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High
School, Friday
Rei stood before the building, Asuka
and Shinji at her side. The red head
turned to Rei.
“You sure you want to do this? I mean, it has been a while since you’ve
been here. Everyone will ask a lot of
questions. And there is only one day
left in the school week.”
“I’ll be fine, Asuka.” Rei assured
her friend. “Besides, what could happen?”
The trio walked through the main
doors as the first bell rang and headed for their class. As soon as she walked through the door, Rei
was greeted by a silenced classroom of staring students. Asuka’s angry glare swept across the room
unmatched, the other students not wanting to get into an argument with the red
headed devil girl.
“What’s wrong with you all?” Asuka
snapped. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“Well,” a student timidly began,
“it’s just that we heard that EVA-00 was destroyed.”
“And so you assumed that Rei died
with it?” Shinji asked.
“Well, um –”
“You obviously didn’t hear the rest
of the story.” Rei spoke up, surprising the rest of the class, who were used to
her being inhumanly silent. “My Entry Plug was pulled from Unit-00 by Ragnarock
as the EVA was being eaten away at by some sort of fast acting virus.”
“Who’s Ragnarock?” Kensuke asked.
“A black dragon that has allied
itself with us,” Shinji replied, not wanting to reveal their friend’s identity.
About then, the teacher walked in.
NERV
HQ
Misato sat behind the large desk,
thinking to herself.
Things
sure have changed around here. The woman thought. First, Raiu rebuilds the EVAs, EVA-02 becomes Siron, EVA-00 is
destroyed, Ragnarock reveals that he is Raiu, kills Commander Ikari, then saves
Rei by sacrificing half of his own heart, I become Commander, and last but not
least, EVA-01 becomes Sularos.
Misato turned on the computer and
entered her password. The screen
blinked then began flashing the words ACCESS DENIED. She tried figuring out Gendo’s password, then entered several
override commands, each one giving her the same result. Finally, Misato gave up and just hit the return
key. To her surprise, the main menu
faded into view on the screen, giving Misato a list of three choices.
EVANGELIONS
PERSONAL
LOGS
PROJECT
§
COMMAND >_
COMMAND > OPEN FILE > PERSONAL LOGS_
The
screen faded to black, then the second most recent log appeared. It was dated several weeks in the past. It was actually a message to someone else. Misato didn’t understand what the
coordinates meant, but knew it couldn’t be good.
19 – 11 – 2015
MY LORD SHRIAK,
IF ALL MODERN HUMANS ARE DECIEVED AS EASILY AS GENDO
IKARI, THEN I AM DISAPPOINTED IN OUR EFFORTS TO DESTROY HUMANITY AND MERGE WITH
LILLITH TO THIS POINT. THE FOOL
ACTUALLY THOUGHT I WOULD HELP HIM MEET HIS DEAD MATE. SINCE MY ARRIVAL HERE, I HAVE ELIMINATED THE SECOND IN COMMAND,
SOME ELDERLY HUMAN BY THE NAME OF FUYUTSUKI, GIVING ME ABSOLUTE CONTROL OF THE
ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS NERV. OTHER
PROBLEMS HAVE ARISEN, HOWEVER. THE
ARRIVAL OF THE DARK CLOTHED PERSON CALLED RAIU CONTINUES TO QUESTION ME. IF HE KNOWS WHO I TRULY AM, I WILL HAVE TO
ELIMINATE HIM AS WELL. HE HAS MADE OUR
OPPONENTS STRONGER AND GIVEN THEM S2 ENGINES, AS THE HUMANS CALL THEM. I MAY BE ABLE TO REMOVE HIM WITHOUT CREATING
SUSPICION TOWARD ME WHEN YOU SEND THE ONE CALLED KEA. IF HE IS TRULY SKILLED AT EVANGELION DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, HE
SHOULD BE ABLE TO DESTROY THEM JUST AS EASILY.
The next one was dated only a few days before Gendo’s death.
4 – 1 – 2016
MY LORD SHRIAK,
NEW PROBLEMS HAVE ARISEN. TWO CREATURES HUMANS CALL DRAGONS APPEARED SHORTLY AFTER MY LAST
MESSAGE. I HAD THOUGHT THAT YOU HAD
SENT THEM TO FINISH THE EVANGELIONS OFF, BUT WHEN THEY BEGAN FIGHTING EACH
OTHER, I KNEW SUCH WAS NOT THE CASE.
THE WHITE DRAGON SEEMS TO BE OUR ALLY; AS IT USED TWO OF THE EVANGELIONS
AS HOSTAGES AGAINS THE BLACK DRAGON.
THE BLACK DRAGON ACTUALLY SAVED THE HUMAN PILOTS FROM THE WHITE
DRAGON. THAT SAME DAY, KEA ARRIVED. I KNOW I AM NOT PRIVVY TO ALL YOUR SECRETS,
BUT I ASSUME THAT BOTH HE AND THE WHITE DRAGON ARE LINKED SOMEHOW. AFTER THE WHITE DRAGON FLED THE BATTLE DUE
TO INJURIES, THE HUMAN PILOTS DISOBEYED ME AND HELPED THE BLACK DRAGON THAT
LATER CALLED ITSELF RAGNAROCK, A NAME THAT HAS NO MEANING TO ME. ONCE THE BATTLE WAS FINISHED, I HAD SOME
HUMAN DRONES RETRIEVE BLOOD SAMPLES FROM THE POOLS OF BLOOD LEFT BY THE TWO
DRAGONS’ FIGHT. THE WHITE DRAGON’S
BLOOD CONTAINED HUMAN AND ANGEL DNA STRANDS THAT FLUCTUATED DOMINANCE OVER EACH
OTHER AT WILL. THE BLACK DRAON’S BLOOD
WAS ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE OUR QUEEN LILLITH’S, ALTHOUGH IT CONTAINED HUMAN,
ANGEL, AND EVANGELION DNA STRANDS. I
DID NOT KNOW THAT EVANGELIONS HAD DNA STRANDS.
SOMETHING THAT WE WILL HAVE TO LOOK INTO. IT IS A LONG SHOT, BUT IF WE CAN CLONE THE BLACK DRAGON’S DNA, WE
WILL BE ABLE TO CREATE AN ARMY OF MINDLESS DRONES TO FIGHT FOR US. UNTIL THEN, WE WILL HAVE TO DO WITH THE
MILITIA I HAVE BEEN HIRING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF TROOPS FOR TO PROTECT MY SECRET.
Misato
sat in a stupor for several minutes, digesting this information before exiting
the personal logs. She entered another
command at the main menu.
COMMAND > OPEN FILE > PROJECT §_
PROJECT §
REBUILDING OF EVA-03 IN JAPAN IS PROGRESSING ON
SCHEDULE. ALL TRACES OF ANGEL PRESENCE
HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED. PILOT SELECTION
IS UNNECESSARY. TOUJI SUZUHARA HAS
ALREADY PARTIALLY SYNCHRONIZED WITH EVA-03.
EXCAVATION OF NERV USA BASE HAS REVEALED EVA-04 TO BE
FULLY INTACT. SHIPMENT OF EVA UNIT IS
COMPLETE. ACTIVATION OF UNIT IS
PROLONGED INDEFINITELY DUE TO INABILITY TO FIND SUITABLE PILOT. UNIT IS CURRENTLY BEING STORED IN NERV
WAREHOUSE # 573 IN TOKYO 3.
BUILDING OF EVA-05 IN CHINA IS COMPLETE. SELECTION OF PILOT IS COMPLETE. ACQUISITION OF PILOT IS PROLONGED
INDEFINITELY.
BUILDING OF EVA-06 IN RUSSIA IS COMPLETE. SELECTION OF PILOT IS COMPLETE. ACQUISITION OF PILOT IS PROLONGED
INDEFINITELY.
BUILDING OF EVA-07 IN USA IS COMPLETE. SELECTION OF PILOT IS COMPLETE. ACQUISITION OF PILOT IS PROLONGED
INDEFINITELY.
Misato
stared at the screen for several minutes, unable to fathom what Gendo had been
intending to do with those EVAs. She
typed in a new command.
COMMAND > WHY HAS PILOT ACQUISITION BEEN PROLONGED
INDEFINITELY.
PILOT ACQUISITION HAS BEEN PROLONGED INDEFINITELY UNDER
ORDERS BY NERV COMMANDER GENDO IKARI.
COMMAND
> WHAT ARE GENDO IKARI’S ORDERS.
DELAY
PILOT ACQUISITION INDEFINITELY TO PREVENT SEELE FROM GROWING SUSPICIOUS OF
NERV’S ACTIONS TO THIS POINT.
“Well, Gendo’s not in charge anymore
and we just might need those EVAs sooner or later,” Misato stated.
COMMAND > PRINT
OUT WHERE CAN I CONTACT THE CORRECT PEOPLE TO ACQUIRE THE PILOTS AND THE
INFORMATION ON THE PILOTS.
The printer next to the computer
spat out a list of phone numbers and personnel files on each of the
pilots. Misato looked over the papers
and made a decision.
“Looks like I’ll be making quite a
few phone calls today,” Misato mused.
The new Commander of NERV reached
for the phone and dialed the first number.
High
School, class 2-A
The teacher looked from the trio he
stood behind to the rest of his class, none of whom noticed him standing
there. He cleared his throat, startling
Rei, Asuka, and Shinji. The three teens
spun around and looked at him in surprise.
“Now,” the teacher began, “if you
three will sit down, we can begin class today.
And welcome back, Miss Ayanami.”
Shinji and Asuka sat next to each
other, obviously, while Rei took her usual seat by the window. As their teacher went off on another tirade
about the Second Impact, Rei stared out the window, thinking about Raiu. She turned to glance around the class and
stared at the teacher’s suit on the back of his chair. Suddenly, she could see each strand of
fabric in the shirt as if she was peering at it through a magnifying
glass. Rei looked around and saw each
of the other students as if she was looking at them using high-powered
binoculars. Without warning, she was
able to hear a student’s heart beating in the next door class. A stream of smells unnoticeable to a human poured
into her nose as an array of tastes assaulted her taste buds through her closed
lips. Rei could feel the air shift and
move subtly against her skin, a feeling anyone else wouldn’t have had.
All of her senses rapidly became
much more keen and sensitive. The
overhead lights burned her eyes as perfumes, colognes, and various other scents
overwhelmed her sense of smell. The
increasing continued until Rei was crying out, oblivious to the other
students. The teen fell out of her
chair and began writhing on the ground in pain. A single thought crossed her mind through all the pain and
sensory overload.
“RAIU!!”
Rei cried out in a telepathic burst to the older teen.
Within minutes, a loud crashing
sound assaulted Rei’s ears, followed by the screaming of the students.
Raiu stood just inside the broken
window in his gargoyle form, watching the students and teacher of the
class. He walked toward Rei, shifting
back to his human form as he did so. As
Raiu kneeled beside the girl, Shinji stood beside him.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“The only one that knows that is
Rei.”
Raiu placed his palm against her
upper chest and spoke to her telepathically.
“Rei,
what’s wrong?”
“Lights,” Rei replied in a panicky voice, “sounds, tastes, smells, feels. Too much!”
Raiu looked up at Shinji and Asuka.
“The changes still aren’t
complete. Each of her senses have been
enhanced to the point of causing her pain.
Even with me just talking like this, it’s probably hurting her.”
“Just who or what the hell are
you?!” the teacher shouted, his back pressed against the blackboard at the
front of the class. “What are you doing here?!
What do you want?!”
Raiu stood up and walked over to the
older man. The teen hissed and
maneuvered his face close to the teacher’s, his silver cat eyes gleaming.
“If you don’t stop shouting,” Raiu
hissed, “I’m your worst nightmare to the fifth power.”
Raiu returned to Rei without waiting
for a reply. He placed his hand against
her chest again and spoke into her mind.
“Rei. I want you to listen to me very
carefully. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes! Just stop
the pain!”
“Concentrate on my voice. Try to ignore the pain.
Think only of us being together.
You can use some of my memories if you need to.”
“Al – alright . . . please, stop the pain!”
“I will. But you
have to concentrate.”
Rei’s writhing and crying visibly
lessened, although she still winced whenever Raiu’s hand inadvertently shifted
position slightly. Asuka stood next to
Shinji and looked down at the couple.
“Is she going to be alright?” the
fiery red head asked.
Raiu glanced up at her harshly as
Rei writhed more at the sound of Asuka’s voice.
“Only if you make no noise
whatsoever!” the dark haired teen hissed in a low voice.
Raiu continued to speak to Rei
telepathically as her writhing lessened to the point of nonexistence. Finally, she fell asleep. Raiu stood and looked at Shinji and Asuka.
“She’ll be fine, but she won’t be
able to finish the day here. I’ll have
to take her somewhere where we can work on her control over her senses.”
The teacher suddenly charged Raiu
with a yardstick, hoping to knock him away from the students.
“I won’t let you harm one of my
students!” the man shrieked.
Raiu reached out without so much as
turning and grabbed the yardstick as the teacher swung at him. He reached out with one foot and tripped the
older man, knocking him to the ground.
Raiu looked down at the man and snarled.
He
moves pretty fast for an old man, Raiu thought to himself.
“She’s the last person in all the
universes combined that I’d harm.” Raiu stated, then turned from the group.
“I’ll be going now.”
With that, Raiu picked up Rei and
walked toward the window. He stepped up
on the sill, then casually jumped out the window. The students finally broke out of their stupor and ran to the
window, expecting to see a bloody mess on the sidewalk below. Instead, they saw Raiu flying off in his
gargoyle form, Rei cradled in his arms.
They then slowly turned to Shinji and Asuka, who were smiling nervously
at them.
“I think we’ve got a lot of
explaining to do,” Shinji stated.
“Damn straight!” Hikari exclaimed.
Somewhere
deep in space
“And
were you unable to destroy any of the EVAs as well?”
“No, my lord.”
The pale teen kneeled in a spotlight
before a shadowed being.
“I was able to destroy EVA-00 before
being almost fatally injured by my brother.”
“And
that was all?”
“Sadly, yes, my lord.”
“Then
you have failed me, Kea. However, you
have done more than most of my Angels have done. Therefore, you shall have one more chance. If you can not return victorious, then do
not return at all. I will send several
more Angels with you.”
Kea stood and left.
“All
is progressing according to schedule, father.” A mental voice said to the
shadowed being.
“Yes,
daughter. Soon, my son will be returned
to me. I am just sorry we have to
sacrifice such a loyal follower for him, no matter how delusional he is.”
“It can not be helped.
Besides, none of us really like the ‘sacrificial lamb’ enough to care if
he dies or not.”
NERV
HQ, midday
Shinji and Asuka walked into Gendo’s
old office and found Misato on the phone.
It was obvious she’d been talking to the person for quite some time.
“Fine . . . fine!” Misato exclaimed.
“How much do you want? That much?! You can’t be serious! Wait – didn’t Ikari already pay you for
this? Uh huh. Well, I’ve got the financial reports for the last few years here,
and according to it, Gendo paid you in advance for this.”
Misato looked up to see the young
couple and motioned for them to wait.
After a few seconds, the new Commander smiled.
“Well, then. I’ll be expecting them here as soon as
possible. I might even throw in something
extra if they’re here in under two days.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Good-bye.”
Misato hung up the phone, leaned
back, and groaned.
“Money hungry jerk.”
“What’s wrong?” Shinji asked.
“Those damned Chinese
ambassadors. They wanted me to pay them
what Gendo had paid them in advance.”
“For what?” Asuka inquired.
“One of the new EVAs. Russia and the United States agreed to send
their Units and pilots here without so much as a second thought.”
“WHAT?!” the two teens cried out in
unison.
“Oh.” Misato stated. “I forgot to
tell you. I was searching through
Gendo’s computer this morning. It seems
Gendo had the USA, China, and Russia build three more EVAs. Why, I have no idea. Anyway, I called up all three countries and
asked them to send their EVAs to us.
They should get here in a couple of days.”
“Find out anything else?”
“Well, EVA-03 is being rebuilt and
EVA-04 was found intact. It’s being
stored in a warehouse right now. By the
way, what are you doing out of school already?”
“We were sent home.”
“Why?” Misato asked in a low voice.
“Rei went into seizures or
something,” Asuka explained, “then Raiu showed up in his gargoyle form and
scared the shit out of the entire class.”
“He said that Rei’s senses had been
super-enhanced to the point of causing her pain. He managed to calm her down somehow –”
“Then he flew off with Rei after our
teacher tried to attack him,” Asuka finished.
“And you were kicked out for what
reason?” Misato began to get irritated.
“After we briefly explained everything
about Raiu and Rei,” Shinji stated, “the teacher sent us home for helping
disrupt class and being friends with – and I quote the teacher on this – ‘a
demonic creature that stole the form of a human.’”
“Looks like I’ll be making yet
another phone call today,” Misato moaned.
“Eh, don’t matter.” Asuka replied.
“He’s a jerk anyway. Everyone else
tried to get him to let us stay so they could hear more about Raiu.”
“Well then, what are you going to do
for the rest of the day?”
“Not much, just hang out around the
base,” Shinji answered.
Two days later
Misato took Shinji and Asuka with
her to greet the new pilots as their ships brought them into the harbor. The first ship to arrive was Russia’s. The large aircraft carrier slowed to a stop
and lowered a ramp, allowing the trio to walk up and meet the crew. They were introduced to the maintenance crew
of the EVA, then the pilot. He took one
look at Misato and snorted.
“Who the hell are you?” the teenage
boy asked.
“I’m Misato Katsuragi. Commander of the Japan branch of NERV. And your new commanding officer.”
“Oh. I thought you were somebody of importance, like an adult EVA
pilot. Guess I won’t have anyone to
best with my perfect EVA.”
“Watch who you’re insulting,
dumkopf,” Asuka hissed, “or I might just have to prove you’re not the best.”
“Oh? And who might you be?
Some German floozy?”
“Asuka Langley Soryu, resident
champion EVA pilot. And if you don’t
stop insulting people, I’ll make sure you’re EVA can’t be repaired.”
“Ooh, I’m so scared.”
“Enough.” Misato growled. “What’s
your name?”
“Chekov Namovi, Seventh Child,” the
boy replied arrogantly as the ships from China and the USA arrived.
“Alright then, Chekov. Come with us to greet the other two pilots.”
“I’d rather puke.”
“Too bad.” Shinji stated harshly.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“What’s your name? Super Wimp?”
“I am Shinji Ikari, Third
Child. The only reason you’re not on
the ground with a broken nose is because I don’t want to piss Misato off any
more than she already is.”
“All of you, enough!” Misato yelled.
“Chekov, you can either come with us to greet the other two new pilots or we
can have someone else pilot your ‘perfect’ EVA until you learn some manners.”
Chekov reluctantly followed the trio
to the Chinese ship. They got onboard
just in time to see the pilot being escorted toward them. The girl bowed once she was near them and
introduced herself.
“My name is Yisiu Sulu, the Sixth
Child. I am pleased to meet you,
Commander Ikari. I –”
“I’m not Ikari.” Misato stated
flatly. “He was killed in an Angel attack recently. I have been promoted and took his place. I am Commander Misato
Katsuragi.”
“Oh. Well then, I am pleased to meet you, Commander Katsuragi. I hope I will not fail you while I am
working under you.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine. And you don’t have to be so formal around us. We’re sorta like one big family. Just call me Misato.”
“Alright. I will try to remember that.”
“You want to come with us to meet
the American pilot?”
“I’d be glad to.” Yisiu stated,
smiling. “But, what about my EVA?”
“It will be transported to NERV HQ
in a matter of hours,” one of her escorts replied.
The group headed for the last ship
only to see that the American pilot had been escorted to the pier already. She said something in English that none of
the others understood. Seeing their
blank faces, she realized her mistake and bowed.
“I forgot that you don’t speak
English.” The teen stated in halting Japanese. “I’m called Krystal Carson, the
Eighth Child. I’m glad to meet all of
you.”
With the introductions finished,
Misato herded everyone into the van she’d brought instead of her coupe and sped
off to the base.
NERV
HQ
“How much longer do we have to
wait?” Chekov whined for the umpteenth time.
“The more you whine,” Krystal
snapped in English so he wouldn’t understand her, “the longer it will take,
pretty boy!”
The five teens sat in the lounge,
waiting for the three new EVAs to arrive.
Maya walked through the door a few minutes later.
“The EVAs have arrived. If you’ll all follow me, we can give them a
test run.”
Once they were directed to the
locker rooms, the pilots quickly changed into their Plug suits. Chekov’s was brown with green highlights,
Yisiu’s was yellow and white, and Krystal’s was colored teal with silver
highlights. The five pilots each headed
for their EVAs, not knowing for sure what to expect from each other. After the pilots got in their EVAs, the
living robots were launched up separate launch tubes.
Outskirts
of Tokyo 3
The five EVAs met at the outskirts
for the test run to keep from damaging the city. Each new EVA looked much different than the others.
EVA-05 was yellow and white with
collapsible wings. Its body was like
EVA-03’s while its head resembled EVA-00’s.
It had a single eye and was lankier than most EVAs. EVA-06 was deep brown with increased
musculature and three eyes. It
resembled EVA-01 but had no mouth or ring around the head. EVA-07 was solid teal with a few silver
markings. It had six eyes and four
shoulder-mounted blades. Its head
didn’t resemble any other EVA while its body was almost an exact copy of
EVA-02’s. The three new pilots marveled
at Sularos and Siron, the upgraded EVAs unlike anything they’d seen before.
“Just what the hell kind of EVAs are
those?” Chekov demanded.
“Upgraded EVAs.” Sularos replied
bluntly. “Our friend Raiu found a way to enhance our EVAs to the point where
they changed shape. These are the
results.”
“So what? My EVA can still beat yours,” the Russian boy sneered.
“Let’s see if you’re right or not,”
Siron growled.
“Gladly.”
The other three EVAs backed away and
formed a triangle around Siron and EVA-06.
EVA-06 strutted as if to say, “this’ll be easy.” Siron leapt into the air, surprising
Chekov. He spun around, expecting an
attack from behind, only to be attacked from the direction he had been
facing. A few well-placed kicks dropped
Unit-06 to the ground, stunning Chekov.
He stood his EVA up and turned to Siron again.
“You got lucky!”
“Let’s see you do better!”
EVA-06 charged Siron only to be
slammed to the ground when she punched it in the chest. The titan quickly got up and tried to jump
kick Siron. The female EVA grabbed his
foot and began spinning around. EVA-06
was airborne a few moments later as Siron released its foot. Unit-06 flew for the length of several city
blocks and came crashing down heavily in a nearby forest. It shakily stood up and walked back over to
the other EVAs. Siron couldn’t see him,
but knew Chekov was staring daggers at her from within his Entry Plug.
“Wanna try again?”
“ . . . No . . .” Chekov mumbled.
“Now, let’s get back to the test.”
Sularos stated. “Let’s see what each EVA can do. Yisiu, you’re first.
Let’s start with marksmanship.”
EVA-05 stepped over to a nearby
building and got out a positron rifle.
Yisiu turned to Sularos and waited for further instructions as the
emerald green EVA walked off until he was 500 yards away, then stopped and
turned to the others.
“Try to hit the center of my
shield.”
“What – oh.”
Yisiu was cut off as Sularos’ shield
expanded from his left arm. He
positioned his shield in front of his chest and nodded at EVA-05. Yisiu aimed the gun and fired off a round,
hitting the edge of the shield. She
fired several more, most of which hit the edge of the shield, but a couple hit
near the center.
“Good.” Sularos stated, stopping her
from firing more rounds. “You’re next, Krystal.”
Yisiu passed the gun to the teal EVA
and stepped back. Krystal took aim and
fired the same amount of bullets as Yisiu and hit the exact center with every
shot. EVA-07 pantomimed blowing smoke
off the barrel and passed the rifle to EVA-6.
Chekov aimed and fired off the same number of bullets as the other
two. None of them even hit
Sularos. The emerald green EVA shook
his head and walked back to the others.
“Not bad.” Misato stated over the
EVAs’ comm. links. “Krystal, you’ll be our sniper. Yisiu, you could be anything depending on how well you do in the
rest of the test run. Chekov, you will
not be allowed near guns when an Angel attacks. You’ll do more damage to the other EVAs and the surrounding area
before you’d hit the Angel. Therefore,
you’ll be a close combat fighter.”
“It won’t matter what any of you
are.” A familiar voice called out from behind the EVAs. “You won’t live for
much longer!”
The five giants turned to see Kea in
his dragon form and a couple of Angels beside him. The Angel to his left looked like Sachiel, but it had blue skin
and a snake-like tail in place of legs.
The other one looked like Arael, except it had two heads and four
arms. Sularos snarled and stepped
forward.
“What do you want, Kea?”
“Shinji? Your EVA has changed. Oh,
well. I’ll still destroy you easily.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Sularos
growled as he activated his prog sword.
The two charged each other with
blades at the ready. Sularos slashed
down with his sword, only to have it blocked by Kea’s arm blade. He quickly brought his shield forward to
block Kea’s punch. Kea snapped his leg
up, kneeing Sularos in the gut. The EVA
stumbled backwards a few paces and got ready to block another attack. He looked up to see Kea charging a Mega
Flare attack. He dove to the side as
Kea fired, forcing the dragon to miss and destroy an insignificant
building. Kea ran over to Sularos and
kicked him in the chest, making sure he stayed down. The white dragon aimed his fist at Sularos’ head and turned to
the EVAs, his fist glowing.
“Make one move and he dies.”
Before the EVAs could react, a
volley of laser blasts caught Kea in the back, knocking him away from
Sularos. Everyone – including the
Angels – looked toward the source of the lasers to see Raiu in his dragon
form. The black dragon walked over to
Sularos. As he reached down to help the
EVA stand, something slammed into his side.
Caught unprepared, Raiu was knocked over Sularos to land almost a
football field away. He stood up to see
EVA-06 standing near Sularos. Raiu
formed an AT Field as EVA-06 grabbed the positron rifle and fired on him.
“What the fuck is your problem?!”
“Filthy Angel! You’ll not be harming any of my fellow
pilots!”
“What?!” Raiu exclaimed. “Dumb shit! I’m on your side!! Didn’t you see me take down Kea?”
“Yes! Just so you could get the kill for yourself!”
Raiu was about to respond when a laser
blast hit his AT Field. He looked over
his shoulder and saw the Angels firing at him again. The dragon then turned back to EVA-06.
“I’ll deal with you later. EVAs!
You take on the Angels while I finish some unsettled business with
Kea. Be aware that if any of you attack
me, I will reciprocate with near lethal force.”
“Where’s Rei?” Sularos asked,
stopping Raiu.
“NERV HQ. She’s able to control her powers now.”
Raiu turned to look for Kea and saw
his white brother walking casually toward him.
As the two dragons faced each other, they watched the other for signs of
readying to strike.
“I’m surprised you came back so
soon, brother. It’s not like you.”
“So I decide to be different for
once. So what? Just means I get to kill you sooner.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Raiu charged a full Mega Flare under
the protection of his AT Field, then dropped the Field and fired at Kea. The blast tore through the white dragon’s
left shoulder, ripping his arm from his body and decimating the left side of
his chest. Kea fell to his knees and
smirked at Raiu.
“What’s so funny?” Raiu inquired.
“You think this will kill me, that’s
what. Neotek nano probes! Activate!”
Upon his command, wires shot out of
Kea’s back and attached themselves to various parts of his body, even his
severed arm. The arm was pulled and
held against Kea’s side as his flesh peeled away in several places to reveal
robotic components. The components
pushed forward and spread, covering the torn edges of his flesh. The left side of his upper body was replaced
with robotic parts covered by a metal shell.
The severed arm reattached itself at the socket provided by the robotic
shoulder. The flesh on Kea’s neck from
the shoulders up melted and ran off like water, revealing a robotic neck and
head. Kea had transformed into a cyborg
dragon.
“This oughta be challenging,” Raiu
mused.
EVA
control room
Rei walked through the door and was
met by Misato.
“Rei!” Misato exclaimed. “Where have
you been?!”
“With Raiu. I had some problems with the heart. We managed to work it out, though.”
Rei looked up at Misato and surprised
the older woman.
“What’s wrong?” Rei asked, seeing
Misato’s expression.
“Your eyes . . .”
Rei looked at Misato curiously.
“What’s wrong with them.”
“Here,” Misato replied, handing Rei
a small mirror she kept in her purse.
Rei looked into the mirror and was
surprised by her own looks. Her eyes
had changed. Now, the whites of her
eyes were swirling with inky, sky blue clouds and her pupils had become diamond
shaped while the red irises had deepened in color to blood red.
“Weird,” Rei thought aloud as she handed
the mirror back to Misato.
The girl pushed passed the woman and
stood beside Maya.
“Do you have a visual of the fight
out there?”
“Yes. Bringing it up now.”
A large monitor above the plate
glass windows sprang to life with a video of the fight outside. As the group inside watched, the EVAs
surrounded the Angels but were quickly downed when the Angels fired powerful
blasts that cut through the EVAs’ armor like it was butter. The only ones left were Raiu, Sularos, and
Siron, each of them fighting a different foe.
Surface
Sularos charged his opponent,
slashing wildly with his prog sword.
The blade connected with the Angel’s arm when the monster tried to block
the attack. The prog sword cut through
the Angel’s arm and imbedded itself in the creature’s shoulder. The Sachiel lookalike cried out in pain and
slammed its other fist against Sularos’ head, knocking the EVA back. Sularos barely hung on to his sword and ripped
it from the Angel’s shoulder, slicing through the flesh even more.
Siron fired her sonic disrupters at
Arael II, only to have them ricochet off the Angel’s AT Field. She ran toward the Angel and slammed her
fists together, generating a sonic boom.
That, combined with her quickly unfolding AT Field, cut through Arael
II’s AT Field and caught the Angel by surprise. As the creature fell to the ground, Siron fired her energy beam,
slicing off two of the Angel’s four arms.
The Angel pushed itself up and flew at Siron, only to be knocked down by
a sonic boom and her AT Field.
Raiu grinned at Kea before raising
his AT Field to block a burst of laser blasts.
“Y’know, becoming part metal really
wasn’t a good idea, brother.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because now, you’re just one big
lightning rod!”
Before Kea could respond, Raiu had
dropped his AT Field and spat a lightning bolt at his brother’s metal
shoulder. When the bolt hit, sparks
rained as several circuits shorted out.
Kea swore loudly and fired a burst of lasers at Raiu. The beams hit, knocking the black dragon to
the ground. As Raiu watched, Kea’s
shoulder seemed to repair itself. Now
it was Kea’s turn to grin at his brother.
“Neotek technology is so
useful. You’d be surprised how much
nano probes can do.”
Sularos stumbled backward and would
have fallen, had he not back-flipped and landed in a defensive crouch. He launched himself toward Sachiel II. Sularos thrust his prog sword out before him
and stabbed the blade through the Angel’s core, destroying the monster.
Siron kicked the prone Angel,
sending it flying a few hundred yards.
It crashed to the ground across a highway leading into Tokyo 3. She ran over and grabbed the Angel by its
throat. Siron lifted the creature and
slammed her fist through the Angel’s core, only to find a second sphere within
it. She pulled the sphere out and
looked at it curiously. When nothing
happened, she crushed the sphere between her hands.
Raiu fired a volley of lasers from
both hands, hitting Kea, but merely stunning him. The cyborg dragon walked up to his fallen brother and smashed his
foot down on the black dragon’s hip, shattering the bone and tearing the flesh
with his talons. Kea laughed as his
brother cried out in pain then smashed his other hip the same way. Kea repeated the process with Raiu’s knees
and feet as if he were a child playing hopscotch. Raiu tried to fire more lasers at Kea, but the haze of pain
prevented him from aiming accurately and each of his shots missed. Kea shifting out of the way of each didn’t
help much either.
EVA
control room
Rei watched in horror as Kea
shattered every single bone in Raiu’s body.
A small blue aura formed around her as her anger and despair grew. She clenched and unclenched her fists
repeatedly, unable to think of anything but the fight outside.
“No . . .” Rei hissed. “Kea will not
win.”
Surface
Sularos and Siron gathered up the
downed EVAs and dragged them to the launch tubes, where they were returned to
the underground base. That done, the
two upgraded EVAs headed back to help Raiu.
Once there, they tried to fire on Kea, only to have their shots
reflected back at them by Kea’s AT Field.
He glanced up at them as their own weaponry hit them, causing massive
damage to each EVA and knocking them out.
Raiu snarled weakly and spat a lightning bolt at the distracted cyborg
standing on him. He got lucky and the bolt
hit Kea in the head, shorting out his optics.
As Kea shook his head, waiting for his sight to return, Raiu charged up
a Mega Flare. Kea’s sight returned just
in time for him to see the growing ball of light.
“Stubborn as always, aren’t you
brother?”
Kea formed an AT Field and engulfed
the Mega Flare’s sphere in it. The
blast backfired and hit Raiu in the stomach, tearing the black dragon in
half. The last thing Raiu felt as he
lost consciousness was Kea ripping his heart/core out. Kea held the heart/core in his hands and
stared in awe.
“So much power stored within such a
small package. So hard to get to, and
yet so easy to destroy.”
Kea grinned and threw the
heart/core, intending to destroy it in midair.
A split second after he fired a burst of lasers, though, he was tackled
by a large form. He fell to the ground
several hundred yards away and stood to face his attacker. A lithe, humanoid dragon stood before
him. Her navy blue skin would have made
perfect camouflage under the sea, but here, it made her stick out like a sore
thumb against the midday sky.
Reptilian butterfly wings hung from
her back as a bladed tail lashed back and forth behind her. Segmented armor skin ran down her from the
base of her skull, down her back, and to the tip of her tail while smooth, leathery
skin coated her throat, chest, and stomach area. Her legs were like those of Raiu’s gargoyle form, only
proportionally slimmer.
Two serrated, finlike blades angled
out from each forearm, the ones closest to her elbows longer than the other
two. A ring of horns crowned the back
of her skull, connected by webbing similar to the skin of a bat’s wing. Kea’s eye level was about mid-neck on
her. Narrowed, anger filled red eyes
glared at Kea.
“You killed Raiu. Now, I will kill you.”
“Rei?!” Kea asked in shock, but his
optics instantly narrowed in determination. “So, Raiu’s heart did much more
than just save your life. I’ll still
crush you like the insignificant bug that you are.”
Before Kea could act upon his words,
though, Rei formed a sphere of orange light before her mouth as the wailing of
a thousand ambient voices filled the air.
A beam of orange power shot toward Kea, blue lightning bolts spiraling
around it. The beam hit Kea’s AT Field
and, to her terror, dissipated harmlessly.
Kea laughed maniacally and fired a laser beam from each hand, hitting
Rei in the stomach with each. Rei
clutched her stomach in pain and fell to the ground.
Kea stepped forward to finish the
job, but something stopped him in his tracks.
He saw Raiu’s smashed heart/core floating toward him at about chest
level. An eerie voice spoke in his
head.
“Like
a phoenix, I rise from the ashes.”
“NO!” Kea snarled.
Six lines of light shot out from the
heart/core, forming the points of a hexagon.
Kea fired lasers at the heart/core, but the organ simply absorbed them
and healed itself.
“Death
has no use for me. It was so before,
and it is so again.”
“I destroyed you!”
Two more lines shot out, forming
what looked like a neck, spine, and tail.
“Human
and Angel were merged to create me.”
“You can’t be alive!”
Ten lines grew from the highest
point and angled away from Kea, the two second longest at the top. The longest two were just below and outside
them, hanging limply like tentacles.
“Love
and hatred empower me.”
“I will destroy you again and again
if I have to!”
Four more lines emerged, two at the
base of the neck and two at the base of the tail. They bent at the midpoint of each, forming a stick figure with
arms and legs.
“Justice
and revenge give me form.”
“I will not be defeated!”
New lines grew from the end of the
arms and legs, forming rudimentary hands and feet. A short line emerged from each shoulder, aiming away from the
heart/core.
“Light
and Darkness swirl together as my soul.”
“Not by you, of all people!”
Suddenly, millions of lines shot out
from the heart/core, creating the wireframe body of a large dragon with six
wings.
“The
blood of the living Avatars, the Evangelions, has resurrected me.”
The wireframe was filled in with
grey. The grey brightened and darkened
alternately, generating an effect similar to a strobe light, only slower. The flashing sped up and became more intense
to the points of blinding light and light swallowing darkness.
“I
am Alpha through Omega. The Beginning
to the End.”
(Just to clear this part up. I’m an Atheist. Alpha and Omega here are nothing more than symbols. The Beginning to the End is just a quick way
of explaining how powerful Raiu is now.
The last thing I need is for my e-mail to get clogged up with hate mail
from people who are pissed at me for possible religious misunderstandings.)
“I don’t care what you are!” Kea
screamed. “I’ll kill you, no matter how long it takes!! I will prove that I am the greatest!”
Silver EVA-like armor covered almost
all of the dragon form, blocking most of the flashing. Soon, the entire body was covered with
EVA-like armor. The dragon’s eyelids
raised, revealing two pools of green light.
His neck, back, and tail were similar to Rei’s, but more like EVA
armor. Gold armor plating covered his
chest, throat, and abdomen.
Two cone-like spikes angled outward
from his shoulders while his six wings were dark grey on the inside with silver
armor on the backs. Six horns ringed
the back of his head from his jaw to just below and behind his eyes. Two longer horns arced back from above his
eyebrows as a pair of gold whip-like tentacles hung down his neck from just
below them.
His legs were almost exactly like a
Tyrannosaur’s, but with longer toes and armor.
His arm blades were the same as before, only serrated and longer. He was just barely taller than Rei. The blood red scar on his human form
appeared on the armor in the form of a split in the plating, with red skin
underneath.
(Imagine the Summon Materia
Bahamut-ZERO from FFVII with EVA style armor, the arm blades, Tyrannosaur legs,
and no nose horn. YES!! I am a Final Fantasy fan!! And damn proud of it, too!!)
“You tried to kill Rei twice, killed
me once, and otherwise fucked up my life more ways than I want to count. You must pay for your sins, brother. I am sorry I must do this, though. Terra Flare.”
With that, Raiu fired a beam of
black energy from his mouth at Kea. The
power of the blast pushed Raiu’s head back, but he continued to fire the
beam. The blast hit Kea in the dead
center of his chest and punched through his body, destroying his
heart/core. Kea’s body imploded slowly
then exploded into billions of microscopic pieces. Raiu walked over to Rei and kneeled beside her. She looked up at him weakly.
“Looks like we’re back to this
position again.” Rei stated. “And here I am, dying again.”
Raiu let loose with a barking laugh
before speaking.
“I don’t mean to be insensitive, but
a few laser blasts to the stomach won’t kill you. You saw Kea survive worse than that. It hurts like hell, though.
Just concentrate on your stomach healing and it will happen.”
Rei did as she was told. The wound instantly stopped bleeding and
began sealing up. She smiled up at Raiu
as he helped her to stand. The two
headed for the fallen EVAs and picked them up then carried them to the launch
pads. Once in the docking bay, the two
dragons propped the EVAs up in their cages.
As the pilots were ejected, they stepped back to watch. The three new pilots walked as close to the
dragons as they could on the catwalk and gaped at them. Rei glanced around nervously before turning
to Raiu.
“Um,
how do I return to my human form?”
“Just concentrate on being your gargoyle form right now. I’ll help you from there.”
Rei and Raiu simultaneously shifted
into their gargoyle forms in midair.
Rei didn’t know what to do and almost fell. Raiu dove to her and caught her.
After a few moments of telepathic communication, they flew over to the
catwalk and landed. Everyone had the
chance to look at the two in detail as they walked over to see how Shinji and
Asuka were doing.
Raiu’s gargoyle form had changed. The basic form was the same; his head and
hair were still black, but the bangs were now silver; in place of the body suit
was actual EVA armor. The armor also
framed his face, leaving only his face visible. His legs, arms, and wings were the same as his new dragon
form. Shinji and Asuka stood up warily
from the pools of LCL they’d been laying in.
“How you two doin’?” Raiu asked.
The two pilots looked up at Raiu and
were surprised to see a female gargoyle next to him. The two quickly returned to their human forms, startling Shinji
and Asuka.
“Rei?!” Shinji exclaimed.
“Yeah. It’s me. I’ve got the
same powers as Raiu now.”
“Mein Gott!” Asuka cried out. “This
just keeps getting weirder and weirder, doesn’t it?!”
“No changin’ that, Asuka.” Raiu
replied. “Now, would you two mind introducing us to the new pilots?”
“Oh! Okay.” Shinji agreed, the new pilots approaching as he spoke.
“The girl in the yellow suit is Yisiu Sulu, the other girl is Krystal Carson,
and –”
“The arrogant little jerk is Chekov
Namovi. AKA: oberarche.”
Raiu let loose with another barking
laugh and looked at Chekov.
“Damn, man! You just got slammed!”
Everyone but Rei looked at Raiu in
surprise.
“What are you talking about?”
Krystal asked.
“Rei and I can understand and speak
any language after hearing only two words in that language. Go ahead.
Try me.”
Krystal said something in English
that only her and the two shape shifters understood. Raiu and Rei then had a short conversation with Krystal in
English. Krystal turned to the other
pilots and shook her head in amazement.
“Perfect English!”
Misato came walking up behind the
group.
“Alright. Enough of the idle chitchat.
Let’s get down to business.
Raiu. Do you think you could
upgrade the rest of the EVAs like EVAs 01 and 02?”
“No,” Raiu stated simply.
“Why?”
“Only EVA-01 and EVA-02 could be
upgraded like that. For any other EVA,
I can enhance their armor, install an S2 engine, and reconstruct the Entry
Plug. Nothing more.”
“Then get to work. If any more Angels show up that are as
powerful as those last two, we’ll need all the firepower we can get.”