Notes on the rest of this fic:

I believe I've come to the point where characters can change from the
original series.  I have already changed the timeline some (Touji is
now

an Eva pilot whereas he comes in later in the Gainax timeline.)  Kaji
was part of the original storyline I thought up, but was scrapped
because it would have only complicated things in the story, sorry.
Angels will also become an even less factor in the story (this could
be
the last one)  while characters thoughts are explored even more.
Remember, internal struggle is what I'm focusing on, not the angels,
the

religious aspects of the series or the Human Instrumentality Project.

With this angel, I'm going to deal with the thoughts of Rei in the
next
part.  This part just has too much stuff going on.  I'm not forgetting

it.

EPISODE 5:  ENEMIES

Unit-01 was launched 10 minutes before Unit-02.  This was because NERV

had more personnel to tend to Unit-01 than Asuka had for her Eva.  The

landing point of the new angel was on the outskirts of Tokyo-2.  Rei's

ability of a pilot enabled her to get into position before Asuka,
despite having to come all the way from Tokyo-3.  Although she
expected
help from Asuka, she was warned to watch out for problems of an
uneasy,
temporary truce.

Over Unit-01's radio, Asuka offered her help while Maya was ringing
off
the details of the enemy.  "Hello wonder girl.  Long time no see."
She
made her tone as polite as she could.

Rei disregarded the greeting and continued with the business at hand.
"Target's altitude is 10 kilometers.  Estimated landing time is 1
minute."

The two waited a few seconds before Ritsuko broke in over the radio.
"Something's wrong.  Clear away from the landing area."  What she saw
was the large, black circle shifting it's trajectory.  There was also
something odd about the target's height.  It appeared it was getting
thinner.

Asuka, ready to attack was confused by the order to withdraw.  "What?
You mean run away?"

"Just do it!  Move!"

The two Evas started to clear from the angel's path, but its descent
accelerated faster than predicted.  The shift in the landing site fell

upon Unit-01 and three blocks of Tokyo-2 that surrounded it.  Once the

angel had reached its landing point, Rei as well as the Eva was
completely engulfed.

"Damn!"  Misato didn't like the situation.  An Eva had been engulfed
by
the angel and she could not think of any solutions.

Maya, looking over her instrument panel, could not find any solutions
either.  "Readings on the pilot are unknown.  The umbilical cord was
cut

when we lost contact with the Eva.  Four minutes, 45 seconds left of
Eva

activation."

Asuka was just as suprised by the angel's method of attack.  "What the

hell happened?"  Asuka stood a mere 10 meters from the angel, but she
couldn't find a core to attack with the prog knife.  Combined with the

shock, the affect was a pilot who was unable to think of anything to
do.

"What the hell is happening?"  Misato turned to Ritsuko for answers.

"Interesting.  The angel is only 3 nanometers thick.  It appears the
angel is using an inverted AT Field to maintain its structure.  It
also
appears the inside of this angel is a portal of some sort."

"So how do we defeat it?"

"I'm not sure yet."

Three minutes, forty seconds left of Unit-01's internal battery pack.
At this point, the angel began to move slowly toward the city of
Tokyo-3.

Sensing the danger, Unit-01 came to life.  It lit up in berserker
mode,
swinging at nothingness, running in no particular direction.  But
somehow, it was able to effect the angel.

>From the outside, the perfectly circular disk began to warp at the
edges.  The circle soon lost it's shape and began to collapse upon
itself.  As the angel closed, Rei and the Eva appeared through the top

half of the enemy.

Now that the immediate danger was gone, Unit-01's savage rage then
turned against the intruder inside.  Ayanami's nerve pulses were
rejected and LCL pressure increased.  With the pilot being rejected as

well as damaged pilot sensors from an unknown cause, there was no way
for NERV to determine the status of the pilot or do anything about
it..
Finally, the Eva calmed down and ceased its attacks.  Because there
was
no more of a threat, the Eva no longer carried out its menace.

This was the opportunity Asuka had been waiting for.  She despised
Rei,
always showing her up.  Now that she was an enemy, this was the
perfect
opportunity to get her back.  She moved in and began striking at Rei
repeatedly.  The armor was beginning to wear at the continuous
strikes.
Only the brief moment it took to activate the prog knife paused the
attack.

Misato and Ritsuko saw this and didn't like what they were seeing.
Asuka's annoyance had turned to anger as she attacked Rei, screaming
insults as she assaulted her enemy.  There was no use getting to her,
she was in a berserker mode of her own, visualizing anyone from NERV
as
the enemy.

NERV was also helpless to do anything.  Still unsure that Rei was even

alive, they had no options.  Unit-03's pilot had yet to synchronize
with

it, and the dummy plug was not ready for use.

Rei sat there listening to the screams from both commands, but mostly
to

Asuka's voice.  "I won't let you be better than me!  You are just a
puppet for NERV..."  She still had some composure in the entry plug
when

she looked over her options.  There were few, berserker mode had
drained

the internal battery down to 15 seconds, Unit-01 had rejected her, the

high LCL pressure kept her from even moving in the entry plug.  The
only

conclusion she could come up with was to await her death.

Only the automatic ejection system stopped Asuka's pounding and Rei's
fate to die.  The buildings in the city made the entry plug difficult
to

track as it landed harshly on a street corner.  The initial jolt of
the
bottom end striking the ground and the tube falling to its side gave
Rei

a sharp sensation of pain in her left arm.  The pain soon went away as

everything went black.

Misato only saw the ejection of the entry plug on Unit-02's monitor.
With the intent on saving Rei,
she promptly shouted commands to Ritsuko to get Asuka back down and to

retrieve Unit-01 as well.  She hastily left the command center and
rushed through the hall, passing a confused Shinji.

Rei had woken up in a plain, white room, lying on a bed.  She tried to

stretch to get rid of the stiffness in her muscles, but found her left

arm immobilized.  She looked town to see her arm in a crudely made
cast.  Ayanami recalled the events that occurred before she had passed

out and came to the conclusion her arm was broken.  There were many
times she had had something like this happen, so nothing much was
thought of it.  As she sat up and blinked, a woman was seen through
her
peripheral vision.

"Good.  You're awake.  So how are you?"

The injured girl turned to look at Misato, but gave no answer.

"I'm sorry about Asuka.  She will be scolded as soon as I have the
chance."

"Why?"  It was all she was going to say.  Rei knew Asuka disliked her,

but had no idea why.  It was something she simply dismissed as part of

Asuka's personality.

"Don't be nervous.  You can move about if you wish.  We're not going
to
lock you up in here."  Misato tried to change the subject.  She wasn't

going to be too militaristic with the children.

"Why would I be nervous?"

Misato thought about telling Rei to stop acting that way, but thought
of

Shinji's personality and how she couldn't change him.  Instead, she
decided to let her get out of the room so she could see the Shinji.
"Shinji is in the room down the hall if you would like to see him.
I'm
sure he wants to see you."

"OK"  The First Child got off the bed and left the room.  It was more
to

get away from Misato's questioning than anything to see Shinji.

It had only been 6 hours, but SEELE had demanded a meeting with
Gendou.
The loss on one Eva was not appreciated.  The loss of two was
something
he had to have a good explanation for right away.

"Ikari, you have lost not only Unit-02, but now Unit-01.  How much of
our resources must we have to spend to get progress from you?"

"Don't worry.  We are taking measures right now to get both Evas back.

The Human Compliment Project is still my first priority."

"But still, you have two Evas that are beyond your control.  Why
haven't

you acted on your promise to get rid of the rebels?"

"We still have to deal with the angels as well as the Instrumentality
Project.  There will be action as soon as we can get Unit-03 activated

and its pilot trained."

"Alright.  But we expect results, not excuses.  The rest of this
meeting

does not concern you."

At the cue, the SEELE members at the table disappeared, leaving Gendou

alone.

"Don't worry.  I fully intend on getting Unit-01 back.  It's time the
rules change..."

The rest of the SEELE meeting concerned their confidence in Commander
Ikari.  There was something wrong here, but they didn't know what it
was

yet.

"Well what do you think?"

"He should be replaced.  He is becoming too much of a maverick, like
he
was several years ago."

"I agree.  He's up to something.  There are two Evas in Tokyo-2 right
now.  He is cooperating with the rebels when fighting angels.  Who's
to
say he has been in contact with him all along?"

"Well there does seem to be a dissidence between him and Katsuragi.
The

last incident clearly showed Pilot Asuka's intention to kill Pilot
Ayanami."

"Also, Ikari is the only one who can carry out both projects.  We will

have to use him until the schedule is completed."

"We do have to acknowledge that.  But should we increase
surveillance?"

"No.  We have ample security as it is.  Too much more will make him
grow

suspicious."

Touji was finally able to get back home after the long hours of
briefing.  He didn't understand it.  Not at all.  His newest and best
friend was now his enemy?  Sure Asuka was a true bitch if he'd ever
seen

one, but Misato and Shinji leaving NERV?  There was something missing.

Although relieved to finally know some news of Shinji, but was it
really

worth it?  NERV didn't want any of it leaked so he couldn't even tell
his friends.  Now he was stuck in the middle.  On one side, his sister

was getting the care she needed, but on the other hand, he was now at
odds with Shinji.

The phone rang, leaving the bells in his mind.  Touji the only one
home
had lost his thought and finally got off the futon to answer it.

"Suzuhara?  How are you?"

"Oh.  Hikari.  Why are you calling me at this time?"

"I was worried.  You suddenly leaving with NERV and all.  I thought
you
were in trouble or something.  What happened?"

"I...I'm working for NERV now.  Now my sister can have better care
and..."

The class rep cut him off.  She wanted to know how he was doing.  "You

sound nervous.  What's wrong?  Can we talk about it?"

This was a suprise.  But it only made things worse.  "That's the
problem.  I can't tell anyone."

"Are you sure?"

"Ya."  There was a long pause.  Neither knew what to say.  "Listen.  I

need to get some rest.  Tomorrow I'm going to see my sister and with
NERV and everything, I..."

"Oh, Sure.  Can we talk later?"

"Um...ya I guess."  There was a click and a dial tone followed.  She
slowly put the phone back on the hook and wondered what was wrong.

<That's not like Touji at all.  I think he really needs to talk to
someone.  Its one in the morning, I'll have to talk to him at school
tomorrow.>

Touji lied down to sleep, but sleep didn't come easily.  All he could
think of was the time he had beaten up Shinji.  He too was forced to
pilot the Eva.  He didn't understand that before, the helplessness of
not having a say.  But now that he had to do this for his sister,
Suzuhara felt like he was the only other person who understood how
Shinji could have felt when he had first piloted.

<Sure I had him hit me to make it even, but what kind of apology is
that?>  It took a while, but the darkness of sleep finally overcame
his
worries.  But there was nothing to keep his feelings from invading his

dreams.

When the door opened, Shinji looked up.  It was Rei.  Immediately he
stood up with watery eyes showing his suprise and relief.

"Ayanami.  You're all right."

"I was told you wanted to see me."  Disregarding Shinji's concern for
her well being, she spoke as if she was ordered to see him.

"Well...yes..."  Shinji went over to give the blue haired girl a hug.
"I'm just glad you weren't hurt badly.  I'm sorry about Asuka.  She's
just...well you know."

Ayanami couldn't understand why Shinji had his arms around her and his

head on her shoulder crying.  Apparently this was a way he needed to
let

out his emotions, so she just stood there obediently waiting for him
to
release her.  It seemed like a long time, but the pose was finally
broken by a door sliding open.

"Shinji, you'll never believe what Misato was screaming at me about.
All this crap about..."  Asuka's complaints were stopped cold and a
scream ensued.  "I can't believe you, you pervert!  With the First
Child

no less.  I knew you two were having secret meetings..."

Shinji quickly pulled away to defend himself.  "Asuka, its not like
that.  Really."

Asuka wasn't in the mood to hear any explanations.  She had come to
relieve some of the tension she had built up after an argument with
Misato.  But to see Shinji here.  With _that doll_ of all people.  She

was through listening, it was time for her to dish out some of her
own.
"Shut up!  I know what you two are doing.  I can't believe I kissed
you.  And now you go off with this, this doll..."

In contrast to Asuka's screaming, Rei spoke quietly, but she had a
vastly greater effect.  "Why are you angry?"

"Angry?  Angry?  What do you know about angry?  You are just a doll
that

just does anything that Commander Ikari tells you.  I'll bet you'd
kill
yourself if he asked you to."

"Yes"

"You see!  Just a doll and nothing more.  You can't think for yourself

can you?"

Rei was silent.

"Answer me!"

Again she said nothing.

Asuka became even more angry at her silence.  Shinji was still in
shock
from the situation and before he could react, Asuka had taken her hand

to the other girl's cheek.

The slap had created another unexpected occurrence.  Asuka had seen
tears form in Rei's eyes.  Yes they were definitely tears.  However,
the

red haired girl wasn't able to see the full effect her slap had as Rei

seeing that she was no longer needed in the room calmly left as the
clear liquid fell from her eyes.

"Tears."  This had confused Asuka.  To her knowledge, Rei had never
shown any emotion at all.

"Asuka...you hit her..."  Shinji knew Asuka didn't get along with Rei,

but there was never physical violence.  Sure, he also heard about the
whole scene from Misato, but to see Asuka slap Rei right in front of
him

had a whole different reaction. There was no longer any disbelief.

Now that her attention was drawn off Rei, she began the next necessary

step of defending her actions.  "Of course.  She stayed with NERV.
That

makes her the enemy.  You can't show sympathy to the enemy."

"But, Rei is my"

"Ya, I know, I know.  You think Rei is your sister.  But I have news
for

you.  Your father was trying to kill you and Rei is...oh never mind.
You'll never get it will you?"  With a gruff sigh, she too left the
room, leaving a confused Shinji behind.

Underneath Tokyo-3, Fuyutski and Gendou were talking in a laboratory
few

had entered.  The laboratory was filled with clones, all in a stasis.

"Ikari, I never thought we'd have to do this so soon."

"Yes, but it is necessary.  The dummy plugs are coming along too
slowly
and with Ritsuko gone, I'm afraid it will take even longer.  SEELE
wants

results, this will keep them quiet for a while."

"And what about Unit-01?"

"Pilot Ikari thinks of me favorably.  I'll inform Ritsuko to get him
reactivated with Unit-01 and I'll have him in my hands.  Three Evas
should be enough to get those old men off our backs."

"...and you are sure about this?"  They had come to a stop at one of
the

clones.  This was the one they had chosen to awaken.

"Of course.  There's no other way."

Rei continued to walk down the hall.  Despite the tears, there was no
sign of sadness in her face.  There was something she had sensed, a
familiar presence, but there was no real explanation.  She had always
known there were others to replace her, but it was something she never

could understand until now.  Was this the feeling of rejection?  Of
obsolescence?  It was now apparent that she was no longer needed and
so
there was the wonder, <What is there now?>  What ever it was, it was
an
emptiness feeling she had never felt before.  The only thing to do was

take it in with the other problems the mind brings.  Once she reached
a
door with the note "Rei" posted to it she entered and the door closed
behind her.

Asuka was fuming.  She knew she was better than Rei in every way.
There

wasn't anything going on between her and Shinji, but for a reason
Asuka
couldn't figure out, seeing Rei with him just made her go off.  It
wasn't because she was jealous, how could anyone like someone as
stupid
as he?  This was it.  <I'll get Shinji from Rei and show her.  I'm
better than her and I'll prove it.>  There was another promise she had

made to herself a long time ago, but that promise was something she
could forget, at least until she carried out this one thing.  Of
course
she didn't love Shinji, this was just to get back at Rei.  In a way,
she

could keep both promises with this reasoning.

Shinji sat in his room for a long time, seemingly hours.  He sat there

thinking.  He didn't like seeing Asuka so angry, especially over
nothing.  He thought about talking to Rei about it, but there was
something that kept him from going.  Was it Asuka?  But there was no
reason that should have kept him in the room.  It was more like he was

not sure what was right.  <Isn't Rei my sister?  Or is it really true
what Asuka said about Rei.  It just doesn't make sense...>  Whatever
his

conclusion was, it had to be postponed by a knock at the door and a
figure entering the room.

"Shinji, how are you doing?"  Ritsuko voice sounded pleasant, a
contrast

to all the arguing earlier.

"Oh, hi Ritsuko."  This was a suprise, but his voice didn't show it.
His mind was elsewhere.

"Did you know that we recovered Unit-01 soon after the battle today?
Well, I want you to see it soon."

"You want me to pilot it.  But I can't do it."

"Yes you can.  You just have to work at it."

"What about Rei, wasn't she piloting it?  Why me?"

"Rei's injured.  She can't work for a couple weeks at least.  You
can't
expect Asuka to do it alone.  Besides, it's what your father wants."

"My father?"  This whole time, all he heard was how bad his father
was,
but this was the first time he has heard of what his father wants him
to

do.  This was all he needed to hear to change his answer.  "Alright.
I'll do it."

"Good.  In that case I'll see you in the hanger at eight o'clock
tonight."  Just as quickly as she had entered, she exited the door,
closing it softly behind her.

"Father..."

"Commander"  Ritsuko thought about the conversation she had had
shortly
before seeing Shinji.

"Doctor.  I have an important assignment for you.  I need you to get
Shinji to pilot Unit-01"

"That's not as easy as it sounds.  He doesn't want to pilot an Eva."

"I've read his evaluation before.  He'll do it, tell him I want him
to.
We will need him to help us fulfill our plans."

"And what about Rei and Asuka?"

"I have already replaced Rei and Asuka is expendable.  But we need
Unit-01..."

<I hope the Commander is right.  Things are getting out of hand.  If
this doesn't work, mankind will perish.>

Not far away, Asuka opens a door wide, revealing Rei sitting down.
She
didn't appear to be doing much, just staring into midair.  <There she
is.  So Shinji likes her and not me huh?  Well we'll see about that.>

"Well, if it isn't wondergirl..."

Rei's attention turned toward the open door.  She was now composed,
seemingly unaffected by their prior meeting.  There was no particular
interest in seeing the second child, but there was no avoiding
conversation with her.  She was not as angry as she was earlier, but
there was a determination she was hiding.  In Asuka's face, she could
tell she was after something and she was not leaving until she got it.

"So, you like Shinji huh?"  The tone of her voice was not in any way
friendly.

"Yes.  I do."

"I knew it.  So he _is_ faking everything!  Well I have news for you,
he

won't be yours for long."

There was no doubt she liked him.  Shinji taught her how important
emotions can be.  She got along with him, he had qualities that made
her

comfortable to be around, but whatever Asuka was shouting about didn't

make any sense at all.  What did she mean about not being hers for
long?  There was nothing to say until she could make some sense of all

this.

"Did you hear me?  I said Shinji's gonna be mine and there's nothing
you

can do about it.  Naturally he'll choose me because of all my superior

abilities.  And you, you can just get used to it."

This was getting more confusing the more she spoke.  From what she had

observed from other classmates, Rei suspected Asuka was jealous of
being

close to Shinji.  The only thing was, none of them were ever as
confrontational as Asuka was, so she could have been wrong.  There
wasn't any harm in asking Asuka, the least it could do is get her out
of

her face much sooner.  "What do you mean?"

"What?  So you're covering for him too huh?  Well I guess its only
natural for you to do as you're told.  But he'll be mine.  I'll show
you.  I'll show everybody."  It was obvious she wasn't going to get
any
spark out of the first child so she turned around and slammed the
door.
<Try to make a fool out of me huh?  Well we'll see who gets the last
laugh.>

Shinji was faking everything, she knew it.  And now it was time to put

her charm into effect.  A ways down the hall, Shinji had opened a door

and was coming her direction.

"Shinji.  How are ya?"

"Um...I'm ok."

"You know Shinji, you know how you always say you're my boyfriend,
well..."

"Huh?  Well...ya, but..."

"I was thinking, lets make it official.  You know, like go out for
real."

"What?...But.."

Before Shinji could say anything else, Asuka was grabbing him.  "Don't

worry about Rei, I've already talked to her."

Rei was not someone she should have mentioned.  Shinji cared about
her.
Maybe not the way Asuka had suspected, but certainly as a sister.  It
was only hours ago Asuka had tried to kill her and later striking her.

This Shinji did not approve of at all.  "Why'd you hit Rei?  I mean
she
hasn't done anything to you."

There they were, stuck talking about Rei again.  She let go of him and

gave out a sigh.  He was really stubborn about not admitting he was
faking everything.  "I thought you were supposed to like me, not Rei."

"I do like you, but why do you have to be so mean?"

For one of those few times in her life, she was speechless.  She never

could understand what he saw in Rei, there was nothing there she found

likable.  She just took orders without questions.  She had tried
before
to become friends with her, but found her strange right from the
start.
There was no real reason she saw of why Shinji always defended the
first

child.

"I have to go.  Ritsuko's waiting for me in the cage.  Can't you try
to
be nice?"  With that, he disappeared.

<I can't.  I won't lose another person again...>

A little while later, Shinji had found his way into the entry plug of
Unit-01, fully dressed for the activities.  He saw no point in trying
this again, after all, he had failed in the earlier attempt.  The
reason

he decided to go along with all of this was because his father had
wished this.  It was something he couldn't say no to.  He even began
to
believe he once piloted one before, the familiar feeling he got
sitting
inside, seeing Asuka and Rei as pilots, and everyone insisting he was
one himself was beginning to sway his thoughts.  It seemed a distant,
vague feeling, that of piloting one.  It was still so distant he
couldn't say for sure he actually had.  But still, he couldn't run
away
from the expectations people had placed on him.  All of this
influenced
him, but most of all, he didn't want anyone to hate him.  To hate him
for being a failure and running away.

"Shinji, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, Ritsuko."

"Are you ready to start?"

"I guess so."

"Alright." Once the entry plug was filled with LCL, the activation of
the various monitors activated and the nerve connections were
established as the countdown to absolute borderline continued.

"Approaching the third stage.  Zero point eight, zero point 6 to
absolute borderline.  zero point four, zero point 3, zero point one."
Shinji and Unit-01 sat momentarily at the edge of the critical mark,
then cleared.  But it was then that the Eva awakened.  "There's
something wrong!  Unit-01 is moving without the pilot's control!"

Misato was watching over this experiment, but now she was concerned.
"Is it berserker?"

"I think so.  I'm aborting the activation test.  Cutting off the
primary

power supply."  The glass on the consul was shattered and the handle
inside was pulled.  Almost simultaneously, the umbilical cord broke
from

the Eva and fell to the floor of the hanger.

"What is the status of the pilot?"

"Unknown.  It appears he reached a synchronization of 400% and all
monitoring stopped."

Unit-01, in its savage rage, twisted its torso to the left ripping out

of the restraints.  A similar motion to the right quickly removed any
remaining restrictions imposed upon it.  There would never have been
enough locks on the body to control the Eva in this state.  After
giving

out a loud, horrible wail, it began driving its fists through the
glass
to the control room.  Over and over again, it pounded, trying to get
through to the humans inside.

"Stand clear, 38 seconds left of activation."

Again it pounded.  The glass was lying on the floor in shards now.
The
only protection the Ritsuko and Misato had were the metal ceilings and

wall which prevented the berserked monster from putting its hand
freely
into the room.  Another scream came from the giant golem, fully
audible
now that there was no glass to dampen out the horrible sounds.

20 seconds.

It seemed like an eternity for Ritsuko, frozen in fear.  The doctor
knew

who it wanted.  Her.  She had awaken and now enraged in the entity
that
was the slave of NERV.  She was the one who had protected her son so
many times.  Now it seeked the life of an enemy.

5 seconds.

The control room was hardly recognizable due to the large shreds of
twisted metal created by the havoc of an Eva.  Only the back wall was
intact as it had yet to be reached by the massive fists.  That was
what
Misato and Ritsuko huddled against, lying in a fetal position for the
little protection it provided.

Finally after what had seemed more than an eternity for the fear
stricken control operators, there was silence.  The Eva had stopped
and
finally, the deafening silence had settled over base.

TO BE CONTINUED