatiently. Finally, over the top of the entrance, the grotesque head of one of the Eva's swung down and she opened fire. The top of the MPs grinning head disappeared as the blinding beam of energy cut through it's AT Field. Even at a fraction of it's full power it was enough to do the job. As the MP's smoking body dropped from the top of the entrance, the other dashed over, and was about to charge inside when it brought itself to a sudden stop. Asuka had dropped the rifle and was standing in it's way with two fully loaded pallet riffles aimed right at it's chest. "Peek-a-boo," she said sweetly as she emptied both clips at point-blank range. []====[] []====[] Hikari had just attached a fresh umbilical when the MP Eva's began landing all around them in a loose circle. She and Shinji turned back to back and she realized that he didn't have a weapon. Then she remembered the tapes of the battle with the fourteenth angel and was suddenly thankful that Unit One was on her side. The Evas' rushed them and Hikari barely had time to blink before the MP's sword slashed through her shoulder fin. She ducked under the blade and took advantage of the MP's momentum to perform a flying tackle that took both of them against the remains of the Nerv pyramid. It was just then that she noticed activity from an indicator that she'd downloaded earlier from Asuka's targeting system-- this was the MP that had swallowed the Trident Pilot! She angrily took the head of the MP and began slamming it again and again into the pointed peak of the Pyramid. When she was satisfied that the thing was at least immobile, she wrenched it's mouth open with her hand and foot and tried to reach inside. Just as she grabbed hold of something that felt like it didn't belong, however, she was violently thrown backwards and the escape pod was sent flying into the lake. She shook her head to clear it, and saw that Shinji was grappling with not one but two of the MPs. Just as she noticed that the fight was less of him fighting, and more of him holding them back, another landed on her and she was looking right into it's grinning face. She quickly drew up her legs, and kicked the MP off of her just as a blinding beam of light shot across the Geofront out of the armament station. Picking herself up off the ground Hikari drew her spare progressive knife and was just about to jump in to help Shinji when her world exploded in pain. Reeling from the tearing flash of pain, she looked down to find one of the lances' sticking out of her Eva's stomach. It wasn't until she saw the blood drift up from her own body that she began to scream. []====[] []====[] Shinji's eyes had followed the particle beam and he was watching the second of Asuka's opponents back explode in fountains of red when he heard a gut wrenching scream come over the com. The knowledge that he recognized the owner of the voice hit him like a sledgehammer. Hikari. Forgetting the two MPs that he'd been grappling with, he swung Unit One's massive frame around to face where Unit Three was dropping to it's knees-- a lance piercing it's back and emerging through it's gut. Behind it a grinning Mass Production Evangelion stood-- holding the lance in what looked like glee. "Nnnrrrraaaaaaarrrhhh!" Shinji bellowed-- loosing coherence and all self control in his fury. He blindly charged the MP, plowing through another as Unit One's wings flared like the sun. He slammed into the MP with force enough to shatter mountains-- and indeed that is exactly what they did. Shooting through the Geofront, the Evas' obliterated the hill that rose up it's side. Through the dust and rocks and smoke he saw one of the MP's hands rise up-- grasping for a hold. He gripped that arm, and-- planting Unit One's foot-- tore it from the socket. And ocean of hot blood splashed across Unit One's face as Shinji tore into the other Eva. Even more flowed down the side of the hill as the carnage finally peaked with a horrible sickening pop. Unit One rose from the cleft in the hill covered with blood and dust. Held in its hands was a crumpled black cylinder that had the words 'dummy plug' stenciled across it. Dropping the plug, he raced back to where Unit Three lay motionless-- screaming Hikari's name as he ran. Just before he reached her, however, a sudden wave of nausea washed over him, and-- for a second-- saw only darkness. []====[] []====[] "This is unacceptable," one of the Seele monoliths said, "we can not allow any more of the Nine to be destroyed." "The ritual is already at risk with the loss of but one," another said, "if another destroyed the failure will be complete." "It is Unit One that we can not risk losing," the first among them said, "the MPs can be replaced, but it is Unit one that is the ultimate key to our goals." "I concur, but the construction of more Eva's would be tipping our hand at this point. Without more angels the threat is gone. We can not risk loosing this chance." "We are at an impasse then. We must subdue Unit One, and we must not loose another of the Nine." "Cripple it then, as long as it yet lives we may still succeed." "Very well," the first said, "I will order them to tear the lotheful Evangelions apart-- but not yet. Let them think they have won for a fleeting moment-- it will lower their guard. Surprise will be the tool of our ultimate victory." []====[] []====[] Asuka saw Shinji stumble as she launched from the armament station. She also saw Unit Three lying in pain beside the lake. She _also_ saw the three remaining MPs dashing her way. Grinning maliciously, she unsheathed the Maglok blade she'd taken and charged to meet them head-on. The first tried to cleave her in half with a downward swipe of it's sword-- which she easily dodged and countered with a slash of her own. Her cut took a fair size chunk out of it's side and cleaved off it's left arm and right hand-- sending the sword tumbling off with the hands still holding it. The next was a little more cautious as it swung it's great blade sideways-- forcing her to parry it's attack. She did just that-- gritting her teeth from the impact, and as the MP reared back for a second swipe, she took hold of her own Umbilical and threw a loop around the monster's neck-- distracting it and allowing her to adjust the grip on the sword and send it into the MP's torso. She shoved as hard as she could downwards, and in one bright red splash, the MP was gutted. The third didn't wait for her to finish, it jabbed at her with it's lance and had she not had as wide a range if vision it would have pierced her Eva's eye. She leaned back just in time to dodge, and-- grabbing the lance-- used her own momentum to pull the MP to her. As it fell forward-- thrown off balance by her actions-- she twirled the Maglok in her hand and shoved it into the MP's back. A leg sweep later, the sword was supporting the enemy Eva as it fell backwards and impaled itself up to the hilt guard. Asuka didn't waste time congratulating herself, she just ran over to where Unit One was heading as well and skidded to a stop beside Hikari. Two communication windows popped up in a response to her frantic screaming, and she was just as surprised to realized that she'd been afraid for them as she was to find out they were still alive. That didn't mean they were all right however. Hikari was whimpering in pain, and Asuka could see a dark red patch just below Hikari's ribs and was amazed to realize that it corresponded to the wound on her Eva. As impossible as it seemed, she was bleeding from a wound that had been created through the neural connection. Shinji was in worse shape. She could see enough to know that he was fighting unconsciousness. To make maters worse, she could see thin tendrils of blood drifting into the LCL from between his lips and from his nose. He winced every time he turned his body, and Asuka was shamed to know that she was responsible for his condition. She'd have to deal with it later though. Both she and Shinji began to work to remove the lance and between them they managed to do so without hurting Hikari much more than she already was. As they helped Unit Three to it's feet, however, one of Asuka's displays went apeshit. "What the hell?" She said aloud, "HQ, can you read?" "We're a little busy at the moment!" Makoto called to her as she heard gunshots in the background. "I'm getting some crazy energy readings," she said as she tried to figure out if there was a way she could get her Eva to the secondary command center, "I need a clue up here!" "We'll do what we can," Makoto said as the line shut down. "Shinji!" Hikari was yelling-- having just seen his condition, "are you okay?" "I think I need to lay down," he responded as Unit One stumbled a bit. "Well you better not croak out here, because I--" the words died on Asuka's lips as she saw the source of the energy surge. There was an ethereal glow covering the MP's and as it reached its peak, -- to Asuka's total horror-- they began to move. []====[] []====[] After several panicked minutes of running across the thin platform, Ritsuko paused for a moment to check on their pursuers. They were still back at the other end-- probably checking to see if they had any missiles left. Almost as soon as she'd bandaged Gendou's hand, a dozen armed soldiers who'd been drawn by the gunshot had found them. The door had held them for awhile, but soon a set of charges had gone off and they had been momentarily under pursuit again. The only thing that had allowed them to get out of range had been Lilith's crucified form. The guards had freaked out at the sight and had expended most of their long-range weaponry in a futile attack on the immobile Angel. This was fortunate as Gendou was slowing down due to loss of blood and (although he refused to show it outwardly) pain. The cloth wrapped around his mangled hand was soaked red, and she knew he had to be in unbearable agony, but Gendou still looked as if nothing was amiss. It was unbelievable, but she expected no less from the man who prided himself on appearing like such a heartless bastard. Finally they reached the cross, and Gendou pressed a subtle outcropping in its side. A panel slid off, and a computer console was revealed. He began to type furiously as the guards began charging them. "You know that once I am done there is no escape," he said suddenly looking at her, "you don't have to join me in this." "The UN aren't taking prisoners... if I have to die I'd prefer it be with someone I have _some_ feelings for-- not a nameless grunt." "I see," he said as he turned back to the console and typed. Behind them the soldiers were closing in. They would be within firing range in less than a minute. Blood dripped from his fingers onto the keyboard as he sped his work. "Did... did you love me?" she asked suddenly-- her voice welling with a multitude of emotions. He paused and was silent for several seconds. Finally he answered, "as much as I was able." He typed in the last of the code, and-- after a moments pause- she reached out to him, pulling him close to her. While a countdown began on the monitor behind them, they took those stolen moments to share a final kiss. []====[] []====[] At the base of the shaft that led from Terminal Dogma to the surface, Rei Ayanami came to a halt and looked up. She knew that there was only one way for her to make it in time to have any effect on the battle's outcome. She also knew that she might not survive the process. Yet she didn't care. Her friends were in grave danger, and there was something she could do to save them. As long as that was the case, all the hordes of hell would not be able to hold her back. She closed her eyes as a shimmering distortion of light washed out from her body. Her brow furrowed in concentration, and when she finally opened her eyes, a glow began to surround her. She rose from the earth and began to rise upwards towards the sky so far above. []====[] []====[] On the surface of the Geofront Asuka and Shinji were disparately trying-- and failing-- to fend off the brutal second wave of the MPs' assault. Having discarded their earlier orders to take Unit One mostly unharmed Shinji found himself held down by two of the MPs as another was trying to bite into his neck. The attack had begun without warning. Eight of the Nine MPs' had simply swarmed them and as he'd fought merely to stay awake, the upper hand had shifted to the enemy. As bad as his own situation was, he was pretty sure Asuka was in worse shape. He could hear her scream in pain as Unit Two was literally being torn to pieces by four of the others. The final two were attacking Hikari and as she screamed for him he tried even harder to escape the monstrous beasts holding him down. He managed to kick the one on his chest off but even as he did that, one of the ones that had been after Asuka leapt up to replace it's ally-- it's white face smeared in the purple liquid that was Unit Two's blood. He screamed in rage and helplessness and just as he was about to pass out again, two things happened almost simultaneously. Unit One's AT Field suddenly threw off a wave of force-- hurling the MPs' away so hard they struck the ceiling of the Geofront. As Unit One climbed to its feet the ground began to tremble. As Shinji blinked in surprise, he realized it hadn't been him who'd made the beast move. Unit One had just gone berserk again. That was when the N2 mine went off and the entire world seemed to tremble. []====[] []====[] A blazing pillar of fire blasted the metal covering off of Terminal Dogma's entrance shaft. The force of the blast sent it sailing out through the crack in the Geofront where it landed several miles away. Sensing something dangerous, all the standing Evangelions turned to face the pyre of flame. The MPs' were watching with something close to awe, while Unit One merely stood it's ground and growled-- eager to return to battle. Inside the beast, Shinji felt another wave of nausea strike and began to cough. When he again opened his eyes he almost screamed. Horror washed over him as he finally saw the ever thickening trail of blood flow from his mouth and dissolve a few inches away into the LCL. He didn't have much time to react to this, however, as something began to happen outside. From within its blazing radiance, an even brighter shape began to emerge from the flame. It was small, but gave off more light than the fire now behind it. However, it wasn't until the figure landed on the ruins of the Pyramid, and it's glow lessened, that Shinji was able to make out any details. Even then he was stunned. That was, however, one of the last things he saw as the pain finally overwhelmed him. He passed out with the startling sight still fresh in his mind's eye. The shining figure was Rei Ayanami. []====[] []====[] Finally, Unit One let loose with a shriek of rage and the spell was broken. It charged one of the MPs' and put a fist straight through its armor. It began brutally tearing the MP's insides out through a fresh cavity it's chest, another suddenly appeared behind Rei and with one great bite, she disappeared into its mouth. The MP stood and was about to launch itself at Unit One when it's body suddenly spasmed and the beast froze in place-- it's grin dissolving to a look not unlike horror. It wrenched back, its elbows touching as it's spine seemed to be trying to twist it into some unnatural shape. The Eva continued to convulse a moment longer before it's upper body erupted in a hurricane of blood. As the fine mist of it's insides rained down on the surface of the Geofront, a sphere of light remained in place of its body. Soon, the hail of blood subsided, and Rei's AT Field expanded again. Frowning, she floated towards where the MPs were swarming Unit One. The Evangelion was fighting like a thing possessed, flinging the winged monsters off of itself as fast as they could try to attack. It turned to one MP as it charged and merely punched forward. This succeeded in driving it's fist through the grinning maw-- pulverizing it's teeth-- and continuing onward up to elbow depth. For a second, the two titans stood like that, the white monster spastically twitching before Unit One's arm jerked twice. When it emerged it held the dummy plug clenched in it's gore-stained fist. The one that had been earlier relived of one of it's wings by Asuka's axe found itself with a matching pair as it was inadvertently thrown in Rei's direction by another pulse of force from Unit One's AT Field. Rei responded by extending her hand and manipulating the surface of her own AT Field. The MP struck it, and the Field flashed-- splitting the MP into four neat pieces. It fell to earth shattered and lifeless. Her red eyes flashing with power, Rei turned to face the remaining Mass Produced Evangelions. []====[] []====[] Below the battle, both Unit's Three and Two had been disabled. The pilots had been a bit shocked to find themselves alive, and after climbing from the entry plugs they'd raced for the relative cover of the lake. Hikari had discovered as soon as she'd left the Eva that her injuries were beginning to fade, but with the carnage going on above it was the least of her problems. They watched the fight above in a combination of total terror and awe. No one had told them the AT Fields were capable of this. Neither had said anything as of yet, and until the voice called out from behind they hadn't intended to. "Hey you!" the feminine voice shouted, "can someone give me a hand over here?" Asuka whirled around to see a girl about their age clinging to a large piece of shattered lumber several yards out in the water. Out in the lake behind her was a metallic cylinder that she suddenly realized looked familiar. She blinked for a moment as Hikari turned to see as well. Both jumped into the water and began swimming to help. It only took them a moment to reach her. In spite of all the equipment packed inside them, plugsuits were almost as good as wetsuits for swimming. As they began to turn, a thundering smashing sound caused all three to jump. The sound was result of another of the MPs' crashing to the earth almost exactly where they'd been standing moments before-- it's lower half landing almost a mile further down the beach. The girl cried out as Hikari adjusted her hold and Asuka realized that she was wearing a military jumpsuit. "Careful, I think my arm's broken," the girl said speaking rapidly in her pain and fright, "not that I'm ungrateful or anything I mean you did save my life and all and oh my God is that thing really dead?" "Calm down," Hikari said as they swam for a group of trees, "are you the one who was in that Mecha?" "Uh huh, and if I never do that again as long as I live I'll be happy, oh and I'm Mana by the way and I'm sorry for the whole 'coming here to fight you' thing but I was under obey or die orders." Trying to keep track of the injured girl's dialog, they reached the shore. As Hikari went to look for something to make a splint, Asuka turned back to where another of the MPs' had fallen before the combined wrath of Unit One and Rei Ayanami. She couldn't help but think of Kaoru as she watched Rei slam her AT Field into the earth-- crushing yet another of their enemies into a ocean of pulp against the ground. The ground lurched from the impact and Unit One suddenly spread it's wings and leapt straight up to the ceiling above. It somersaulted as it reached the top, and-- like an Olympic swimmer-- it used the ceiling of the Geofront to press off and turn back to the earth below. Asuka had never seen anything like this in her life, and as she watched, she realized that she never wanted to again. This wasn't glorious combat, this was brutal slaughter for its own sake. This was what the Eva's truly were capable of. She'd seen it before but it hadn't sunken in until now what the monsters really were. The Evangelions were gods all right... Gods of Death and War. []====[] []====[] Unit One shot to earth, taking careful aim, and plowed into another of the MPs'-- driving it into the ground in a cloud of rock, dust and blood. When the dust began to settle Unit One rose holding the broken body of the enemy in it's hands. A flex of it's arms later there was one less Eva to fight. Rei had made short work of the remaining foes with a wave of her hand. A thin sliver of light shot across the Geofront, and the MP's were simply cut to ribbons. Finally the battlefield was silenced, and the remaining two combatants turned to face one another. There was a long pause of quiet-- startling in contrast to the fearsome din moments before. Unit One stood facing the tiny figure. It's head tilted in a look of puzzlement as Rei stared back. Her breath was rapid and this was not merely due to exertion. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she could feel the very fabric of her body fighting the discorperation that was the cost of using her AT Field at this level. There was also something in her mind--in her very soul that was trying to overtake her. It was a feeling she'd experienced once before as she'd watched the destruction of the seventeenth angel. That feeling had been the result of her dangerously close proximity to Lilith. With Lilith destroyed Rei had hoped she would never feel that awful/rapturous pull again. She'd never considered that with Lilith gone, that which had been crafted in her form would call out to her. She'd never considered the Eva would call out to her as such. Now, as Unit One began to step toward her, she found that the pull was beyond her ability to resist. Her own Eva had been born from the First Angel-- as had all the others save this. It had been what made Unit One so valuable to Ikari and Seele. She felt herself floating towards the giant, and as she watched helplessly, Unit One reached up and tore it's left chest plate from it's body, leaving the raw flesh beneath revealed. It held out it's hand and she landed therein. One final time she tried to resist the call, but she was too close. As Unit One held it's hand against the bare flesh, she could hear the heartbeat through the skin, and realized that it matched her own beat per beat. "Please," she whispered, "I do not want to do this." Giving no reply, Unit One's hand closed against its chest, and with matching screams, it and Rei Ayanami began to merge. It wasn't a long event, but a rapid merging of tissue that was not unlike a drop of water in a pool. Rei' scream cut off in a flash, which left the bellows of Unit One to rock the geofront in a long agonizing howl. []====[] []====[] Down below the chaos, an access hatch was kicked open and Misato Katsuragi-- unaware of what was happening above-- crawled out with another person in tow. "All I'm saying is that you could have written or something!" she growled as she pulled Kaji from their escape route. "The risk of being found out was to high," he responded as she placed his arm over shoulders. Favoring his broken leg, they began limping out of the wooded area, "I never would have made as much headway if they had known that I was still breathing-- I'd have been too busy looking over my shoulder. Quite frankly you're probably alive thanks to not knowing _I_ was." She'd been stunned to see him-- even more stunned than she'd been when one of the masked commandos had mowed down his teammates. And that had been a considerable shock. When he'd removed his mask and Misato saw Kaji grinning down at her she'd-- for a moment thought she was already dead. Then he'd opened his big dumb/ beautiful mouth. "You just going to sit there all day or do you want to get out of here?" he'd said-- that stupid grin plastered all over his face seeming to widen further as he watched her stare up at him in shock. She'd wanted to slap him-- then kiss him, but had settled on reversing the order and forgetting the former in the process. As they'd hurried down the halls, however, another attachment of troops had seen them. Kaji had thrown a small shape at them and seconds later an explosion had sent them flying. She'd had to carry him much of the rest of the way. After they'd come to they'd found that he'd fractured his leg during the blast. Now as they emerged from the shrubbery, she wondered if she wouldn't have been better off with the rain of gunfire. Towering above the fallen bodies of the MP Evas, Unit One was shrieking in pain. Its body was convulsing and through the torn patches in its armor, it's body was glowing ethereally. It's hands slowly began to rise to it's head and as they watched in stunned silence, it grasped it's helmet and unlatched it. The horned covering fell to earth and beneath it, the membrane that normally covered Unit One's true face began to melt away in a wave of light-- like a sheet of burning paper. The Eva dropped to one knee as pieces of it's armor began splitting and falling off of it's body, revealing the glowing flesh beneath. From it's head a waving mane of ethereal hair fell down it's back and Misato was amazed to see wires and joints beginning to emerge out from the glowing flesh as if being shoved out from within. The shape of the body was undeniably feminine, and Misato was equally shocked to see that the face was Rei's. As the wires began to fall and suddenly a large cylinder fell from the Eva's back. The entry plug of Unit One split open and as Misato screamed, she saw that nothing had fallen out. No LCL, no Shinji... nothing at all. "Shinji..." she whispered aloud as she realized that he'd been absorbed again. As the last of the armor and electronics fell from it's body; Misato suddenly began to wonder why the creature was simply standing in place. []====[] []====[] "Where am I?" Shinji whispered as he spun in the darkness. There was no direction, no up no down, nothing to anchor him to a spatial relation. There was no sense of time, as he didn't even seem to be breathing. "You are from whence you came," a musical, and somehow familiar voice told him. He did not hear the voice with his ears, and it took a moment to realize that he'd heard it somewhere deeper.. Somewhere from inside his mind. "What does that mean?" he wondered. "All humanity is born of and returns to me," the voice said, "you are all my children." "Are you... God?" he whispered in awe. "Not in the sense you mean the word." "Am I dead?" "Some might say you are, but your condition is not unfamiliar to you." "I don't understand... where's Hikari?" "She will be with us soon." "Is she hurt?" Shinji cried out, "where is she? I have to help her!" "Why?" the voice asked simply. "I just do!" he shouted. "Answer the question." "Who are you?" "Answer the question." "You first." "Some have called me Lilith." "But that isn't your name, is it?" Shinji said, not sure why he was so bold about it. "I have no name. However, Lilith will serve for this discussion. Answer my question." Shinji nodded, out of habit more than anything, "I can't let someone I love be hurt if I can stop it from happening." "You... love her?" "I do." "Explain." "What do you mean, 'explain'?" "Explain this emotion you feel for the girl." Shinji floated there for many seconds before speaking carefully, "I don't know if I can put it into words." There was a short silence, and then everything around him brightened for a moment. Shinji felt something open inside him, and his mind was touched by something warm and soothing. Instead of fearing the touch, he found himself welcoming it. He began to see the last few months of his life play before him. His first day in Tokyo Three, the battle, meeting Hikari, the second battle, her hugging him at the train station. Talking with her, walking to school together. Their first kiss. The dawning realization that what he was feeling for her was deeper than anything he'd ever known. The horrible way he'd nearly ruined all of it. The nightmarish weeks after, the day they were reunited... all of it played out in an instant and when the touch retreated, Shinji was stunned at the experience... by the realization that his feelings for Hikari were deeper than even he'd understood. "I see..." the voice said as it faded, and left him alone in the void. []====[] []====[] Rei found herself watching the events of the past hour from outside her body. As she stood atop the Nerv Pyramid, a voice spoke that seemed to come from all around her. "why did you externalize your AT Field?" "it was necessary to save the others." "even though your body would not have survived for more than an hour? Even though your other selves had been destroyed? You would condemn your self to nothingness to save these others? Why." "I would not allow my friends to die if I could stop it." "But what prompted this risk? What do these Lillum mean to you, one born of my own flesh? Why would you risk yourself for them?" "I know who you are. I know what you are. If the human race is truly born of you, why is it that you find my actions so alien? I acted to stop a great wrongness which I'd been a pawn in bringing about. If I'd done nothing, even if I had joined with you, I would never have forgiven myself for not acting when I could." The voice said nothing, and Rei Ayanami waited for the ultimate fate of all mankind to be decided. []====[] []====[] "Why did you choose to bond with the Evangelion?" the voice asked Yui Ikari. She looked around startled again, for so long she'd lived as a wraith in the Eva, and she was still trying to adjust to this nothingness when the voice spoke up. "Oh no, don't tell me it's begun," she whispered in horror as the memories rushed back to her of fighting and the Angels and Shinji screaming for the pain to stop and Gendou and the giant white Evas and the poor sobs of her son helpless to stop the fourteenth without her and the black armor tearing like tinfoil in her hands and the power-- oh God the power-- of the AT field at her control. "You refer to the event you call Third Impact. You helped to orchestrate this event." "Bullshit," Yui shouted, "I didn't understand what I was working on till after Antarctica." "Yet you continued to help them," the voice said. "Wrong," Yui said firmly, "I helped build a tool that would let us survive the war with the angels." "And that is all the responsibility you claim?" "No," Yui said, tears wanting to come, which seemed not to be possible in this place, "I know that I was seduced by the idea that we could become what you are. I fantasized every day by the dream of sailing immortal through the stars. But at no point did I want this to happen, damn you, I wanted to stop it. I don't care what you, Kiel or ANYONE says, you don't have the right to decide the fate of a whole world." "You'd wish I stop now, even if it meant abandoning your only child?" "Don't even try to use the mother/cub argument with me," Yui growled, " if you're what I think you are, you don't have the right to judge my actions. I saved Shinji's life by doing this. No one else could have fought the angels like we did together. Don't you dare tell me that it was all for nothing. Don't you dare tell me it's all over and I've failed, and don't you dare accuse me of abandoning him when you've been sitting there doing nothing for hundreds of thousands of years." Again the voice was silent. []====[] []====[] When Shinji came to again, there was the sense that someone was nearby. He turned to see a familiar woman in her early twenties. She was looking at him with an expression of confusion and surprise that matched his own. It took him only a second to realize who she was. "M-mo--mom?" he whispered as another figure stepped into view between them. Yui took a step away as Rei stopped and looked back and forth between them with a quizzical expression. Her confusion was only increased as the voice they'd all heard spoke. "So this is what my children have become," said the voice. It was like listening to the wind, a harmonious, melodically voice that was somehow not human, incredibly powerful, yet not in the least frightening. "what's going on?" Shinji began to demand. "Silence," Rei said in a stern-- yet not menacingly-- voice. She looked into his eyes, and Shinji wondered if she knew what was happening. A light came from nowhere and entered Rei, who began to glow, and as Shinji and Yui watched, a shape emerged from within her. A glowing human figure stepped free and they all heard a voice in their minds as everything went white. "You have done well. The bonds you hold for those you love extend beyond even the walls between your souls. You may never know just how truly rare that is in this universe. I am pleased with you, my children. Farewell." []====[] []====[] As the humans watched on in rapt fascination, the glowing form that had emerged from Unit One's armor took to the air. It floated for a few moments as its wings spread, as if testing them for the first time. A sphere of light emerged from within the creature, floating down to land within a crater from the battle. That accomplished, she launched skyward-- the great sweeping wings spreading even further from her back Lilith rose from the Black Moon-- her egg that was known among her children as the Geofront. She flew up through the sky and rose gracefully through the upper layers Earth's atmosphere. All over the nation-- and in the countries around Japan, those within sight watched in amazement. News crews dropped what they were doing and soon everyone in the world was watching the ascension of Lilith. As her glow lit the dimming sky's she passed through into space. Sailing across endless depths ever faster she sailed to the Moon where a twisted length of crimson metal floated in orbit. Her hand extended and the lance of Longinus was suddenly thrown outward. It shot into space and as it accelerated, the gravity of the sun caught hold of it. It's course altering, it shot straight towards the glowing sphere and moments later was obliterated within. Lilith nodded in satisfaction and flexed her wings. Turning from the blue planet on which she had dwelled for so long she flew off into the depths of space. []====[] []====[] "This is absolutely unacceptable!" one of the Seele monolith's screamed in rage. "Everything we've done," another whispered in shock, "all our work... lost, how did this happen? How _could_ it happen?" "This means the inevitable doom of mankind," Kiel told them, "this festering pool of hate and filth will not last much longer without destroying itself, I see no reason not to speed the process-- a mercy killing instead of a slow... What is this?" Suddenly one by one, the Seele monoliths began to disappear. A hissing of static began to filter through the room as Kiel stood and looked around him in confusion. This had never happened before. The connections between the members of Seele were monitored by the most powerful security programs ever devised. Had any of them killed the connection willingly or unwillingly he should have known. Something was wrong. "That's him," a voice suddenly said thorough the static. "Who dares!" Kiel spat as he spun to try a pinpoint the source of the voice. His spine creaked in protest of the fast movement, as did his hip. So much of his body had been replaced to extend his life to this day... and it had been stolen from him, the rage began to return and overwhelm his confusion. "He's shorter than I'd thought," a sarcastic voice said-- different from the first. "Who is this?" Kiel shouted, "I will not stand for this affront!" "Is the location confirmed?" the first voice asked-- apparently not to him. "We have confirmation," yet another voice said this one female and vaguely familiar, "signed sealed and delivered." "I demand to know who this is!" Kiel growled as he backed away from the center of the room. This was unprecedented-- someone had broken into the meeting. It should have been impossible and as Kiel pondered it further he began to grow afraid. As he reached for his door, however the voices finally answered him directly. "Kiel Lorenz," the first voice said, "you have been caught in the act of a high crime against the human race. The evidence of this has been recorded and sent to every law enforcement agency on the planet. I imagine that most people will want you drawn and quartered at the very least for what you just tried to do. You have no hope to escape, and we recommend you give up peacefully as to make it easier on yourself." Kiel shook in rage and as he listened to the arrogant fool mock him with the legal threat. He'd brought nations to their knees to reach this day! Yet... anyone who could breach his security measures was no doubt capable of doing what had just been promised. Kiel's resources had been exhausted this day, and he'd made no preparations for beyond. He could not buy a judge this time. He was a doomed man. "One last thing," the voice said in an insultingly cheerfully tone, "we of the Prometheus alliance would like to thank you for allowing us to perform the hack of the millenium, "there was a pause before a sickeningly sarcastic voice piped in, "Have a nice day." The room went silent and Kiel seethed in hate as he stepped over to his seat. He sat down and removed a small device from his pocket. Behind his visor he smiled. "You arrogant little worm, do you really think I was completely unprepared?" As he pressed the switch on the device, charges that had been long ago set all over his estate detonated, burying him in a mountain of rubble. Gendou Ikari had made great pains to insure that Kiel Lorenz would take no one but himself with him in death. The worlds network of nuclear missiles had long been disconnected from the kill switch. As Kiel breathed his last, his final coherent thought was to realize that maybe he'd been wrong... Gendou had proven to be the gamemaster after all. []====[] []====[] Closing the lid of her laptop, Maya breathed a sigh of relief. She'd managed to pull it off after all. The others were busy copying any vital information they could out of the other Magi units, and her own laptop would be busy with it's own decryption of Ikari's files for another hour or so. With the news being spread across the world of the truth behind the last fifteen years, the Prometheus Alliance had done what it had been created to do-- stop the lies and reveal the truth to the world. She was happy to have had a part in that. She took a long drink from her canteen and wondered how things had gone topside. Since she was still breathing she assumed the world hadn't ended. Looking down at one of the other computers she'd hooked up she was glad to see that the bridge crew had survived. Their position just beside the Magi had protected them, and now that the UN was calling for a cease fire they were more or less safe. Changing the angle, she laughed as she saw her friends jumping around and yelling in glee and excitement. She began gathering her things, and in a few moments was on her way to join them. []====[] []====[] Hikari had never run so far so fast in her entire life. After what felt like forever she reached a small crater in the surface of the Geofront. She almost fell in as she skidded to a halt and tried to catch her breath. This had been where the glowing orb of light had landed, and she had to know what was there. She'd left Mana in Asuka's care and had dashed here hoping against hope to find something left of Shinji. What she found caused her to loose her balance and fall down in the crater. When she stopped rolling and regained her equilibrium, she was laying beside three nude figures. All three had brown hair, and two of them were female. The third was Shinji and as she cried out his name she scrambled to his side. "Wake up," she cried as she cradled his head in her lap, "please Shinji, wake up!" He let out a moan, and she hugged him in relief as he groggily began to wake up. "Shinji!" another voice called up from above. Hikari looked up to see Misato sliding down the embankment towards them. Misato stopped just short of them however, and a puzzled look crossed he face. Hikari turned to follow her gaze and realized that she'd completely forgotten about the two women. The first was in her late twenties and while the second looked remarkably like her-- she was much younger. The older woman began to wake up, and it only took Hikari a moment to realize that she was the woman from Shinji's scrapbook-- she was Yui Ikari! "Rei?" Misato whispered as Hikari let out a gasp of surprise. The younger of the two was indeed Rei, and as she woke, even Shinji sat up in shock. Not only was her hair now the same dark brown as Shinji and Yui Ikaris', her eyes now had the same blue shade. At the moment, their nudity was the last thing on anyone's mind. Yui suddenly looked over at her and Shinji, and Hikari watched the woman's eyes widen and tear as she saw her son looking back at her. "Oh my God, Shinji!" Yui cried as she embraced both her son and Hikari. Shinji began to cry and laugh at the same time. After several more tearful hugs and greetings-- and the loaning out of clothes from Kaji and Misato-- the five of them climbed from the crater and joined the rest of Nerv's survivors. []====[] []====[] "What's going to happen now?" Asuka asked several hours later as they waited for word from the UN. They'd joined up with the Bridge crew and the other surviving Nerv staff and after exchanging stories and information several of them had gotten together to talk about what was to come. "Hard to say," Kaji replied, "most of the people here will be cleared thanks to the information that is-- as I speak-- being released to news agencies all over the world. There will be a lot of questions... and a lot of explaining. Hopefully the information Maya got from the Magi will explain most of this and let people know that we had nothing to do with Seele's plans." "I doubt I'll make it through this," Fuyutski said sadly, "I was far too involved... with any luck they will simply give me a life sentence." "That's something else I wanted to talk about," Kaji said, "most of us are relatively unknown to the world. No photo's were ever published of the pilots, and very few outside their school know who the are. I can arrange for most of us to simply disappear. The people I've been working with can arrange new lives for all of us with little effort. All I need is for you to agree and I'll have Maya set it up with them." "What about all our friends and families?" Hikari asked, "I don't want my sisters or my dad to get hurt if they go after them trying to find us." "I don't want to leave Kensuke behind," Mana insisted, "he's the reason I'm even here right now. If I hadn't met him I might have been acting just like the other two during the battle..." "I don't think it will be much of a problem," Maya told her, " not only is the Alliance is still hooked into the Magi, I helped them hack the other branch's systems as well. We have more or less total access to every computer that's wired to a phone." "I know I'd like a chance at a normal life," said Yui, "I may not remember everything about being in Unit One, but I remember enough. Now that I'm out I don't want to spend the next eleven years in a court explaining what happened to people who won't believe us. I want to go out and talk to people, see things and just... Just live!" "I would like to see the world beyond Tokyo three as well," Rei said, causing everyone to pause. Yui was still uncertain about the young girl, but Shinji had accepted her almost immediately as his 'little sister' and she couldn't help but feel a little closeness toward her. After all, she was more than a daughter, she was technically _her_. "You have a few hours before the UN makes their decision," Kaji told them, "think it through and let us know." []====[] []====[] Thirty-five hours later, an emissary from the UN arrived to take the staff of Nerv into protective custody. Other than a few wandering members of the organization, no others were found. []====[] []====[] On the shores of a distant world-- many light years removed from Earth, the glowing figure of Lilith came to rest. Her travel had exhausted her almost completely and what little energy she had left she spent weaving a sphere that would protect and nurture her as she rested. When it was at the size she desired, she stepped up to, and into it. There she would sleep for hundreds of years before a new race of lillum would emerge from the black egg. And so the cycle began again. []====================[] End of Carpe Diem []====================[] And one last final... []====================[] Author's Incoherent Babbling. So. The end of TWS is almost upon us. All that's left is the epilogue, which will follow this shortly, and it's done. Complete. Finished... wow. I've never tried to write something this complex before, and if the response is any indication, I suppose I've managed to pull it off. Two takoballs, countless Emails, several positive reviews, and the embarrassing thing on Evangelion.com forums where I'm being compared to people WAY over my league... its all a little overwhelming for this crazy fella from deep in the heart of Texas ^_^ Okay--rant time; The more I watch the final chapters of Evangelion, the more I realize that Anno was trying something extremely difficult. While having the good guys victorious, he was trying to show that sometimes victory might be close to not being worth the price-- amongst many other philosophical points. Look at the last 3 angels. 15 broke Asuka, 16 broke Rei, and the combination of being helpless to save both, combined with what he went through with Kaoru broke Shinji. Countless fanfics are based over trying to alter those events-- moreso than any of the other angels. I have to wonder just what EoE would have been like if they'd had the funds to do it at the end of the show as they'd intended. Would we have seen things go down as they had in EoE? Would Asuka have been shattered against the MPs? Don't tell me they never intended the events of EoE-- Anno wouldn't have had Makoto investigating the construction of the MPs in the show if he didn't plan on using them somewhere down the line. I wonder what things would have been like if the fans hadn't flamed Anno for the way things went... would EoE have been so starkly brutal? The only time I've ever received a flame was at the end of chapter 11 of DWF. After Asuka threw herself from the cliff. I found it highly amusing that he'd thought I had killed one of my favorite characters, but I was actually rather happy to get it. It meant that someone had had enough of an emotional response to something I'd written that they actually (in jest or not) threatened me if didn't bring Asuka back. It was actually kind of cool that I'd invoked that powerful a response... but it didn't change what I was going to do. I'd had the end plotted from the first draft of the outline. And I can't help but wonder... how much did the flames influence Anno? He was reputedly clinically depressed during much of the making of Evangelion... with the budget falling apart and the fans screaming over the ending, I can see how he'd be unwilling to step into the fire again. EoE is so stark and harsh, but how much of that was actually due to the feedback, and how much was that how it was planed to be? I guess we'll never really know. It's been almost a decade since Eva was created, and the odds of it being remade are slim to none... well unless someone tries to do a live action version. What's my point? Well I guess if I had to give one I'd say that for all the talk about 'Anno's vision' we have to remember that until he does a tell all autobiography, no one has claim to say whether the TV ending or EoE was the original one. The TV ending was effected by monetary problems, and the Movies by various other issues. Just what would have happened if they'd had the cash to do the last two episodes right only one man knows, and he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. *shrug* just some food for thought. Sorry to rant on y'all ^_^ I really hope y'all enjoy the final chapter of TWS-- the epilogue is due out soon. Btw--How is this for irony? as I was about to save this, "hey you" started playing on the radio ^_^ Well, open your heart, I'm coming home ^_^ Out Hotwire Chain Lightning Studios Fanfiction, Incoherent Babbling, Random Sillyness http://www.chainlightningstudios.com