--
*-*-*-*-*
UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Biochemistry
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
--Isaac Asimov
_______________________________________________
Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com
http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup
Win the Ultimate Hawaiian Experience from Travelocity.
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;4018363;6991039;n?http://svc.travelocity.com/promos/winhawaii/
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: part12.txt
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION:
ASCENT OF THE FALLEN
By Sparky Clarkson
Part Twelve:
"When the Enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord
shall lift up a standard against him..." (Isaiah 59:19)
*********
"What's happening?" Misato demanded as she led the remaining three
children into the command center.
"We've detected an AT field in the western sector of the city," Makoto
replied, not removing his eyes from the monitor in front of him. "We
can't seem to get visuals just yet -- Commander Ikari apparently
sabotaged almost all Magi functions when he betrayed us.
"Sabotaged? How?" Misato asked.
"We're locked out," Maya said. "All Magi functions have been reset so
that they require a command code. Inside the Geo-Front we can still
operate the independent control systems, but beyond HQ our hands are
tied."
"Commander Ikari's not available to remove the lockout," Misato said.
"So get Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki. Maybe he knows the codes."
"Can't," Makoto replied, gnawing at his lower lip while he continued
to try passwords. "A nurse found him five minutes ago, in Rei's
hospital room. He'd been shot twice."
"Dammit! So you're saying we're helpless?"
"We're not helpless," Maya replied. "We just need some time to hack
the lockout code."
"Perhaps I can be of assistance," a familiar voice called from the
door. Misato whirled around to see an old friend wearing an unfamiliar
hairdo.
"Sempai!" Maya shouted, a radiant smile spreading across her face.
"You're back!"
"Yes," Ritsuko replied. She had only very short brown hair, and was
without her customary lab jacket, but Misato could easily recognize
her old roommate.
"That hair color suits you better," Misato said.
"Thanks. Now, let's get to business. Hyuga-kun, could I have your
terminal?"
"Yes, Akagi san!" Makoto replied, standing almost before she finished
asking the question. The scientist took a seat and began rapidly
typing, muttering quietly under her breath as her fingers clattered on
the keys. Within moments, screens began flickering on all over the
room.
"We have visuals!" Shigeru announced unnecessarily as images of the
city appeared on the monitors.
Everyone in the room turned towards the displays, then froze in
momentary horror. Tokyo-3 was covered by a scintillating carpet of
black, a surging, ebbing tide of obsidian particles that made waves in
the streets and lapped up at the edges of buildings, and around the
feet of an immense beast. It's seven giant heads were supported by
massive shoulders and a long, sinuous body that tapered to a tail with
seven curving, black spines. Five of the heads had horns, each a
different shape, and the other two heads spewed fire against the
storage buildings, detonating the weapons inside. The creature also
used its clawed feet and bat-like wings as weapons, toppling buildings
and tearing holes in the pavement.
"What the Hell is that?" Misato asked, the first to break the long,
stunned silence.
"An appropriate question," Kaoru replied, gulping nervously. "It... it
is the Adversary."
"Adversary?"
Kaoru closed his eyes, and said, "In the first days of the Universe,
one of the greatest of the angels attempted to raise himself above
God, and a third of the angels supported him. They were all cast out
of Heaven and fell to earth, but their power was not completely
removed." He shuddered, then continued, "The one who had led the
revolt was afterwards called 'the Adversary,' and he used every
opportunity to try and reclaim the position he thought he deserved.
But before he fell, he was called Sammael, or Lucifer. He can take
many shapes... but this is his favorite." The former angel's voice
remained calm, but he had started shaking, obviously afraid to be
facing his oldest enemy.
"So now we're up against Satan, too?" Shigeru asked. "Can't we ever
catch a break?"
"What do we do?" Misato wondered aloud.
"What we always do," Shinji replied, putting an arm around his
shivering friend. "Sammael's still an angel, so we have to go fight
him."
"But how?" Makoto asked. "How do you kill the Devil himself?"
"I don't know," Asuka said. "But we have to try."
"Misato, I have a message for you that may be relevant," Ritsuko
announced. "Gendo kept the Longinus Spear after pilot Nagisa returned.
Fuyutsuki told me to let you know that it was hidden in warehouse room
3184, behind a load of water exchangers."
"The Longinus Spear -- you mean, what Rei used to defeat the fifteenth
angel?"
"Yes. Its metal possesses a psychic energy that lays open the soul and
makes it one with the flesh. It's very dangerous though -- because of
that property, if it damages an Eva, the pilot will suffer the same
physical wound. If you use it, you'll run that risk."
"We don't really have any other choice," Misato said, "If that really
is the Devil out there, then we're going to need every bit of help we
can get." She considered the situation for another moment, then said,
"As third-in-command, I am assuming control of NERV. Makoto, have the
engineers prep all the Evas for launch, and get a team down to
Terminal Dogma to help Shinji get back in Unit One. Maya, Ritsuko,
start analyzing all the data we can get from the surface sensors. We
need to have a plan of attack, and we can't make one until we know
what that ugly bastard really is. Kids, suit up, then get in your
Evas. I'll brief you before you launch."
"Yes Ma'am!"
***
"Kaoru?" Shinji asked.
"Yes?" the fallen angel replied, pressing the switch on his wrist. His
plugsuit made a small vacuum sound as it shrank to fit him.
"Where was I? When I... when I died, I mean," Shinji asked, depressing
his own vacuum switch.
"You were in the Throne of the Soul," Kaoru replied, "The real one.
>From it, God rules the entire universe. Few mortals have ever seen it
even after their bodies perish permanently. For you to see it and
return... I have never heard of such a thing."
"Oh," Shinji said, feeling no pride in this particular form of
uniqueness. "I'm not sure whether I want to do anything like that
again," he added, staring at the floor. "I felt... small, and
overwhelmed... like I didn't belong."
Shinji started with surprise when Kaoru hugged him tightly. "You
belonged," the grey-haired boy replied. "You're the best person I've
ever met. You have so much love in your heart, despite all that's
happened... I'm honored to be near you."
Shinji returned the embrace, resting his head on the other boy's
shoulder. "Kaoru," he asked, "Can we really defeat Sammael?"
Kaoru tilted his head to nuzzle Shinji's cheek and said, "I'm not
sure, Shinji. Before the Fall, Sammael was the greatest of God's
servants, except perhaps Michael. Even outnumbered two to one, his
army almost triumphed over the Host. But I cannot believe God would
let us fight him if there were no hope, and if any human being can
defeat Satan, it's you."
Shinji tightened his hold for a moment, then released his friend.
"Then we'll just have to give it a try," he said as Kaoru let him go.
The boys turned to leave the locker room. As they neared the exit,
Shinji said, "Kaoru, just in case... I want to tell you again... I
love you."
Kaoru paused in mid-stride. "I love you too, Shinji," he answered.
"But don't worry about not having another chance. We're going to win."
***
"This field architecture is very strange," Ritsuko said, taking a slow
drag on her cigarette, "It seems each head has its own AT field, and
then the body has an eighth field." She noticed that the cigarette was
nearly gone, and ground it out against the desk. She leaned back in
the seat, sighing. "What's strangest," she added, "Is that the fields
intersect without interfering. I'm not exactly sure how."
"Perhaps the AT field works differently for this Angel," Maya
suggested. "After all, he's not from the same place as the others."
Ritsuko shook her head, saying, "That may be so, but if we proceed on
that assumption then we can't make any plans at all." Maya frowned as
the once-blond doctor continued, "No, we have to assume that this
Angel's AT field works just like all the rest. That means the fields
should negate each other when they come into contact."
"Yet that leaves us no closer to the answer," Maya whispered. "Well,
the obvious place to start is: Why do AT fields negate each other when
they come in contact normally?"
"I'm not sure," Ritsuko replied, "There's not enough data to explain
it. As far as anyone knows, they just do. Like mutual annihilation of
matter and antimatter, AT field negation just happens because that's
the way the Universe works."
"That can't be right, though," Maya protested. "After all, when the
kids had to fight the Archangels, their AT fields weren't always
enough to negate the enemy fields completely."
"Well, you have to account for field strength," Ritsuko replied. "If
two fields have different strengths, the stronger one survives in a
weakened state. That's not helpful here, though, because the fields
around the heads are all equally strong. Even more confusing, the
field protecting the body is much weaker than any of the head fields.
It should be completely obliterated."
"I'm still not convinced, sempai," Maya said, "especially not about
your analogy. When matter meets antimatter, it's one minus one. When
AT fields meet, it's one
*plus* one."
"So what's different between AT fields?" Ritsuko asked.
"The creator?" Maya asked. "Maybe it matters who creates the field.
That might explain it -- human fields cancel angel ones, but not human
ones."
"But that leaves us without any advantage," Ritsuko said. "And
besides, tests with the mass-production Evas showed that they could
cancel each other's fields."
"So we have nothing to go on."
"That's about the size of it."
***
The shelter trembled, causing several of its occupants to lose their
balance. Many were already sitting to avoid the embarrassment of
toppling over onto a stranger. "It feels like an earthquake," Hikari
said.
"No, that's not it," Kensuke replied. "Feel how it comes and goes so
quickly? It's like something big is stomping around up there on the
streets above us."
"It's probably the angel, then," Hikari said. "I hope the Evangelions
take care of it soon," she added as a loud crashing sound emanated
from somewhere above. "I'm not sure this place can hold up forever."
"Where's the emergency exit?" Touji asked, deeming the issue important
enough to abandon his customary silence. "If rubble from what's going
on up there falls down the elevator shaft, we'll need to know the
other way out."
"It's in the back corner," Kensuke said, waving his hand in the
general direction. "Right next to the vending machines."
Touji nodded, then cringed as particularly strong tremor caused powder
to fall from the ceiling. "Maybe we should move over there," he
suggested.
"Good idea," Hikari said, taking Anita's hand.
"Will we get to see an Evangelion?" the little girl asked as she
dutifully followed her brother and his friends towards the rear of the
shelter.
"I hope not," Hikari replied. "Kensuke likes to think otherwise, but I
hate watching the pilots fight angels. It's better to stay in here,
where we're safe."
Kensuke sighed, "I guess I was a bit crazy for a while, wanting to
watch that kind of thing." The shelter trembled again, and he had to
support himself against a wall. Seeing that they'd managed to reach
the exit, he let himself slump down to the floor.
"Had a change of heart?" Touji asked, taking a seat himself.
Kensuke nodded. "I'm not sure when my mind started to change," he
said, "but I got tired of all this. I think... I think I'd like us all
to be normal, y'know? I used to think that nothing could be cooler
than piloting an Eva, but after all this..." The room shuddered again,
and Kensuke was silent for a moment. "My dad sneaked me in to see
Shinji right after the battle with Gabriel," he quietly admitted.
"Wha..? Ya never told me!" Touji said, surprised.
"I... I couldn't talk about it... I couldn't tell anyone," Kensuke
said, wrapping his arms around his knees again. "It was the... the
most awful thing I ever saw... even worse than when you..." Kensuke
squeezed his eyes shut, trying to master his emotions, then continued,
"He didn't seem to have any shape at all, like someone took all his
bones out. He was bleeding, and they had t-tubes... tubes and wires in
him everywhere. I... I couldn't eat for days. I can't... I can't
believe I ever wanted to be a pilot, can't believe I wanted
*them* to
do it. I wanted to apologize to Shinji, to tell him I understood what
it did to him, but... I never got to do it." He took off his glasses
and wiped his eyes. "I should have... before..."
Touji grabbed his friend's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Hey, maybe it
*will* be the last time," he said. "Then we can all go
and have a proper camping trip, huh?"
Kensuke grinned weakly, and said, "Yeah... I guess I'll have to buy
another tent, for the girls."
"Who said anything about separate tents?"
Kensuke grinned as he saw Hikari's face turn red. "You should be glad
Asuka didn't hear that," he told Touji.
"Why?"
"'Cause that means you're only gonna get slapped once."
***
"I'd like a status report, guys," Misato commented, sounding slightly
annoyed.
"I've got the spear," Shinji said as his Eva hefted the two-tined
weapon in its hand. It had taken the three children several minutes in
the warehouse to find Lancea Longini. "We're proceeding back out to
the lifts now."
"Excellent. Is EVA-01 handling any differently?" Misato asked.
"It's a little strange," Shinji admitted, "but it's okay. I can
still... sense my mother, somehow. I think she's still here -- not
because she's trapped, but because it's the only way to be with me. So
it's different, but... still sort of the same."
"Good," Misato said with relief. "We definitely don't need any
complications at this juncture."
"I'll say," Asuka interjected as the Evas found their way to the power
lifts. "So, what's the plan, Misato? How do we kill the Devil?"
"Well, this sucker looks pretty tough," Misato admitted. "Maya and
Ritsuko can't see any weakness, but I think we still have a way to
attack. Each of the heads has a pretty powerful AT field, and the body
has a weak AT field of its own. The body is definitely the easier
target, but I don't think you'll have a good shot at it as long as the
heads can still fight."
"So we take out the heads first, then," Asuka concluded. "Sounds
simple enough."
"Yeah, but keep in mind that each of those heads is like an archangel
all on its own," Misato replied. "You guys will have to work as a unit
to take out each one. 'Simple' hardly covers it."
"Yeah, but we still don't know about the core," Shinji said. "Knocking
off a head or two won't do us any good if we don't destroy the life
source."
"Actually," Kaoru said, "Destroying the core might not be enough.
Doing that only forces an angel to return to Heaven -- but Sammael has
been cast out. I'm not sure what destroying his core would do in that
case."
"So you're saying that hitting the core is useless?" Asuka asked.
"It doesn't matter," Misato said. "Whether we can destroy the core or
not, our best course of action is still to kill off the heads. Once we
have the body defenseless, then we can look for the core and figure
out what to do with it."
"Well then," Asuka said, "Let's get going!"
"Where will we come out?" Shinji asked as he loaded his Eva onto one
of the catapults.
"The lifts should spit you out about a kilometer away from Sammael,"
Misato said. "Move towards him as a unit, minimum spread. And kids?"
"Yeah?"
"Good luck."
***
Sammael scooped up a pawful of the black, liquid mass of flies,
letting the bloated bodies fall through his claws back to the reserve
from which they came. "It is time," he announced, stirring up the lake
with his talons. "Time to take the shapes I gave you long ago."
A knot formed in the seething piles beneath Sammael's feet, twisting
into a new shape and color before finally solidifying into a new form
with an burst of black fluid. A miniature version of the mighty
dragon, with no wings, but having two extra heads, formed out of the
inky insects, consuming their bodies to form its own.
This event inspired the formation of additional knots of flies, each
erupting into a new form. Smaller dragons took shape by the dozens,
adding their flames to the ruin being wreaked by Sammael's two
hornless heads. Giant serpents, wolves, and a three-headed hound
reared up out of the depths and added their efforts with tooth and
claw to the damage being done by their master's claws. Other, smaller
shapes, too numerous to count or categorize, seethed upwards out of
the masses of flies, until the insects were gone, and the street
swarmed with the all the subjects of mankind's nightmares.
Sammael's army had gathered, and as he unleashed a great bellow of
triumph, they dispersed to take over the city.
***
"Wow, that thing's even uglier close up," Asuka muttered as she got
her first in-person glimpse of the gigantic creature tearing through
the city. The three Eva units had fanned out slightly from their
initial tight formation. Asuka and Kaoru flanked Shinji as they
approached Sammael from the front.
The archangels had never responded to the first arrival of the
Evangelions, but Sammael immediately desisted from his attacks,
swinging all seven of his heads so that they faced his attackers.
Fourteen eyes -- black pits tinged slightly with red -- carefully
observed the approach of the three artificial life forms, while seven
mouths hung slightly open in evil grins as the three Evas drew near.
"Kids, develop your AT fields," Misato ordered.
"It does not matter," an unfamiliar voice interposed itself over the
communications frequency. "You cannot hide your souls from me."
"Lorenz," Kaoru growled.
"Who?"
"Keel Lorenz."
"I am pleased you still have enough intelligence to recognize my old
form, Tabris," the voice said. "A pity you were not intelligent enough
to see the inevitability of my victory."
"Who is Keel Lorenz?" Shinji asked.
"The Chairman of Seele," Misato replied, her voice steely with anger.
"The man who controlled Nerv from the beginning."
"You mean we've been working for the Devil?" Asuka asked.
A humorless laugh grated over the airwaves for a moment before Keel
said, "Indeed you have, Miss Soryu. Everything has gone as I have
planned from the beginning. I have always been in control."
"Hmph," Kaoru snorted. "You're not called the Prince of Lies for
nothing, Sammael. Much has happened that you did not foresee, much
that you had no chance of controlling."
"Quit jabbering guys," Misato warned. "This thing can obviously hear
our radio communications, so just stick with the battle plan we
already devised. Got it?"
"Sure thing, Misato!" Asuka replied.
"It's no good to try and hide your intentions from me, mortals," the
leering dragon sneered. "I know everything; I see everything. I am the
destined ruler of the Universe"
"Not while I'm still around you're not!" Asuka shouted, firing her
positron rifle at one of the hornless heads. The ray started to
dissipate when it hit the powerful AT field, but when Kaoru added his
own stream of antimatter to the attack Sammael's shield started to
waver. "Go!" Asuka yelled, and Shinji charged forward, dodging blasts
of white-hot fire and attacks from Satan's horns.
One gout of fire hit directly in front of EVA-01, forcing Shinji to
somersault forward. Halfway through the roll, he gathered the Eva's
legs under it, allowing him to spring straight up when his mecha found
it's feet again. Not expecting this move, Sammael momentarily lost
track of Shinji, giving him an opportunity to plunge the Longinus
Spear straight towards the spot where Kaoru and Asuka's beams were
intersecting. The AT field tore apart like paper at the onslaught of
the Spear, which practically tore that head off its neck. Shinji
quickly disengaged the massive weapon and sprang back to avoid
Sammael's fiery counterattack.
"Not such a good feeling, is it?" Asuka said as Sammael's six
remaining heads howled in agony.
"That seemed to work pretty well," Shinji said. "Should we continue?"
"Fine by me," Asuka replied, sniping at several of the heads to keep
Sammael from pursuing Shinji's retreat. Kaoru only nodded wordlessly.
"Don't get too cocky, kids," Misato warned. "You still have a long way
to go on this one, and I'm sure he still has some tricks up his
sleeve. We have other attack patterns we can use."
"Maybe," Shinji said, "but all the ones we learned a few months ago
were for two people, or four."
"Well, no use complaining about missed opportunities at this point,"
Asuka said, and opened fire on the other hornless head. This time,
however, Sammael had an idea what the children were planning. He began
waving his other heads into the way of the beam, nullifying Asuka's
attack and preventing Kaoru from taking a clear shot.
"I'm gonna sweep in," Kaoru announced, sidling his Eva towards Asuka.
He had to jump several times along the way to avoid Sammael's
fireblasts, and the going was somewhat slow because of the ruin that
had been wreaked on the ground around the dragon. Shinji had similar
problems as he fell back towards Asuka, but he mostly had to worry
about damage from Sammael's horns, as the only remaining fire-
breathing head was busy with Kaoru.
Finally the children got themselves in position, and Kaoru opened
fire, continually shifting his aim so that Sammael couldn't block it
effectively. The process of move and countermove continued for several
minutes before both Kaoru and Asuka managed to lock their beams onto a
head with long, straight horns. Without prompting, Shinji lunged
forward immediately and plunged the Longinus Spear into the targeted
head.
This time, however, the Spear got tangled up in the complicated bone
structure of the horns. Shinji tugged for several seconds, but only
got the Spear free when a head equipped with ram horns slammed into
his Eva. The force ripped Lancea Longini out of the decimated cranium,
and sent both it and EVA-01 flying nearly 500 meters. The Eva
somersaulted gracelessly at the end of the flight, colliding head
first with the ground, then spinning twice in the air before it
crashed to earth.
Shinji grunted as he pushed his Eva up, then had to roll his Eva
forward to avoid a gout of white flame directed at him. Out of the way
for a moment, he collapsed again while he tried to clear the pain from
his head.
Asuka moved up to try and pull him further back from the black dragon,
but a second head unleashed its own fire at her, passing through her
AT field as if it didn't exist. Only a skillful adjustment of footing
kept her from being roasted by the white-hot flames. "Damn," she
muttered, "That stuff's powerful."
"Of course," Sammael responded, laughing grimly. "I am the ultimate
power in the Universe. My strength knows no limits."
"Idle boasting doesn't do much to intimidate me," Kaoru responded,
covering Asuka's next advance with a tight barrage of rays from his
positron rifle. The dragon's heads reared back for a moment under the
onslaught, just long enough for Asuka to jump forward, grab the arm of
EVA-01, and pull the purple giant out of Sammael's range.
"It's... not working," Shinji said as he managed to make his Eva stand
again. "Check the heads."
Asuka swore as she came to the same realization Shinji had --
something she should have already noticed when that unexpected gout of
flame nearly hit her. The first head of Sammael's that they'd
destroyed had regained its shape and its ability to spew fire.
A low chuckle came over the communications link. "You cannot kill me
one head at a time, mortals," Sammael said. "You must do it with one
blow, or not at all. And I am too powerful for you to overcome so
completely!" Then he spread his massive black wings and lunged
forward, bathing all three Evas in a flood of white flame.
***
Misato turned off the audio link, unable to bear the screaming of the
children anymore. Their AT fields had disintegrated under the
onslaught of Sammael's incredible power. Awash in flames, overcome by
agonizing pain, the children were powerless against the great black
dragon.
"Evas refusing all signals," Makoto reported. "Cannot cut neural
links, cannot eject."
"Signals are nearing contamination zone," Maya added nervously. "The
pain could drive them insane in a few minutes if we don't do
anything."
"Well, we can't do anything from here," Misato said, "so there's just
one thing for us to do. I'm going to go out there and pull them out of
the plugs myself," She grabbed her pistol, slipping it into its
holster beneath her jacket.
"Are you kidding?" Ritsuko asked incredulously. "Even if you made it
to the battlefield
*and* to the Evas, you'd burn your hands to cinders
opening the plugs, if the children are even alive by then."
"If they die, then there's no sense waiting around here," Misato
replied. "I've sat on my ass in this place long enough."
"I'm going with you," Makoto said, standing.
"Makoto..."
"Don't say it. If you're going, then I'm going with you."
Misato hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Fine," she said.
"Shigeru, I need you to hold down the fort. Keep trying to eject the
plugs from here."
"Yes, Katsuragi-san!"
"Maya, Ritsuko... figure out some way to
*kill* that thing. And do it
fast."
"We'll do our best," Maya offered.
"You'll succeed," Misato replied, "or we're all gonna die." She turned
and ran out of the command center, Makoto fast on her heels.
"How're we gonna get to the battlefield?" Makoto asked, gasping as he
tried to keep up with his lover.
"Ever driven through an N2 explosion?" Misato asked.
"Huh? Um, no..."
"I have. How much worse than that can this be?"
***
"Who turned on the music?" Kensuke wondered aloud as a sweet melody
filled the shelter. The simple theme, played on what sounded like a
harp, had an immediate soothing effect. The adults in the room, whose
postures had all spoken of tension and anxiety, became more relaxed,
smiling contentedly as if everything was fine.
_Everything will be all right,_ Kensuke thought as the music started
to have its effect on him. The Evas had probably already won the
battle, and the city administrators would be sounding the all clear
soon. _In fact,_ he thought as he heard a quiet knocking at the main
door, _that's probably one of them right now._
The knocking persisted, and Kensuke began to wonder why nobody had yet
answered the door. Safety and happiness were only a few moments away,
after all... He stood and started towards the door himself, but
stopped when he saw several adults already at work breaking the
locking mechanism. In a few moments, they shelter would be open and
they'd be free to go home...
Kensuke's train of thought was broken as a fist lodged itself in his
stomach. The bespectacled boy coughed weakly, then asked, "Why'd you
do that, Touji?"
"We've gotta get outta here," Touji said, rubbing at his artificial
joints as if they were paining him. "Somethin' weird's goin' on."
Kensuke frowned and took another look around, realizing as he did so
that what he'd thought was quiet knocking was a thundering impact, as
if someone was using a battering ram on the main door. A few adults
were trying to pry the door open, to welcome in whatever was pounding
against the outside into the shelter. The rest were standing around,
smiling blandly as they stared vacantly into space.
"Oh we are in some deep shit," Kensuke muttered. "Let's get the hell
out." He grabbed Hikari's arm while Touji grabbed Anita's, then helped
the disabled boy open the emergency exit. As the alarms went off and
he shoved Hikari out into the service passage, Kensuke took one more
look back into the shelter.
The doors burst inwards, flying off their hinges and through the crowd
of adults with tremendous force. Nobody moved to avoid them, and
several people were practically torn in half by the metal panels.
Unaffected by the tragedy, the remaining inhabitants of the room
simply continued to smile and stare vacantly.
As Kensuke stood frozen in horror, a black cloud seeped into the room,
dark vapor obscuring the form of whatever had blown the doors apart
with such power. Through the murk, only the creature's eyes could be
seen -- red spheres of baleful light.
Kensuke felt himself pulled backwards, and realized only when the door
slammed that Touji had yanked him out of the room. The spell seemed to
have lifted from Hikari and Anita, and they both looked anxious to get
as far away from the shelter as they could, as soon as possible.
"What was that?" Touji asked as the small troupe started running down
the service corridor. "Was it an angel?"
"If it was," Kensuke answered, trying to suppress an involuntary
shudder, "then when I die, I want to go to Hell."
***
Makoto grabbed onto his seat with one hand, and the door with the
other as the blue sports car whipped around the corner so fast that
two wheels came up off the road. Misato's foot seemed to be connected
to the floorboard, the intervening accelerator pedal a mere
afterthought. The car shook as it came back down on all four wheels,
but Misato seemed barely cognizant of the damage being done to her
vehicle. Nor did she seem particularly concerned about its occupants,
Makoto noted dismally as the car went over a pothole, jolting his
kneecap into the dashboard.
"W-what are we going to do when we get to the battlefield," Makoto
asked, hoping that conversation would distract Misato enough to slow
down a little, but not enough so that she lost track of her driving.
"We're getting the kids out of those damn things," Misato replied,
moving neither her foot from the accelerator nor her eyes from the
road.
"Then what?"
"I don't know, Makoto. Pray, maybe? I just want the kids to stop
hurting. They've suffered enough, and if we're all willing to let them
burn alive so that we can protect our sorry skins, then mankind isn't
worth saving anyway."
Makoto said nothing in reply, wondering, _If not the kids, then who'll
save us?_ His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the car swerved
to avoid a giant stepping into the road. Makoto had only a moment to
catch a glimpse of blood-red skin and yellowed horns before the car
flipped over.
***
"Sempai," Maya said, her forehead propped on her hands, "light
cancels."
"What?"
"When two beams of light merge," Maya elaborated, "and they have equal
amplitude, equal frequency, and opposite phase, they cancel."
"So?"
"One plus one equals zero," Maya said.
"I think I get the picture," Ritsuko replied. Her fingers started
flying over the keyboard, as she continued, "AT fields cancel when
their frequencies match but their phases are opposite -- just like
destructive interference."
"That's what I was thinking," Maya said. "So I checked Sammael's
fields. Each head is slightly out of phase with the rest, so they
should theoretically all cancel out. The only reason they don't is
that the
*weaker* field is constantly changing phase to reinforce
whichever one of the head fields is about to collapse."
"So if we destroy the AT field around the body..."
"...the rest should come crashing down like a house of cards," Maya
said.
"Shigeru," Ritsuko yelled, "alert Major Katsuragi immediately -- if
the children can fight at all, they must target Sammael's body. That's
what keeps his AT field intact." She nodded in response to his shout
of acknowledgement, then turned back to her assistant. "You did it,"
she said. "Good work."
"Well, I had your help..."
"I was stumped," Ritsuko retorted. "I had no idea how to proceed. No,
Maya, this was all you. I'm very proud of you."
Maya blushed deep red. "Thank you, Sempai," she murmured, "You have no
idea how much that means to me."
Ritsuko pulled her chair over to sit in front of Maya, then took one
of the younger woman's hands between her own. "No," she replied, "I
do."
***
The red ogre paused in its advance as the first shot hit it in the
chest, but began moving forward again almost immediately, ambling
forward with slow, clumsy steps. "Tough guy, huh?" Misato muttered as
she raised the gun to fire again, "Well, we'll see how much you can
take." She spared a glance at Makoto, who had his shoulder against the
roof of her car, trying to push it off its side and back onto its
wheels. "Hurry up, Makoto," she called as she fired into the ogre's
knee, "We're in a bit of a rush."
"I'm tryin', I'm tryin'," Makoto replied, again heaving against the
vehicle with all his might. The streets, however, were damp with some
kind of liquid and absolutely covered in refuse -- both remnants of
the insect ocean. His feet slipped before he could exert any force.
Misato grinned as one of her shots found the giant's knee, shattering
the joint in an explosion of blood. The ogre tumbled to the ground and
Misato aimed a coup de grace between its yellowed horns. To her
surprise, however, the beast quickly pushed itself back up onto its
feet. It took a few tentative steps to test the knee, then continued
its unsteady advance on her position.
"That is
*not* good," Misato murmured, replacing her clip as she
sidled away from the car. To her relief, the ogre kept its attention
on her, leaving Makoto free to keep trying to rescue the vehicle.
"That's right, ugly," Misato yelled at the beast, "Keep following me."
The ogre did that and more, charging forward and catching Misato off
guard. She managed to jump out of the way as the beast stampeded
towards her, getting an ineffective shot off into its side, but she
dropped her gun as the giant grabbed her arm in one of it's massive
hands. Yellow-green fingernails dug into her skin as the ogre lifted
her up to its eye level, fending off her kicks with its free hand. It
licked its lips as it stared at her, running a slimy red tongue over
its blackened teeth.
At a loss for anything else to do, Misato reached for the ogre's
nearest horn and gave it a sharp yank. The yellowed bone spur came
away in her hand, and blood started gushing from the spot on the
creature's head where it had been. The giant dropped Misato and
staggered back, clutching at its bleeding wound. Misato grinned as she
realized that for whatever reason, the ogre wasn't recovering from
this particular injury. "You've got a weak spot, huh?" she asked as
she knelt and retrieved her gun. "I'll keep that in mind next time."
She aimed for the base of the remaining horn and squeezed the trigger.
The ogre fell dead just as Makoto gave up on his leverage and backed
up several meters. He got a running start, then took a flying leap,
throwing all his weight against the roof of the car. He bounced off,
but to his satisfaction the car wobbled, then fell back onto its
wheels.
"About damn time," Misato noted as she climbed back into the driver's
seat.
"Next time I'll just call a tow truck," Makoto replied as the phone
started ringing. He grabbed it as Misato started the car and pulled
away from the curb. _Well, it's pretty much ruined now,_ Misato
thought as she surveyed the damage to her vehicle. _Maybe I can get
compensation from the UN for damage sustained in the line of duty..._
She shook her head, envisioning the stacks of paperwork such a request
would entail. _Easier just to try and buy a new car. Sure makes me
wish I could afford insurance._
"Misato," Makoto shouted over the roar of the engine, "Shigeru says
that Maya came up with a way to defeat Sammael. If we can tell the
children, we still have a chance."
"Give it to me," Misato said, snatching the phone as she once again
pushed the accelerator to the floor.
***
Shinji moaned incoherently as he tried to collect his wits. The flames
had ended a few moments ago, and with them the intense agony that
reminded him of his encounter with the fifth angel. He blinked his
eyes and shook his head, trying to concentrate. He had to figure out
where he'd landed, where he could find the spear...
Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as something wrapped itself around
his Eva's chest with crushing force. The pain forced him to exhale,
but he could barely manage to breathe back in -- his chest felt like
someone had wrapped a steel band around it. He was reduced to shallow,
panting breaths as he felt his mecha lifted. As his vision cleared he
realized that Sammael had grabbed his Eva, and now held it up in front
of the central head. Oily saliva dripped from the black teeth of the
dragon's head, and its wickedly curved horns were tinged with gore.
"This is my time," Sammael growled. "Everything that has transpired
has done so as I planned it. The angels and archangels have come and
gone, and none besides them can oppose me... not even you, Ikari
Shinji... not even God's chosen conduit. I will consume your soul,
mortal, and with it I shall draw the spirits of all mankind into me.
With that power at my command, I will at last be able to topple Him,
and take my rightful place on His Sapphire Throne. My hour has come at
last!"
Shinji heard Kaoru cough in his plug, and Asuka moan quietly. He took
as deep a breath as he could, and replied, "I won't let you do this!"
What he meant to come out as shout, however, emerged as barely a
whisper, timid and weak.
"
*You* won't
*let* me?" Sammael asked, then laughed uproariously.
"
*You* have no choice in the matter. I am all-powerful! None can
oppose me! I am more powerful even than God!" He began laughing again,
but stopped at the sound of a new voice, deeper and louder than
thunder.
"Who is like God?" the voice asked, and Sammael's eyes widened. The
pressure around Shinji's chest vanished as the dragon dropped EVA-01.
Shinji barely managed to keep from falling flat on his face, pushing
his mecha back up into a crouch.
Kaoru laughed weakly as his own Eva got to its knees. He said, "You...
miscounted, Adversary," as he got his feet underneath him. Shinji
raised an eyebrow and turned to face the source of the new voice.
Amid the ruined buildings of Tokyo-3 stood the largest of the
Archangels yet. It wore a coat of steel chain mail, and carried a
steel sword and matching shield. Steel boots and greaves protected his
calves and feet. The armaments were all plain, simple -- objects
designed for utility rather than aesthetics. Beauty came with the
great emerald wings that grew from the angel's back, its bright
emerald eyes, and saffron-colored hair. The angel took a ready stance,
shield forward and sword raised, and once again asked, "Who is like
God?"
The words seemed to enrage Sammael, who bellowed and charged forward,
mouths spewing white fire. Even as he did so, however, the sky filled
with light so bright that Shinji had to momentarily shield his eyes.
"What's going on?" Shinji called out.
"Ragnarok," Kaoru calmly replied as his Eva stood. "The rules are
disposed with: angels no longer need their cores to come to earth. God
has opened the heavens, and all the angels and righteous souls have
come to make war with Sammael."
"
*All* of them?" Shinji asked, then cringed as an all-too-familiar
octahedral form passed overhead.
"All."
***
"Damn," Touji muttered as he tested his weight against a pile of
rubble blocking the path. Fleeing the subterranean shelters had taken
him and his friends out of immediate danger, but the surface had
brought its own perils. What few buildings had not been retracted into
the Geo-Front had been torn to pieces, creating a haphazard labyrinth
of ruins and debris. Black-green ichor pooled in the streets and
dripped from the lamps, releasing a sickening, sulfurous odor. In the
harsh light of the glowing sky, the streets of Tokyo-3 seemed a
landscape out of some other planet.
"Dead end, huh?" Kensuke asked, his voice muffled by the camouflage
bandana he'd tied around his face to ward off the stench.
"Yeah," Touji replied, kicking the pile of twisted girders and
concrete in disgust. He frowned as the motion caused most of the pile
to resettle. "It's too heavy to push out of the way," he said, "but
not stable enough to climb over. We've gotta turn back, find another
way."
Kensuke shook his head, squinting in the bright light from above.
"This is gonna take forever," he whispered.
"Touji!" Hikari called, running up to the two boys, Anita in tow. She
leaned against her boyfriend, breathing heavily from the exertion. "I
heard... noises," she explained between gasps. "It sounded... like...
something big... was coming."
"Get behind me," Touji muttered, gently pushing Hikari and Anita away
from the mouth of the alley. Adopting a stance he remembered from judo
class, he prepared to face whatever monster had decided to hunt them
in this blasted landscape. He jumped slightly and moved to the side as
he realized that Kensuke had joined him, brandishing a wooden plank.
"It's my turn to fight," the other boy explained.
A gasp from behind him brought Touji's attention back to the mouth of
the alley. A gigantic grey wolf with glowing white eyes blocked the
exit, saliva dripping from yellowed fangs set in its black gums. Long
nails clicked against the pavement as the monster advanced, the stench
from its mangy fur almost as bad as the fumes rising from the foul
liquid pooling on the asphalt.
_We don't have a chance,_ Touji realized as the creature continued
towards him at a leisurely pace. The beast was large enough to easily
swallow him whole -- even if he'd had a weapon on hand, Touji wasn't
sure anything short of a grenade could hurt it. Nonetheless, he held
his ground, warning the creature, "Get back."
The wolf's eyes narrowed, then its jaw dropped open a little wider and
its blackened tongue lolled out. It seemed almost as if the monster
were laughing at him. The beast then hunched down, ready to crouch.
Suddenly the alley went dark for a moment, and a familiar form
interposed itself between the children and the wolf. Touji recognized
it instantly, though he'd seen the black giant with its impossibly
long arms only once before.
It then spoke, in a voice Touji also recognized -- the same voice that
had filled his mind every harrowing minute he'd spent inside EVA-03.
"Allow me to make amends," Bardiel said, then reached out with one
massive arm and seized the cringing wolf by the throat. "You have
overstepped your bounds, Fenris," the angel announced. "This child is
under
*my* protection." In an almost casual motion, the Eva twisted
its hand and ripped off the demon's head.
***
"It's a stalemate," Shinji said as the emerald-winged angel rammed its
shield into one of Sammael's heads. Neither of the giant combatants
seemed to be tiring of the struggle, but neither seemed to be doing
any lasting damage either. The archangel often gained the upper hand
over its adversary, but then one or two of Sammael's heads would
regenerate and the battle would even out for a while.
"Michael's power is limited," Kaoru said. "He's strong enough to wound
Sammael, and that was enough to force the Adversary out of heaven, but
now there's nowhere else for Lucifer to go. The best Michael can do is
battle Sammael to a tie."
"So what happens?" Asuka asked. "Do they just keep fighting forever?"
"No," Shinji replied. "We have to help."
"How?" Asuka asked. "It's not like anything we did before made a
difference."
The conversation was interrupted as something banged against Shinji's
foot. As his Eva staggered slightly, Shinji looked down to see
Misato's car. The Major kicked its ruined door open and stepped out,
waving her cell phone. Shinji nodded, getting her meaning, and
switched his communication channel over to her cellular frequency.
"What are you doing here?" Shinji asked as Misato brought the phone up
to her ear.
"The AT fields around here have cut off your telemetry to
headquarters," Misato explained. "I came to help -- Maya explained
things to me just before my cell link to her went out. Her explanation
was really complicated, but the gist of things is this: the AT field
around Sammael's
*body* is the key. If you can destroy that, he should
fall apart."
"Got it," Asuka said, listening in on the conversation. "So if we
break the body first, we can beat him."
"Exactly" Misato said.
"Get out of here quickly, Misato-san," Shinji said, "it's too
dangerous."
"I'm on my way," the major replied, getting back into her car with the
phone still against her ear. "Good luck, kids."
"Thanks," Shinji said, then switched back to the normal communication
channel. "Do you think we can make it work?" he asked.
"As long as our archangel buddy up there keeps Sammael's heads
occupied, we'll probably have a good chance," Asuka said.
"Yeah, but that's a big body," Kaoru replied. "Where do you stab it so
that the AT field collapses?"
"I'm not sure," Shinji said, "but we don't have any option but to try.
Maybe I can find a good spot if I get up on his back."
"We'll hoist you up onto him from behind," Kaoru suggested as Shinji
hefted the Longinus Spear.
"Good idea, Kaoru-kun," Asuka replied. "Let's get into a triangle
formation and get this done!" She and the fallen angel paired up
behind Shinji to form a wedge, and on her command they started
charging towards the huge body of the seven-headed dragon. As the
group drew closer, EVA-02 and -05 grabbed hold of EVA-01's arms,
adding the force of their arms as EVA-01 jumped.
Shinji landed on Sammael's back in a crouch, skidding across the AT
field for a moment before he came to a stop, sinking a bit into it. He
was nearly at the tail end of the immense large dragon. One of
Sammael's heads turned to look at him and narrowed its eyes as it
realized who the new weight was. The tail shook, and Shinji was almost
thrown off, but he managed to grab a hold of a scale and start pulling
himself forward. Soon, Sammael's attention was once again put fully to
the forward as the other two children rejoined the fight against him,
sniping at the heads when Michael's sword temporarily negated the
individual AT fields.
Shinji began running forward on the dragon's back, scanning for
anything that might indicate where the fiend's core was. He stopped as
he came to a strange pattern that had been worked into the scales. It
was almost impossible to see -- a pattern of dark crimson on black,
composed of nine circles and fourteen lines. Shinji stood at one end
of it, and at the other end, two lines ended at a spot where a circle
obviously should have been. Shinji thought the pattern seemed
familiar... and for some reason it conjured up memories of his father.
"Here goes nothing," Shinji muttered, and lifted the spear. EVA-01
charged along the pattern, jumping into the air at the last moment and
plunging Lancea Longini into the spot where the final circle should
have been.
The spear tore through the dragon's skin, then began to move downward
of its own accord, dragging EVA-01 with it. Through flesh and bone the
spear plunged, down to a core composed of black stone that flickered
at its edges with red. The spear shattered the surface of the core.
Shinji's world went dark.
***
Shinji opened his eyes, then blinked several times to clear his
blurred vision. After a moment, the man in front of him came into
focus -- a man wearing a familiar pair of orange-tinted glasses.
"Father," Shinji half-growled, standing up from a kneeling position he
didn't know he'd adopted. Seeing that his father gave no response,
Shinji tried to take in his surroundings. Aside from his father,
however, everything was featureless blackness. "What is this place?"
he asked.
"I don't know," Gendo replied. "I no longer know anything that can
help me."
"Well, you know at least one thing," Shinji said. "You know how it
feels to be me." He glanced down at his hands, noting with
indifference that they were still covered by his plugsuit. "I never
had any idea what to do... how to make you..."
"Make me what?"
"You know. I asked you."
Gendo nodded sharply, the slightest hint of a frown tugging at the
corners of his lips. "I made sure you never knew anything," he said
after a moment. "Ignorance and pain made you easier to use -- a better
tool."
"Is that how you thought of me?" Shinji asked, shivering briefly as a
chill passed over him. "A tool? A toy for your games?"
"I... didn't know any other way to think," Gendo replied, still
contemplating the nothingness beneath his feet. "I didn't know how to
make things work without your mother -- I... needed her. I had no
chance of raising you properly, so..."
"So?" Shinji screamed, "So what? So you threw me away without even
making an attempt to raise me? " The boy's fists clenched
convulsively, and he paused, surprised to find something in one of
them. A knife, much like that his Eva used, had appeared in his right
hand. "Did you ever consider
*trying*?" he asked, advancing on his
father. "Did you ever think that I might have forgiven you a few
little mistakes along the way, if I knew you loved me?"
Gendo shook his head, still staring down into oblivion. "I failed
you," he said. "I can make no further excuses... I saw you like I saw
everyone except your mother -- you were all just meat. Just flesh and
bones. I could never see your souls like I could see hers." He pulled
off the orange glasses and held them in front of his face. "Even when
I looked directly at them, it was like they weren't there."
"'Just meat?' Was Rei 'just meat', too, father?" Shinji asked.
Gendo nodded slowly. "In the end, that's how I saw everyone."
Shinji glanced down at the knife. "I want to hurt you," he whispered.
"I want to make you feel every little bit of pain you put me, Asuka,
Touji, the whole world through. I... I want you to know how it felt...
for us... to be 'just meat'."
Gendo's expression did not change. "I deserve whatever you wish to
do," he said.
Shinji raised the knife to his father's throat. "I had a vision once,"
he whispered, "in the Eva. I saw my enemy."
"Who was it?"
"You."
"And what will you do to your enemy?"
Shinji tensed himself to drive the knife home, but then paused. Almost
experimentally, he straightened his fingers, watching as the knife
fell. It seemed to travel in slow motion, drifting sluggishly downward
until it got swallowed up in the darkness near his feet. "I'm sorry,
father," he said. "It's not... not my place to punish you. I wish...
things could have been better."
"It's my fault," Gendo said.
"I forgive you," Shinji said, then leaned forward and embraced the man
he'd spent most of his life hating. As if from far away, Shinji heard
a voice he did not recognize howling in agony. Then darkness became
light, and Shinji's world faded away once again.
*********
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators -
ffml-admins@anifics.com |
| Unsubscribing -
ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`----
http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'