Angels, Heaven, and Earth
                                by Ken Arromdee

                                   Chapter 9
                         "Gone, gone, the form of man"


    Ikari Yui sat by her husband's side in his hospital room, holding his hand
in hers.  Neither could recall which of the two had been more enthusiastic
about the project at first, but by now, the project was their life's work,
something they would sacrifice anything else for to meet their joint dream of
shaping the future of humanity together.  They would never be parted again;
Gendou and Yui really did love each other.

    It was everyone else they had problems with.

    "He's here", said Yui.  "The last Angel.  Our chance...  we'll be forever
united, Gendou.  Those old men at SEELE think they'll be able to control the
Project, but they won't.  Even without Rei... we planned this moment long
before there was any Rei."

    "They don't realize that I have Adam in the palm of my hand", said Gendou
from his bed.  "In all senses.  Complementation is going to draw in Adam's
body, and Adam's body will be with us."

    "And Shinji wonders why we're together so much.  I'm here so that when you
go, I'll come with you.  We shall follow the path together, Gendou dear...
and the Instrumentality of Mankind will be ours and ours alone to direct."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    "Hello kids", said Misato to the gathered throng in her living room.  Well,
not a throng, really, just Akuma visiting.  "Glad to see you're having fun."

    "We're doing _homework_", replied Asuka, looking up from a pencil, paper,
and several brown-paper-covered textbooks.  "And I'm going to finish before
Devilman this time."

    "Like I said", continued Misato.  "I'm glad to see you're having fun.
Anyway, I just thought I'd mention to all of you.  There's going to be another
Eva pilot."

    "Another pilot?" asked Akuma.  "That seems pretty weird.  There's only one
more Angel left."

    "It's not so weird", replied Shinji.  "They don't trust me.  I know too
much, I've asked too many questions and said too many things.  They want
someone else who they can fool."

    "I checked his records", said Misato.  "Kaworu Nagisa, age 14.  Born in the
fifth ward of Tokyo on September 28.  Everything I could find out seems pretty
normal.  I had this idea he was an Angel...."

    "Yeah", replied Akuma, "but...  Misato, if he was a fake of some kind, or
an Angel, wouldn't SEELE make up some fake records about him, just so that when
someone does what you're doing it'll come up okay?  It's not as if they're dumb
enough to leave him with no records and a birthday the same day as the Second
Impact."

    "I don't know, Akuma.  They didn't bother to cover up yours...  and I know
they're all real, but they certainly look fake."

    "Maybe we're all too paranoid", said Shinji.  "Not everyone is like Mom and
Dad...  he's got to just be a kid, like us.  We should go and meet him for
dinner or something.  He must be like I was when I started."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Shinji wondered, as he walked to school, if Kaworu was going to be
introduced that day in class.  But the roll call went on without the
introduction of any new student, even though Kaworu was supposed to be arriving
from Osaka that day.  Of course, he might have just got in late; he might
arrive in the middle of the day, or after school let out.  Or maybe he didn't
go to school at all.  If he was as educated as Asuka he wouldn't need school;
she herself was only in school in order to learn to get along with everyone.
Which, mused Shinji, wasn't anywhere near as effective as they probably
expected it to be.

    It never did happen.  Shinji really did want to greet the new boy; it
hadn't been long since Shinji had been new to NERV himself, and he still
recalled how being in an unfamiliar place could accentuate the loneliness of
being among strangers.  Saying "Hello.  I understand." would be good for both
of them.

    Now that the school day had ended, Shinji had one place to check: the
cafeteria.  Kaworu might show up there, and if he didn't, well, they didn't
cook any worse than Misato.  He bought a tray of overpriced Turkey Planks and
peas and looked around the dining area in search of the new boy.

    As Shinji had just given up and taken a seat, a pale-haired teen
approached with a tray of food.  It was the same thing Shinji had ordered
except for an extra piece of Angel Food Cake.  "May I sit here?" he asked.

    That was him; it had to be.  There weren't a whole lot of unfamiliar boys
his own age wandering a top-secret facility, dinner or not.  And the newcomer
even looked like a pilot, sort of like Rei.  "Sure, go ahead", replied Shinji.
"Umm...  are you the new person?"

    The boy smiled.  "If you believe you know who I am, you might be right.
I'm Kaworu Nagisa.  You must be Ikari Shinji, the Third Child.  Everybody knows
about you."

    "That's right", replied Shinji, exercising long-atrophied facial muscles to
return the smile.

    "I'm like you" he said.  "I'm the Fifth Child."

    "I know", replied Shinji.  "I've been looking around to see where you were.
You're going to be replacing me.  I wanted to welcome you... and say good
luck."

    "Good luck?" wondered the boy.

    "Yeah.  I got roped into this by my Dad.  At first I didn't want to pilot
Eva at all.  And then I wanted to do it only because it was something people
would appreciate me for.  And then I wanted to do it only to help the people
who depend on me."

    "And now you don't have to.  It could be fate that I'm here for you,
Shinji.  To come here at this very moment and meet you."

    "I don't believe in fate", said Shinji, hacking away at his turkey.  "It's
too easy to think things are fated and not try to affect them yourself, not
even in little ways.  Unless it's some kind of disease or earthquake, I think
that what happens happens because of people.  Maybe not you, maybe not me,
but people.  I didn't have to look for you, and you didn't have to talk to me.
And Dad and Mom didn't have to go through with their plan.  They decided to do
it."

    "You feel betrayed by them.  They bring you sadness and you don't like them
much."

    "I don't, Kaworu.  They're evil people.  You don't know what the project is
really about."

    "It's not important, Shinji."

    "Of course it is."

    "It's not important, Shinji.  It is the kind of talk that denies you
pleasure and the kind of subject that has struck at your heart."

    "Huh?"

                                *   *   *   *   *

    "Hi guys", said Akuma breezily.  "You must be Kaworu, right?  Misato got a
picture of you.  I don't usually eat in the cafeteria, but I thought I'd drop
by to see if you were in."

    "We just finished eating, and I was going to show him around NERV after
hours" replied Shinji.  "Why don't you come, Akuma?  Kaworu needs to meet you,
too."

    "The boy from the stars, child of heaven and earth", said Kaworu.  "No, it
is not my place to visit NERV today.  Perhaps tomorrow, when Shinji and I can
be together by ourselves.  He has a lovely soul and a deep need in his heart."

    Akuma and Shinji looked at each other.  Akuma's expression was quizzical,
and Shinji responded by slowly nodding.  Then, Akuma glanced at Kaworu again,
then back to Shinji, whereupon Shinji nodded another time.  Finally, Akuma
asked Kaworu, a bit uncertainly, what was on his mind.  "I know this is a
little personal, but Kaworu... are you gay?"

    The question didn't seem to disturb the boy.  He replied "Sexual
orientation is one of the things that humans make up to keep them apart from
each other.  I'll see you tomorrow, Shinji."  He smiled at Shinji and walked
away, no doubt back to his room.

    "That's pretty funny", said Akuma once Kaworu was a safe distance away.
"The new Child arrives and he has a crush on you."

    Shinji grimaced slightly.  "I'm going to disappoint him, then.  But I can
sort of sympathize for him", he said.  "Kaworu must be more depressed than I
was.  Being gay isn't going to make him very popular, and it's not just that.
He's some kind of amateur psychoanalyst, and he can't have made many friends
by doing that...  I'm probably the first person to listen to him at all in a
long, long, time."

    "You have to admit sometimes you bring it on yourself, Shinji.  I tried
some of that when I met you, you seemed so out of it."

    "Yes, but you got better."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    It turned out that Kaworu indeed wasn't attending school.  He didn't show
up in class the next day, and the teacher hadn't heard of him.  Short of making
an unannounced visit to his apartment, the other ex-pilots' best chance to meet
him would be when he was doing synchronization tests in the evening.

    Luckily, Shinji's pass still functioned.  Not that not having a pass would
have stopped them, with Akuma in their group as well as Rei and Asuka.

    "Hello", said Misato.  "Here to meet the new kid?"

    "Yup", replied Akuma.

    "Well, he's already in Unit 02."  Misato indicated the huge 'machine' that
was the only Evangelion unit remaining of what was once a trio.  "His sync is
around sixty percent, though it's hard to tell if that's normal or not.  I'm a
bit suspicious of him, as you know; watch out, okay?"

    "He's not weird, he's gay", replied Shinji.

    "Really?" wondered Asuka, surprised.  Shinji whispered something into her
ear.  Asuka's eyes widened.  "You have got to be kidding, Idiot Shinji.  He
_really_ said that sexual orientation is...?"

    "I was there", answered Shinji.  "You can still try to ask him out once he
comes out of that Eva."  Shinji pointed to where Unit 02 was comfortably
nestled in the test equipment.  "He might be bisexual."

    Asuka shook her head.  "Uh-_uh_", she replied.  "I was _not_ planning to
ask him out.  Anyway, I'd probably catch something."

    Rei commented, "You can't catch AIDS from kissing."

    "Who said anything about AIDS?  Probably cooties or something.  You know
there wouldn't be a word for cooties if there wasn't any such thing."

    "Pretty lame excuse if you ask me", said Akuma.

    "You're just saying that because he made a pass at Shinji instead of you,
Devilman."

    "Ha, ha.  You know, though, that was pretty odd.  He already knew about
me, and it's hard to tell, but I think he felt I'd interfere in whatever he
was up to."

    "What's to wonder, Devilman?  He likes Idiot Shinji.  He probably thinks
of you as a rival because you knew Shinji first.  Maybe someone told him who
you were.  Don't worry, it wasn't me.  I'd never do anything like that."

    "It wasn't any of us", said Misato.  "Not as far as I know.  And it wasn't
Touji or Kensuke; he doesn't go to school, after all.  Someone must have
briefed him on what to expect."  She glanced another time at the test
readings.  "All the tests have been fine so far, but that proves nothing;
whoever told him about Akuma could told him to make the synchronization look
normal."

    "Nobody ever told me that when they sent me here", said Akuma.  "If they
had, I'd have had a chance to ask my grandmother for something to stop the
problem with the oxygen."

    "SEELE is a bunch of idiots", said Misato.  "Twenty-year conspiracy,
extremely influential, untouchable, GEHIRN-dead, idiots.  It's what all secret
organizations are like; there's nothing to select for competence.  But Yui
knows what she's doing.  She probably handed them a few clues."

    "Do you think he's the real one, Misato?" asked Akuma.  "An Angel sent by
SEELE?"

    "Who can say?  But I think I'm going to call your family tonight.  If I'm
wrong, I look silly, and maybe I have to buy Ryouko a few drinks...; if I'm
right, it's the end of the world.  Even knowing how much she drinks, I think I
know which of those possibilities is worse."  She let out a sigh of exhaustion.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    It was a very long and hard night for Misato.  Dammit, they didn't even
care that Ritsuko was dead; not only did work go on as usual, they didn't
assign any extra personnel to make up for her absence, which gave Misato
nearly twice the work she usually had during a test.

    Finally, Misato yelled out the command to stop, and testing was completed.
The machinery lifted the entry plug out of Unit 02 and Kaworu stumbled forth
out of it, spewing up fluid as all pilots did.

    "New sequence", said Maya.

    "New sequence?" wondered Misato.  "Whose orders?  What is it?"

    "It's from Yui herself.  Unit 02 is going to be taken to the Madagascar
branch."

    That was really strange.  What could they do with it there?  "Start the
transport sequence", grumbled Misato.

    "What?"

    "The transport sequence.  Start it."

    "Oh."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Meanwhile, the four ex-Children were gathering around the new pilot.  He
looked them over with no more warmth than a gardener poring over a bed of
marigolds, and then introduced himself.  "I'm Kaworu Nagisa.  The Fifth Child.
I've been told much about all of you, and I'm pleased that we've finally met."

    May as well see how he acts right off the bat, thought Asuka.  "So you're
the one taking our jobs?" she asked.

    "I thought you changed your mind about wanting to work, Asuka", said Akuma.

    "Yeah, well, still.  I'm Sohryuu Asuka Langley."

    "I already know your names", replied Kaworu.  "And I see you're no longer
attached to piloting, but you have some feelings which remain mixed."

    That was bizarre.  Asuka was expecting anger in reply, maybe fear or
bemusement.  But even if he was almost blonde, who would expect him to be such
a ditz?  "You sound like an advice columnist", replied Asuka.  "Cut the crap,
all right?"

    "I sound like a person whose function is to mediate between individuals.
An interesting concept.  No, I am hardly knowledgeable enough to serve in such
a position."

    "Nice try, Asuka", said Shinji.  "I would rather...  you _not_ get mad at
him, okay?"

   "Don't tell me who to get mad at, Idiot Shinji!" yelled Asuka.  "I'm not
getting mad, anyway!"  Well, just frustrated.  A lot.  Kaworu was either a
ditz, or deliberately trying to irritate her.  Who did he think he was,
anyway?

    "You look mad", said Rei.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Some time later, Asuka left.  Perhaps, thought Shinji, she just got fed up
with Kaworu.  It was understandable, after all.  Rei followed her, but that
was even more understandable; for some reason, Kaworu hadn't said a single word
to Rei all that time.

    "Well", said Akuma as Asuka and Rei left.  "I have to go too.  There's a
holiday coming up...  at least, it's a holiday where my family comes from.  It's
called 'Startica'.  I need to go home and help prepare...  so I'll be going
away too.  Have fun at NERV."  He walked to the door, though Shinji knew that
once he was out of Kaworu's view, he'd be teleporting.

    "Bye.  See you tomorrow" said Shinji.  So that was it; he and Kaworu were
the only two remaining.

    "I wonder if there is a song for Startica", said Kaworu.

    "A song?"

    "A song brings joy.  It is the highest form of culture that humanity has
created."

    "Oh!  You're a Macross fan?"

    Kaworu shook his head.  "Commonality...  something you do to produce a
meeting of the minds with another person.  To have shared experiences, even in
popular culture.  This is what you are talking about."

    "Yes.  Um, Kaworu?  You don't have to talk like that.  It bothers, well,
people like Asuka."

    "It disturbs you too.  You are alone, Shinji, and you cannot bear to listen
to another person's words.  Such rejection allows you to avoid hurt but at the
cost of your feelings."

    "Kaworu..." said Shinji.  "You're right.  I know the feeling.  I've been
depressed far too many times myself, and it's something I've had to try to
get over.  But... it's not that I'm trying to offend you, but nobody really
talks like that.  Let's talk about something else and do something else.
Okay?"

    "I am going to the showers now, Shinji.  Would you like to come in with
me?"

    "No!" yelled Shinji.  "I mean, I'm not like that...."  Maybe the
psychoanalysis part was just a line that Kaworu was feeding him and it was an
excuse to get alone and... no.  The paranoia was getting back to him again,
just like it got to Misato and Kaji and everyone else in this place.  Kaworu
hadn't done anything at all other than make a pass; Shinji just had to reject
it.  Who really cared if he was gay?  "I'll come with you, Kaworu.  All right?"

                                *   *   *   *   *

    As soon as the children had left, Misato punched the buttons on her phone
as fast as she could and waited for the answer.

    "Hello...  you have reached the Masaki household.  None of us are here
right now, but if you leave your name...."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Shinji showered with Kaworu, but carefully; he pretended that it was Asuka
in there and he did whatever he could to make sure the girl... or boy...
would miss seeing anything that he wouldn't leave visible on a beach.

    "I have enjoyed talking to you", said Kaworu as Shinji was putting on his
pants.  "Your heart is one which can accept love, and I love you."

    Shinji gulped and quickly threw on his shirt, socks, and shoes.  "Kaworu,
I really don't...."

    "That is why I wanted you here with me.  I must part you Lilim now; the
time for reunion with Adam is approaching and I must tell Yui to complete her
preparations."

    Shinji's heart skipped a beat.  Kaworu being gay he could deal with; but
this...  It would have been much worse if he hadn't been half-expecting it all
through the night, but now the truth was certain.  Kaworu was an Angel.  An
invader.  There was no mistaken identity this time; Shinji's new 'friend' had
just casually announced that he was going to embark on a course of action that
would annihilate all of humanity.  "What..." he asked dumbly, at a loss for
anything nontrivial to say.  "What does 'Lilim' mean?"

    Kaworu didn't answer.  But he turned away from Shinji and, ignoring the
force of gravity, ascended into the air bathed in angelic glow.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Akuma wrinkled his nose at the smell of the plaster.  Plaster doesn't have
much of an odor normally; but Akuma's nose and the plaster of the wall occupied
the same physical space, intensifying the scent a hundredfold.  And of course
any location within a wall is cramped and dark, and hearing outside it is
difficult.

    He was almost glad when Kaworu finally did reveal himself.  Akuma stepped
out of the wall as if it was a magic mirror from a fairy tale.  "Shinji",
he explained, "it means that this place is going to be a scene from Psychic
Force in a minute...  you'd better run, as fast as you can, as far away as you
can."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Shinji fled, on his own two human feet.  He never looked back as the battle
raged behind him.  He _had_ to get out of the complex without any hesitation;
it might not be there come another ten minutes.  The whole deal reminded him
of the old Bible story where Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt because
she took the time to look back.  Come to think of it, that story had angels
too.

    The entire plan had been Akuma's suggestion.  He would pretend to leave for
his Juraian holiday, while secretly sticking around.  Then Shinji and Kaworu
would be left alone, to do whatever Kaworu wanted.  If all that he wanted was
to get in Shinji's pants, Shinji would slap Kaworu, Akuma would ignore it, and
the next day Shinji would talk about it at lunch, everyone would get a few
laughs, and Akuma would pretend he was hearing it all for the first time.

    But if Kaworu were an Angel who feared Akuma's interference, the "absence"
of the boy who was his biggest threat would give him the perfect opportunity to
act.  Only, once he had revealed himself, Akuma would be there to stop it.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Akuma rose up into the air himself, surrounded by the aura of God.  The
Angel turned; he looked at Akuma, and then, dismissing his presence, flew off
in the opposite direction to pursue his mission.

    Akuma teleported, reappearing in front of the Angel.  He slammed his fist,
itself wreathed in light, against Kaworu's AT Field.  The blow hit, almost but
not quite penetrating, the rebound sending Akuma spinning out of control
into a row of fluorescent light fixtures.

    Kaworu rushed past Akuma, using his AT Field to sideslam a file cabinet and
a chunk of wall into him.  Akuma threw the cabinet aside with a Light Hawk Wing
formed into a crude paddle, in the process smashing the wall into a cloud of
white dust that obscured his vision.  In the few seconds it took Akuma to fly
out of the cloud, Kaworu had already fled out of sight.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    As the alarms rang through the complex, Misato frantically dialed again.
The phone rang twice, and then a girl answered.  "Hello, Masaki Mayuka
speaking."

    "Mayuka!  It's Katsuragi Misato...  from NERV.  We need your mother and
father here... we have the last Angel."

    Many miles away, Mayuka pressed a big red button.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Kaworu wanted to get to the center, thought Akuma.  Where Lilith was
located, where the heart of NERV and Tokyo-rested.  Lilith, that strange being
who Rei was a part of....  Dammit, Kaworu was basically going to rape Rei.  And
if he got his chance to "merge" before Akuma could stop him, it would be over.
His grandmother's inventions wouldn't help; Shinji couldn't arrive in his
Eva to save the day; the Earth would be gone.  Maybe it would continue
spinning, but all the civilization of humanity would be reduced to a self-
absorbed, self-psychoanalyzing layer of bitter-tasting syrup.

    Akuma concentrated, teleporting down the corridor.  He would have to do it
at random until he found something.  His first try put him inside a wall; his
second surrounded his eyes by blinding light until he realized he had
teleported inside an exit sign.  Akuma picked a direction, and tried again.

    This time, the wall damage made it obvious that Kaworu had indeed come this
way.  Akuma flew through the shattered fragments of plaster and metal and, as
soon as he saw Kaworu, teleported in front of the "boy" again.  Akuma
contracted the protective Light Hawk shield around himself and formed a sword
out of the rest of the Wings.  He swung it at Kaworu; it hit his AT Field hard,
the energy release from the contact releasing puffs of ionized air that
briefly spun off until they lost cohesion.

    Kaworu, apparently deciding that he couldn't easily escape a person who
teleported, formed his AT Field into pseudo-feathered wings, almost like the
pose of the classic religious angel that his kind had been named after.  The
wings were huge, fifty feet long and beyond Akuma's ability to dodge; they
wrapped around him and crushed him with enormous force until cracks appeared in
his field.  But Akuma had access to wings that weren't all that different, and
battled back with batlike constructs formed from energy.  Less than 25 years
ago it was thought impossible for any entity short of a tree of Jurai to even
come close to what he was doing now.  He and Kaworu traded blows, devil wings
against angel wings, while NERV lost hundreds of millions of yen worth of
equipment with each stray blast.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    "Two blue patterns detected", said Makoto.  "Two AT Fields.  It's the Angel
and... probably the not-Angel.  They're heading for the center."

    "I hear it", said Misato.  As she nervously paced the floor, thunderous
sounds muffled by dozens of rooms of distance from her made it clear that a
battle was taking place.  If those rumbles ended, either the world would be
safe...  or everybody's body would collapse into fluid like the Wicked Witch of
the West.  Misato didn't want that; Kaji appreciated her body, and she was
somewhat attached to it herself.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Akuma wasn't surprised when Kaworu blasted him through a wall.  It had
happened lots of times; the Angel had been throwing energy at him constantly,
without a care for how it affected the environment.  But then, considering
how important the fight was, Akuma didn't care much himself where he was
blasting Kaworu to.  Besides, the environment didn't really affect either of
them much; they could have been in space for all that it mattered.

    This time, though, the breach led to a different place.  Past the broken
girders and concrete, past the plaster and paint, was not another office, but a
huge cavern.  The place was so gigantic that the air currents formed soft
breezes, making the fluid at its bottom roll with waves.  Far off on the other
end was a giant, roughly humanoid, figure nailed to a cross, a spear the size
of a bus buried in its chest.  Kaworu shot a massive blast at Akuma to distract
him for just another brief moment, and zoomed away towards the figure.

    Only he stopped.

    "This is not Adam.  It is Lilith.  I have been tricked."

    "Does that mean the fight is over?" asked Akuma, yelling so his voice
carried through the combined Light Hawk and AT Fields.

    "I will find Adam", said Kaworu.  Of course.  Why in the world would Kaworu
give up when he realized he had the wrong one, rather than go and search out
what he was trying to find in the first place?

                                *   *   *   *   *

    "Anti-AT-Field detected", said Makoto.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Mayuka fell down from the ceiling, a ball of black energy in her hands.
As she passed Kaworu, she flung it out at him; it enveloped the Angel, crackled
around him, and finally negated his AT Field.  Then an unearthly light emanated
from her eyes and Kaworu screamed, his body melting away without even leaving a
puddle behind.  Mayuka landed on an island in the LCL and caught in her hand
the inch-wide red sphere that was all that was left of Kaworu Nagisa.  

    Akuma dropped his Light Hawk Wings and descended gently next to his
sister.  "You did it..." he said.  "If an AT Field is the same as the wings of
light, then a force of darkness would destroy it...."

    "That wasn't easy, you know", said Mayuka.  "Even after you weakened him.
It's not as if I get much chance to practice that move.  Anyway, we have his
core now."  She tossed the sphere in the air a couple of times, catching it
again as it came down.  "The world is safe."  She grinned.  "Well, Mom, Dad,
and Aunt Sasami don't need to rush any more.  I wonder if we can get the
location of SEELE out of this thing somehow?"

                                *   *   *   *   *

    The air shimmered, a shimmer that resolved itself into the shapes of
Tenchi, Ryouko, Sasami, and Washuu.

    "Hi guys, you're late", said Mayuka.  "We saved the world."  She held up
the sphere for Washuu to see.

    "Well, I guess you did", answered Washuu.  "I'm really proud of you!"

    "It's me who should be proud of them!" exclaimed Ryouko.  She flew down to
hug the two teens.

    "I don't like this place", said Tenchi.

    "It's...  sort of private", said Sasami, looking at the huge figure at the
other end.

    "All right, let's get out", said Washuu.  "On the count of three.  Three,
two...  Sasami, is something the matter?"

    "No, it's all right" she replied.  "Let's go."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Almost everyone in the control area was shocked at seeing six human figures
materialize out of thin air.  Almost everyone, that is, except Misato.  She had
seen teleports before, and what's more, she understood what their presence
implied.  The kind of relief experienced upon knowing that the world isn't
going to end is overwhelming.  "Thank god", said Misato, letting out the breath
she had been unconsciously holding in for far too long.  "It's over.  No more
Angels.  You did it... didn't you?"

    "Don't worry", said Sasami.  "They did, Misato.  They really did."

    "Sensors show no more AT Fields in NERV", said Makoto.

    Misato nodded.  She stepped forward to shake the hand of the teenagers who
had saved humanity.

    "But there's a weak field, distance a hundred kilometers."

    "What?" said Misato.  "That's imposs-- wait.  Unit 02?  It must be Unit 02.
They must not be really sending it to Madagascar.  Where is it?  How long has
it been going on?"

    "It's roughly northwest, maam.  It's impossible to tell how long it's been
there.  The strong AT Fields from the battle here drowned out any signal we
could sense from farther away.  And there seems to be more than one field,
though it's hard to tell.  It could have been like that for up to a half hour."

    "You mean Kaworu was a _distraction_?"

    "That's certainly a possibility...."

    Washuu cleared her throat.  "Ahem" growled the scientist.  "Someone ask me
how long it takes to start the Third Impact."

    Mayuka took the bait first.  Before she could get two syllables of the
first word of the question past her lips, Washuu answered it.  "About a half
hour.  I suggest we get moving."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Washuu's scientific teleporter hadn't been calibrated for arbitrary
locations, so Ryouko, Akuma, and Sasami had to carry everyone.  The area they
appeared in was covered in sand and mostly barren; the sole signs of human
habitation were a few nondescript two-story buildings and an old asphalt road.
The ground, however, was studded with irregularly-shaped craters tens of meters
wide.  It was obvious what had caused those, because flying overhead was
Evangelion Unit 02, surrounded by nine enormous Evangelion-like armored white
creatures that let out the occasional howl.

    Sasami instantly recognized the formation from her and Washuu's research.
"The tree of life", she said.  "Unit 02 is at the Tipheret position, which
symbolizes the self... whoever's piloting that is going to have complete
control over whatever happens to everyone on the face of the planet.  We have
to stop them!"

    "You have less than five minutes", said Washuu calmly.  "Unit 02 has
already been powered up."

    "Look over there!" said Akuma.  Silhouetted against the sky were two tiny
human figures, one holding onto the second, who had a hand stretched out as if
holding onto some invisible airplane that was dragging them both along.  "There
are people there.  Something's pulling them."

    Mayuka screamed, clenching her fist tightly around the red orb.  "It's
moving!  I'm going to be pulled too...."

    "What's moving, dear?" asked Ryouko.

    "The core.  The last Angel's core.  I have to do something, it's going to
pull me into the air."  She withdrew a larger orb from her pocket and held it
up.  "See you as soon as I dump this thing", she said.  The orb glowed,
illuminating her face like a space-opera villain's, and then she faded away.

    As Mayuka vanished into the Dark Dimension to stow her Angel core, the
others soared into the air, except for Washuu, who was limited to taking
readings on her equipment.  There wasn't much she could directly do at the
moment, and besides, the opportunity for Washuu to take readings of something
like this was something that didn't happen every day.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Ryouko and Tenchi soared at Evangelion Unit 02.  There was no time, and no
need for, any subtlety.  The raw power of twenty Light Hawk Wings tore through
the construct like Noboyuki through a pile of H magazines.
    
    Meanwhile, Sasami and Akuma flew to approach the two humans.  They didn't
have to get very close before it became obvious who the two were; one was
Yui, and the other Gendou, his hand stretched out in front of himself.  Just
under the skin of that hand lay a half-formed embryo of some inhuman thing, one
eye open and staring towards the place where Unit 02 was disintegrating.  And
on the faces of both husband and wife were beatific smiles as the energy of the
approaching Impact drew the creature in, and with it them.

    "It's too late!", yelled Gendou, and then his voice trailed off to a low
whisper.  "Far, far, too late.  You can't stop us...  we only needed Unit 02
for a moment.  It's coalescing around us...  the link that brought Adam to Unit
02 was enough even if we never reached the center."

    There must be only seconds left.  Sasami prepared a killing burst of
energy.  She'd regret it later...  but if any reason ever justified killing,
the end of the world would have to be it.

    "You've lost", said Yui.  "All that power, and you lost.  SEELE lost.
Prepare for the next step in human evolution."  Waves of darkness and light
surrounded them and expanded.  Sasami shot a blast of unimaginable power at
them... but it evaporated in midair as the waves passed it.  They overtook
Sasami, Akuma, Ryouko and Tenchi, the mass production Evas...  expanding out to
the limits of the globe.

    "No", said Washuu far below, just before the wave passed over her.  "We
don't give up that easily."  She pressed one last big red button.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Mayuka tossed the core into a jar and then sat down at her observation
system.  It had changed little since it had belonged to Yuzuha; it gave her
views of, and pathways from the Dark Dimension to, places on Jurai, on Earth,
or anywhere in the universe.

    She saw her family fight, but too late, as Gendou's version of the Third
Impact dissolved the world starting with himself and Yui.  She also saw the
interference pattern that began at her own home.  Washuu must have had one last
ace-in-the-hole in case the unthinkable happened.  Living things dissolved,
then reformed, in shapes similar but not identical.  Then they dissolved again,
until the clashing energy waves subsided and creatures arose out of the muck
as if it were their first foray into existence.

    It wasn't SEELE's Third Impact.  It wasn't Gendou's either.  And it wasn't
just conversion of the planet into a sea of liquid people.  But just what was
it?

    There was only one way to tell.  Mayuka pulled out the orb and in a flicker
of eerie light, vanished, to see the new Earth for herself.

END CHAPTER 9.