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Genesis 1.04

The Memories and Transformation

 

EVA docking bay

 

            Raiu slashed at Gendo with his right arm blades, cutting a hole through the older man’s clothing and into his internal organs.  Gendo stumbled backwards, dropping his gun to keep his intestines from falling out.  The NERV commander looked up at Raiu and grinned evilly.  The gargoyle ignored the grin and attacked Gendo again.  He performed an uppercut slash only to have his blade stopped by something in Gendo’s chest.  A look of shock crossed Raiu’s face as he ripped Gendo’s shirt open and saw an Angel’s core imbedded in the older man’s chest.

            Raiu backed up several steps before snarling and lunging at Gendo again.  Before he could strike though, Gendo had leapt away and landed behind the black suited teen.  As Raiu and the others watched, a ring of horns grew from Gendo’s scalp as small, thorn-like blades tore out of his sleeves, covering his arms.  Bladed claws emerged from his wrists.  Spines burst from Gendo’s back that resembled spider legs with blades at the ends.  Gendo’s legs each split into twelve tentacles while his body seemed to cave in on itself, leaving what looked like little more than skin stretched over bones.

            Shell-like armor grew over Gendo’s body, contorting and reshaping his still human parts.  Once the transformation was over, in the former human’s place stood the strangest looking Angel anyone had ever seen.

            “You’ll not stop me from restoring Lilith and the rest of the True Angels to our former glory, freak!” The Angel cried as it fired a burst of lasers at Raiu.

            “Look who’s talkin’, monster.  Should’ve known you had ulterior motives for disliking me.” Raiu smirked, dodging the lasers. “I don’t really care what your motives are.  You will die for what you did to Rei!”

            Before the Angel could respond, Raiu had charged it again, slashing wildly, only to be thrown back by the Angel’s suddenly raised AT Field.  Raiu landed heavily several yards away and was blasted by the Angel’s lasers.  The gargoyle stood and faced the Angel from twenty yards away.  Just as Raiu was about to attack again, the Angel lashed out with its wrist claw, slashing Raiu in the face.  The flesh in the wound hissed and bubbled for a few seconds before forming a red scar over Raiu’s eye.

            “Damn.  Can’t heal acid damage.  You die now.  Kusanagi!” Raiu hissed.

            Raiu raised his hands above his head and clasped them together.  Beams of bright light shot out from between his fingers.  The beams twisted and rotated so that they all aimed straight up.  The combined ray of light shrank and Raiu’s arm blades glowed, then ran like water up his arms to merge with the light.  The sphere of light that had formed elongated and thinned, forming a sword of light.  Raiu brought his arms back down to his sides only to bring them back up in a defensive position with both hands holding the hilt of the sword.  Raiu performed several motions with the sword, leaving a trail of light behind the blade.  He held the sword off to the side of one leg, then started running toward the Angel.  Raiu raised the sword over his shoulder as he approached the twisted creature, then lunged forward.  As he lunged, Raiu swung the sword like a pro baseball player would.  In mid swing, Raiu shot forward as if propelled by some other force.

            The sword slashed through the Angel so fast that it didn’t even have time to react before its core was destroyed.  The Angel seemed to collapse in on itself before exploding with the force of several pounds of C4.  Small bits of dissolving flesh rained on Raiu and the others.  Raiu relaxed his hands, dispersing the sword.  As Raiu stood there panting from the stamina drain, a whisper was heard.

            “Raiu . . .”

            Raiu’s head snapped up to look in the direction of the voice and saw that the gel had been torn from Rei from the chest up in the explosion.  Swearing to himself, Raiu ran over and kneeled beside Rei.

            “I’m sorry you have to see me like this, Rei.” Raiu sighed. “But, it was unavoidable.  If you don’t want to have anything to do with me, I’ll leave.”

            “Trust him . . .” the persistent voice in the back of Rei’s mind said.

            “Stupid . . .” Rei whispered. “I . . . love you . . . no matter what you are.  Even if I . . . only have a few more . . . minutes at the least.”

            “Don’t talk like that, Rei-chan,” Raiu whispered painfully.

            “Why?  It’s true.  I don’t have . . . much longer.  I’m just sorry we . . . weren’t able to . . . be together . . . any more than we were.”

            Several red tears rolled down Raiu’s face before he started chuckling, then burst out laughing.

            “What – what’s so . . . funny?” Rei asked, grimacing as a new wave of pain washed over her.

            “Rei!  It doesn’t have to end like this!  We can live the rest of our live together!”

            “How?”

            “Just watch.”

            To Rei’s horror, Raiu ripped one of his arm blades off and jammed it into his chest.  He began wrenching the blade up and down, cutting a hole in his sternum.  After several seconds, Raiu threw the blade away and shoved his fist into the hole.

            “Raiu!” Rei cried with rapidly fading strength.

            “He’ll live . . .” the voice stated.

            “RRRAAAAGHH!!” Raiu snarled as he pulled his hand out.

            In his hand was an object that looked like a mass of torn flesh that pulsed with a bright red light.  Rei looked at the object in shock.

            That’s his heart! Rei realized.

            “No.” Raiu stated as if able to read her thoughts. “Only half of it.  It’s the only way to save you.  I love you, Rei-chan.”

            Rei smiled slightly as Raiu leaned down to kiss her.  As their lips met, Raiu placed the half-heart over the bullet wound in Rei’s chest.  Rei’s body bucked in pain as the torn organ slithered into her chest as if it had a mind of its own.  Once it was in, the wound sealed up and Rei’s body went limp.  Raiu’s eyes widened in fear as he placed two fingers against the side of her throat, then relaxed when he felt a faint pulse.  He stood up and almost fell over when a wave of pain coursed through his body.

            “Damn.  Forgot about that.”

            Raiu looked down at the holes in his arm and chest.  Almost instantly, the wounds began sealing up.  He looked around to see everyone staring at him in shock.

            “If you want Rei to survive, get her on life support as soon as possible.  The two halves will regrow into two whole hearts, but she’ll need the life support.  She nearly died, after all.”

            Shinji visibly gulped and stepped forward.

            “What about you?”

            “I’ll be fine,” Raiu replied.

            Despite his words, Raiu promptly passed out and fell to the ground, his wings, tail, and arm blades disappearing as his black body suit shifted into his normal black outfit.  Shinji turned to the other nervously.

            “Uh, what do we do?”

            “Let’s get Rei on life support like he suggested.” Misato stated, quickly taking command. “Put him in a holding cell.  I’ve got a lot of questions to ask him.  Do the same to whoever it is Ragnarock, Raiu, or whatever he calls himself beat the crap out of.”

 

Rei’s mind

 

            Inside Rei’s head, her thoughts were like a hurricane.  She saw things that she never remembered happening.  A flash of light separated each set of images.

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei was absentmindedly walking down a hallway when she heard a muffled thud come from a nearby room followed by unrecognizable voices.  She crept over and put her ear to the door.  Rei recognized Raiu’s voice almost instantly.

            “What are you doing here, anyway?!”

            “Simple,” a voice Rei didn’t recognize answered, “I came to see you, brother.  Although, I should be the one asked that question.”

            “Bullshit.” Raiu snarled. “You died!  How the hell did you come back?!”

            “They regenerated my body and revived my soul.  I escaped again and came looking for you.”

            “Then why did you attack me yesterday?”

            “I was under Their control then.  I managed to break free of that control soon after.”

            “Then prove that you’ve broken it.”

            “I haven’t attacked you yet.  Isn’t that proof enough?”

            “Not in the slightest.  You were always the devious one between us.”

            “And you don’t consider what you’re doing now devious?  Anyway, how is your precious Rei doing?  I do hope you haven’t caused her any harm yet.”

            Upon hearing her name, Rei jerked backward and stood up.  She opened the door just in time to see Raiu slam his fist into Kea’s face.  Kea’s head snapped back and slammed into the wall behind him.  Before he could even fall, Raiu had landed a series of punches and kicks to the pale teen’s chest and abdomen.  Raiu picked Kea up by the collar with one hand and pulled the smaller teen close to his face.

            “You had better stay away from her,” Raiu snarled, pure rage evident in his voice, “or you won’t even have time to blink before I kill you.”

            “I’d watch my language if I were you, dear brother.” Kea sneered, staring straight at Rei. “For we are in the company of a fair maiden.”

            Raiu spun around, dropping Kea in the process, to see Rei staring at him in horror.

            “Shit.” Raiu swore, walking over to Rei. “I’m sorry I have to do this again, but it’s best if you don’t remember what we said.”

            With that, he placed his right palm against her forehead.  Almost instantly, Rei collapsed into Raiu’s arms, unconscious.

 

            FLASH!

 

            Raiu let out a cackling laugh and set EVA-01’s jets to full power, leaving Rei behind in less than a second.  She gave chase and froze in shock when she saw Raiu fighting an Angel.

            The Angel fired a red beam of energy at EVA-01, striking it in the chest.  The EVA stopped dead in its tracks and tumbled to the ground.  Rei charged the Angel only to suffer the same fate as Raiu.  The Angel approached her EVA and kicked it, sending it flying over EVA-01.  The blue EVA crashed half a block from EVA-01  Through her still functioning monitors, Rei watched the Entry Plug of EVA-01 eject just enough for Raiu to exit as the Angel approached her EVA again.  When she saw Raiu get out, he was much different than when he’d gotten in the EVA.  He had wings, a tail, and two blades extending from each arm.

            “You damned bastard!” Rei heard Raiu shout. “You’re dead now!  This will teach you not to hurt Rei-kun!”

            Rei tried to call Raiu back, but her transmitter had shorted out.

            “BANISHER!” she could hear Raiu yell before he leapt into the air, threw his arms back, and thrust his chest out.  A white beam of energy with yellow bands spiraling around it fired from his chest and struck the Angel dead center in its core.  The beam punched through the Angel and continued on into the night air.  Strangely, instead of just slumping to the ground, the dead Angel was sucked into the beam.  As the beam faded, Rei saw Raiu’s extra appendages fold into his body.  With the Angel dead, EVA-00 quickly regained power and stood up.

            Raiu looked at the rising giant and swore silently.  He leapt onto the EVA’s head and clambered onto the Entry Plug hatch.  He pulled the hatch open and crawled inside.  Rei cowered away from him as he swam toward her in the LCL.

            “It’s best you don’t remember this Rei.” Raiu stated sadly. “I’m sorry.”

            Raiu placed his left palm against her forehead and she almost instantly passed out.

 

            He did that to protect me. Rei realized. He cared for me even then.

            Rei twitched in her sleep as she regained those lost memories.  As those images faded, they were replaced with ones she knew were not hers.

 

Misato’s apartment

 

            Asuka sat next to Shinji on the couch and leaned against him.  He smiled and put his arm around her.

            “How are you?”

            “Good, now that you’re here,” Shinji replied, still smiling.

            “Suck up,” Asuka stated, grinning and lying her head on his shoulder.

            “Just stating the facts, Asuka-chan.”

            “I’m surprised you piloted EVA-01 so readily the other day.  You even act different than before.”

            “I’ve got a reason to fight now,” Shinji answered.

            “What’s that?”

            “To protect the person I love.” Shinji whispered to her. “You’ve given me more confidence than I’ve ever had before.”

            Asuka smirked and shifted closer to Shinji.

            “Not only am I the best EVA pilot, I’m also the inspiration for the other pilots!”

            “Great,” Shinji moaned, “now I’ve given her an even bigger ego!!”

            Asuka lightly punched him in the arm before laughing.  Shinji smiled at his girlfriend and kissed her lightly on the forehead.  Pen Pen watched the humans’ actions curiously, then shrugged and headed for the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist.

 

Rei’s mind

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei watched through someone else’s eyes as they opened to see a pale orange liquid surrounding it.  She felt the liquid passing in and out of her body freely.  Ears that were not her own heard voices speaking outside the glass tube he or she was in.  The language they spoke was new to her, but somehow, Rei was able to understand it.

            “Subject Dark Heart is awake.” A male voice said. “Hmmm.  Interesting.  I’d expected Subject Light to be the first awake.”

            “Does it matter?” A female voice asked. “This is proof that it’s a success!”

            Rei saw and heard no more as the person fell asleep in the memory.

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei was once again staring through the orange liquid as the same two voices spoke.

            “We’ve proven it’s possible to create a person.” The female voice stated. “Now, let’s prove the creation of intelligence.”

            A hand pressed against the glass of the tube from the outside.  The person whose senses Rei was using moved forward.  It’s – or Dark Heart’s - hand reached out and pressed against the glass, matching the hand from outside.  Dark Heart’s hand then traced the outline of the other hand with a finger.  The other hand then began moving in circles.  Dark Heart’s hand mimicked it for a split second before forming a fist and slamming against the glass right where the palm of the other hand was pressed.

            “It seems Subject Dark Heart wants out a little prematurely, my dear,” the male voice stated.

            “I’m reading massive amounts of anger emanating from the subject.” The female voice responded. “From the look of the readings, Subject Dark Heart thinks you are playing with him.”

            “Far more intelligent than we imagined.  Subject Light isn’t this intelligent.”

            Again, Rei saw and heard no more as Dark Heart shut off his senses.

 

NERV HQ, holding cell

 

            Raiu woke to see Misato and Shinji standing over him.  He slowly sat up and rubbed his forehead.

            “Damn, that hurt.  Hey, where are my shades?  Oh yeah.  Crushed ‘em.  Oh, well.  What day is it?”

            “Thursday.” Misato replied brusquely. “Now, whether you’d like to or not, you’re going to tell us everything.”

            “Everything?” Raiu smirked. “Don’t know everything.  Just my past, what I’ve learned from others, and the present.”

            “Don’t get smart with me, young man – dragon – whatever you are!”

            Raiu smirked again and stood up then followed the two to the briefing room where the rest of the staff sat.

            “You deserve to know my past.  But first I want to say something.  I just want to apologize for deceiving and flat out lying to all of you.  Now, about my past.”

 

Rei’s mind

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei’s eyes opened to the now familiar site of the pale orange liquid that still flowed freely in and out of Dark Heart’s body.

            “It is time to let them out.”

            Before Dark Heart or Rei could comprehend what was happening, the liquid was drained from the tube he was floating in.  Dark Heart fell to the ground as the wires holding him up released him and the tube was retracted into the ceiling.  With reflexes a rabbit would envy, Dark Heart was standing in a defensive posture, ready for an attack from any side.  Sensing that he was in no danger, the subject relaxed just enough to fool the casual observer.  Dark Heart looked around to see a middle-aged man, a young woman, and a young man that Rei recognized as Kea.

            If that’s Kea, then the person I must be remembering this through is . . . Raiu!

            As if beckoned, Dark Heart – no, Raiu – and Kea stepped forward.  The man stepped forward to stand a few feet away from the two brothers.  Kea immediately kneeled before the man.

            “You are my creator.” Kea stated simply. “Therefore, I belong to you.”

            Raiu looked at his brother with undisguised disgust as the man beamed.

            “You catch on quick!  Now, Dark Heart, shouldn’t you be doing the same?”

            “I am a sentient being,” Raiu replied, “therefore, I belong to myself.”

            “A bit arrogant,” the man asked his female partner, “don’t you think, my dear?”

            “Not necessarily.” She answered. “He speaks the truth.  Sentient beings do belong to themselves.  Although he should kneel to you out of at least respect.”

            “He has yet to earn my respect.” Raiu stated. “I do not give out respect to every person who asks for it.”

            “I believe we designed him to be a little too intelligent,” the man mused.

            “While he has knowledge of such things as sentience and respect, he most certainly does not know of most things outside this laboratory.”

            “On the contrary,” Raiu corrected her, “I know almost everything about the outside world.”

            “Well then,” the woman began, “what is the population of Terra?”

            “Which species?” Raiu asked.

            “Human.”

            “There are approximately three point nine billion humans living on Terra, one quarter of which are either homeless or uncivilized.”

            “How did you know that?” the man asked, astounded. “I knew that was the exact answer, but how could you have known it.”

            “You designed us to adapt to our social surrounding as quickly as possible.” Kea replied before Raiu could. “You were not specific on how to do so.  As such, we are able to learn everything a person knows about their world and language just by speaking with them for a few moments.  If we so wish.”

            Rei faded out again with the sight of the man and woman staring at Raiu and Kea with slack-jawed looks.

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei once again saw the orange liquid, but this time recognized it as LCL.  She could sense Raiu’s impatience and annoyance with his situation.  She probed the memory and recoiled slightly in surprise.  He was being tested in a dummy EVA!

            “Haven’t we proved that we can achieve a Synchron percent of 2500 no matter what situation it is yet?” Raiu asked.

            “Why are you so worried, Dark Heart?” Kea asked. “It’s not like we have anything else to do.”

            “It’s not that, Light!” Raiu snapped. “I just think it’s pointless to test for something we know will happen every time we pilot an EVA!”

            “You’ll be out of here as soon as you finish one more little test.” The man stated. “Just as long as you pour all your willpower and concentration into it.”

            “Good,” Raiu hissed.

            Suddenly, every nerve ending in Raiu’s body was flooded with intense pain.  Unfortunately for Rei, she could feel what he felt as well.  Raiu jerked and convulsed, roaring in anger and agony.

            “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!”

            “Just the little test I told you about.” The man stated. “Now, try and pilot your EVA, Dark Heart.”

            Raiu focused on the heartlessness of the man’s words and gripped the control sticks.  He ripped them out of the control panel and kicked out with both feet.  The kick cracked the plate glass shielding before Raiu.  With a second kick, Raiu shattered the glass and let his instincts kick in.  Without warning, he jumped through the hole he’d made and painfully morphed into his gargoyle form.  Raiu flew down to the window separating the testing tubes from the control room.  With a single kick, he broke through the glass, then dove through.  Raiu landed on his feet and faced the man.

            “You ever do that to me again,” Raiu snarled, “and I will destroy you.”

            “How did you do that?!” the woman asked.

            “You infused us both with Angel DNA.  Specifically, that of Runarak Dion.  We have many powers and abilities you can not even begin to comprehend.  However, I somehow absorbed Evangelion DNA when you used the pain simulation.  The pain stimulation fused my human and Angel DNA strands, allowing me to become a smaller, more human version of our dragon forms.”

            “Dragon form?” the man asked.

            Raiu sighed and back flipped out of the hole he’d made, disappearing from the two doctors’ sight.  Rei felt a strange tingling sensation pass through Raiu’s body as he morphed into Ragnarock.  The dragon raised his head just enough to look down at the two scientists once he landed.  They looked up at him in shock and fear before the memory faded with Raiu’s voice.

            “You can not tell anyone about this, though.  If someone were to find out about it, we would be used as mere weapons.  I seriously doubt you went through giving us sentience just to let us be made into weapons.”

 

            FLASH

 

            This time, Raiu was walking down a hallway, thinking about how boring the laboratory was.  Rei saw grey walls, a white floor, and a ceiling that was nothing but lights.  Rei heard a voice coming from one of the many doors Raiu walked past.  Raiu walked over to the door and pressed his ear against it.

            “Yes.” A gravelly male voice said. “They are performing better than expected.”

            The man paused for a moment, listening.

            “No, they are not ready yet.  Trust me.  They will be the perfect war machines when I’m through with them.  Once their training is done, I will perform a mind wipe on both of them.”

            Again, he paused to listen.

            “No, it will not make them forget their training.  All it will do is delete their personalities and free will.  They will be mindless drones with the training to defeat any known EVA pilot.”

            Another pause.

            “No, that’s not all they can do.  I’ve been told that they have the ability to change shape at will, thanks to the Angel DNA infused in them.  Dark Heart can become a black dragon and a smaller dragon like humanoid.  I believe the correct word for it would be gargoyle.  Light can only become a white dragon, however.  They will make us a great deal of money, my friend.  We will have an army of Runarak Dion clones.”

            Raiu jerked his head up in shock, then snarled slightly at the realization that he and Kea had been betrayed.  He stood up and quickly walked back to their shared room.  He saw Kea lying in bed, asleep.  Raiu walked up and shook his brother awake.

            “What now, brother?” Kea asked sleepily.

            “Get up.  We’re outta here.”

            “What?”

            “We’re leaving before those bastards can turn us into mindless war machines.”

            “Our creator wouldn’t do that to us,” Kea stated defensively.

            “Bullshit.” Raiu snapped. “He betrayed us.  He told the head of the project about our dragon forms.”

            “You lie!”

            Raiu heard a strange tone in his brother’s voice and saw a small bandage on his shoulder when Kea sat up.

            “Is anything wrong, Kea?”

            “No.  Why?”

            “Well, then.” Raiu pointed to the bandage on Kea’s neck. “What’s that on your neck?”

            “Oh, that?  Our creator said it was a simple heart monitor.  It had to be placed under the skin.”

            “Wouldn’t it make sense to place it in the chest instead of the neck?”

            Raiu reached over and pulled the bandage from his brother’s neck.  He then grabbed the corner of the small chip that hadn’t been placed under the skin and pulled it out.  Rei felt a strange sense of loyalty to their creator and the head of the project wash over Raiu and her then quickly fade away.  Raiu growled and crushed the chip with his bare hands.

            “A loyalty chip.  The bastards.”

            Kea shook his head as if he’d just woken from a dream.

            “They did what?!”

            “Our creator betrayed us to the head of the project, who intends to turn us into mindless war machines, then sell us to the highest bidder.”

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei was back in her own mind for a moment.

            “I pity that young man.  He has lived such a strange life.”

            Who are you? Rei thought. Why won’t you leave me alone?!

            “Because I care about what happens to you, Raiu, and Shinji.”

            We can take care of ourselves!  Please!  Just leave me alone!

            “Alright, Rei.  But please tell Shinji one thing for me.”

            What is it?

            “Tell him his mother still loves him and is proud of him.”

            With that, the mental voice was gone.  Rei called after it until the next memory washed over her.

            I’ll tell him.  Don’t worry, Mrs. Ikari.

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei saw a control panel similar to that of a fighter jet.  Raiu looked around, checking the various gauges and instruments of the cockpit.  Rei probed the memory again and found out that Raiu and Kea were about to blast off to return to Earth from a distant planet.  They had stowed away on a freighter headed for that planet after they escaped from the compound.  The brothers then decided to return to earth several years later.  Raiu flicked a couple of switches, activating the engines of the ship.

            “Engines, on.” Raiu stated. “How ya doin’, bro?”

            “Not bad, man.  Let’s just hope they’ve forgotten about us by now.”

            The launch sequence continued in silence.  Once the two star fighters were out of the planet’s atmosphere, they quickly activated their hyper-drives.  Exactly thirteen seconds later, they appeared in orbit above Earth.  Before the twins could even get their bearings, several alien looking space ships fired on them.

            “Subjects Dark Heart and Light.” One of the other pilots stated. “You are to surrender immediately or else.  Once you have surrendered, you are to follow us to the landing pad in grid 19A.”

            “19A?” Kea asked.

            “Our old home.” Raiu growled. “Not a chance you ugly bastards!”

            Raiu fired a volley of photon lasers and banked away from the return fire, Kea mimicking him.  What soon followed was an intense and deadly game of cat and mouse.

            “AAH!” Raiu yelled several minutes later “Don’t these bastards ever give up?!”

            “’Fraid not, buddy!” Kea replied over the comm. link between the two star fighters.

            As Raiu dodged another volley of laser fire, he saw Kea’s ship explode in a flash of light.  Raiu heard Kea speak a single word in his mind as the ship blew apart.

            “Live!”

            “NOOO!” Raiu screamed, almost losing control of his own fighter.

            He looked forward again and saw a sphere of energy rocketing straight toward him.  Raiu and Rei had just enough time to scream before the sphere hit, blowing the fighter into millions of pieces.  All that was left was a sea of white light.

 

            FLASH!

 

            Rei awoke to a sea of light.  The first thing she noticed was a being before her.  What she found the strangest to be though, was that though the being was just as bright as its surroundings, she could see it as if it were standing against a black background.  A hand she didn’t recognize reached up to rub her forehead.

            “Where am I?” Rei spoke in a strange voice, then realized that she hadn’t even thought that. “What happened?”

            “While it may seem like a split second, 50,000 years have passed since your death, Raiu.”

            Raiu?! Rei thought. I’m still living out his memories?

            “Why was I brought here?”

            “You have been chosen.”

            “Chosen?” Raiu asked groggily. “For what?”

            “To save Earth.”

            “Earth?”

            “You would know it as Terra.  It is in grave danger.  I am one of Earth’s guardians.  We have chosen you to protect Earth from future danger.  You will not be alone in your fight for Earth.  It will not be the Earth you remember.”

            “What happened to it?” Raiu questioned anxiously, now fully awake.

            “It was altered soon after your death.  Something happened to Earth.   All of civilization and its effects on Earth were taken with it.  Everything else was left.  Even we do not know what happened.  The Earth we are sending you to will be primitive in several ways compared to the one you knew.  We will unfortunately have to block part of this memory to you.  All you will know is that 50,000 years have passed.  You memory of this discussion may be triggered by something we have no control over.  We wish you luck.”

 

            FLASH!

 

NERV Hospital room

 

            Rei screamed and quickly sat upright in the bed.  She felt something drip down her forehead and realized she was covered in a cold sweat.  The young girl raised a shaky hand to her forehead and felt it.  She jerked her hand away when she felt something strange.  It had almost seemed like she could feel her brain working.  She calmed herself and listened.  When she didn’t hear anything strange, she got out of bed and looked around for her clothes.  She found them lying on the bedside table and quickly dressed herself.  A nurse came running in to check on the Rei since the monitors had signaled a break in the transmission when Rei had removed the scanners.

            “Young lady!” The nurse exclaimed. “You should be in bed, resting!”

            “I feel fine,” Rei replied flatly.

            “That’s not up to you to decide!”

            “So you’re saying I’m not smart enough to know if I feel fine or not?” Rei asked, her eyes locking gazes with the nurse’s.

            The nurse paled slightly and backed away.  Rei ignored her and packed the rest of her personal things that were in the room.  She walked past the nurse and down the hall.

 

NERV HQ, debriefing room

 

            Raiu leaned back in the chair and propped his feet up on the table in front of him.  Misato paced back and forth on the other end of the room while Shinji and Asuka watched Raiu from adjacent seats to each other.  Shigeru, Maya, Hyuga, and the other chief staff members sat in stunned silence.

            “ . . . And so, that’s my story up until right after my death.”

            “Then you crashed to Earth as Ragnarock,” a voice spoke from the doorway, “met Shinji and I, then changed to human, and volunteered for a job here at NERV.  How long have I been out?”

            “Exactly.” Raiu replied warmly. “I’m glad you’re out already, Rei.  You’ve been in a coma for about three days.  I’d expected it to take longer.”

            “Rei?!” The others exclaimed.

            Raiu stood up as Rei entered the room.  The two teens hugged for a few moments before sitting down next to each other.  Misato just stared slack-jawed at the two.

            “Shouldn’t you be resting, Rei?!  And aren’t you concerned with her health, Raiu?  If you’re human at all.”

            “She’s out of the hospital because the heart has finished its primary task and she feels fine.” Raiu stated before Rei could answer, surprising her. “As for being concerned with her health.  Yes, I am.  But, I know that she’s fine.”

            “How?” Shinji asked.

            In response, Raiu tapped his chest, just over his heart.

            “When I gave her half of my heart, it linked us together.  We have complete access to each other’s memories, we can tell how well the other is, etc.”

            “And how do you know all this?” Maya inquired.

            “Because, I’m able to do that.  And I’m sure Rei is as well.  Right, Rei?”

            “Yes . . .” the young girl replied hesitantly.

            “I’m sorry you had to see some of those memories, Rei.  They’re painful enough to me, let alone someone else.  A few of them I wouldn’t wish on anybody.”

            Rei looked at Raiu in surprise, only to see him smirking at her and the others.

            “Limited telepathy,” Raiu explained.

            “You can also read my mind, but only with my permission.” Raiu stated in her mind. “And vice versa.”

            “A few of these abilities I share with Kea, but not many.”

            “You once asked me if I felt complete.” Re said to Raiu telepathically. “I didn’t then, but I do now.  Because I’m with you.”

            “I didn’t think it was possible to function with only half of a heart,” Hyuga mused.

            “Like I said, the two halves grew into two whole hearts.  Our regenerative abilities are astounding.  You saw how quickly my wounds healed and how Kea survived getting his small intestines blown out his back.”

            “Huh?” half of the assembled staff members grunted.

            “Oh, come on!” Raiu exclaimed. “Do I have to spell it out for you?!  Kea and I are brothers.  I have only one brother.  Ragnarock and Ahnahk are brothers.  I am Ragnarock.  Think about it for a second!  If you can’t figure it out, you don’t even deserve a job flippin’ burgers at a fast-food joint.”

            This time it was Rei’s turn to smirk as the group realized what he was talking about.

            “Speaking of Kea,” Rei said, “what happened to him?”

            Misato grew visibly pale and nervous at that question.

            “Um, well, you see . . .”

            “What condition was he in when you last checked on him?” Raiu asked. “And when did you last check on him?”

            “He’d stopped bleeding around 8:00 this morning, although he was still pretty messed up.”

            “Twelve hours . . .” Rei stated softly.

            “Where is he?” Raiu hissed.

            “Holding cell 938,” Misato stammered.

            Before anybody could even blink, Raiu was running down the hall.  Rei took off after him, shocking everyone with her speed.

 

Holding cell 938

 

            The guard’s walkie-talkie crackled to life, startling the dozing officer.  He quickly raised the device, only to feel his skin begin burning as his blood literally boiled.  His flesh liquefied and fell to the floor as the door behind him shuddered.  Raiu arrived to see the smoking skeleton fall to the ground.  He felt someone come to an abrupt stop behind him and turned around.  He jumped slightly when he saw Rei.

            “I didn’t know you could run as fast as I could.”

            The heart must have done more than just heal her, Raiu thought.

            “Neither did I.” Rei stated. “Where’s the guard?”

            Raiu grimaced and moved over to show Rei the melted corpse.

            “Oh my God!” Rei breathed, covering her mouth.

            She turned away to keep from vomiting.  Raiu smelled smoke and looked around.  He saw a pin head sized hole in the cell door.  He looked down to see a tiny red point of light on his shoulder, smoke rising from where it touched his trench coat.  Raiu cursed and side stepped out of the way quickly.  He hugged Rei close and turned his back toward the cell just before the door exploded outward with the force of several hand grenades.  As the smoke faded, Raiu released Rei and turned to face the door again.  The young couple saw a figure step through the remains of the door and walk toward them slowly.

            “It seems you lost, brother.” Kea sneered. “You failed to kill me when you had the chance and now you will pay for it.”

            “Sorry,” Raiu hissed, “but I consider saving someone more important than ending your pitiful existence.”

            “Well, if Tcharka did his job right, then Rei is dead.  When you sent that red EVA away with Rei’s Entry Plug, it gave Tcharka the perfect chance to kill your wench.”

            “Tcharka would be the Angel that was living inside Gendo, correct?”

            “Yes.”

            “He’s dead.”

            Before Kea could respond, Rei spoke.

            “Call me a wench again, Kea,” Rei growled, “and I will finish you myself.”

            Kea stopped in his tracks upon hearing her voice and backed up a few steps.

            “So, you’re still alive.  No matter.  I’ll kill you myself.  It should be simple to wipe a puny human like you from the face of the Earth.”

            “No it won’t.” Raiu countered. “You can read my memories.”

            Rei realized what Raiu was doing.  Instead of just telling Kea what happened, he’s letting the pale teen relive it.  The couple could see Kea’s look of shock as the rest of the smoke faded.  The look quickly changed to one of rage.

            “You BASTARD!!” Kea yelled. “You made her one of us!  Now I will ensure that your deaths will be slow and excruciatingly painful!”

            Rei heard a rustling from beside her and was startled to see Raiu in his gargoyle form so quickly.

            “I doubt you’ll be able to do that, brother.”

            “Who says I’m going to do it now?  I’ll give you two lovebirds a little more time, then crush you like the bugs you are.”

            Kea’s laughing form faded from sight as he teleported away.  Raiu returned to his human form and looked at Rei.

            “Don’t worry.  We’ll be ready for him.”

            “I know.” Rei replied. “I can feel it.”

            “Let’s get back to the others.”

 

EVA docking bay

 

            “Why are we here?” Asuka asked impatiently.

            “To upgrade EVA-01,” Raiu replied flatly, typing commands into the terminal.

            “Why?”

            “We’ll need as much firepower as possible to fight Kea and the forces he’ll be bringing back with him.”

            “How would you know that?” Misato inquired.

            “Like I said earlier, Kea and I have a link similar to mine and Rei’s, but weaker.”

            Shinji got into his Plug suit and ran back down the hall to the docking bay.  He headed for EVA-01 when Raiu’s voice over the loudspeakers and Rei approaching him stopped him.

            “Let me finish downloading this last command string, Shinji.” Raiu stated. “Then you can hop in the EVA.”

            “Shinji.” Rei began. “I have something to tell you.  When I was unconscious and for some time before that, someone was speaking to me telepathically.  I didn’t know who it was until it was too late.  I snapped at her and she no longer speaks to me.  Before she left though, your mother said to say she still loves you and is proud of you.”

            Shinji looked shocked for a moment before his expression softened.

            “Thank you, Rei.  I won’t ask anything else.  But, thank you.”

            Back in the control room, Misato impatiently watched Raiu work.

            “What about Rei?” Misato asked suddenly. “Are we going to rebuild EVA-00?”

            “That’s Rei’s decision,” Raiu responded.

            All eyes turned toward Rei, who had just come back in and shifted uncomfortably due to the attention.  Raiu entered one last command then turned to her as well.

            “Well, Rei.” He began. “It’s up to you.  We can rebuild EVA-00, or . . .”

            “Or what?”

            Raiu sighed heavily before answering.

            “We can wait to see if the heart changes you enough to let you morph like I do.”

            “What?!” The adults exclaimed in unison.

            “It might happen.” Raiu said quickly. “I’m not sure.  You all saw how fast Rei ran earlier.  That might be the extent of the changes, or it could add in EVA and Angel DNA.  If it goes that far, she’ll have an alternate form and a hybrid form.  Just like me.”

            Rei looked at Raiu in shock and fear.  He sighed and shook his head.

            “It was either this or death, Rei.”

            “I know, but still . . . Its sorta freaky.”

            As Shinji sat down in EVA-01’s Entry Plug, Raiu pressed a button at his terminal and the plate glass windows retracted.  The teen smirked at the group and dove out an opening window.  The others reflexively ran forward to see if he was okay, but stopped short when they saw him flying toward the launch tube in his gargoyle form.  EVA-01 followed him, but had to wait for the lift to send him up.

            “Um, I just thought of something,” Hyuga stated.

            “What?” Shigeru asked.

            “With Gendo dead, Dr. Akagi in jail, and Fuyutsuki missing, who’s in charge?”

            The group sat in stunned silence for a few moments.  Then Maya spoke up.

            “I nominate Misato.  After all, she is the highest-ranking person here.”

            Everyone else readily agreed, although Misato’s agreement was a little more hesitant.

            “Oh, Misato!” Asuka called to the older woman in a singsong voice. “With you in charge now, you can’t be getting drunk like you used to!”

            A shocked look crossed Misato’s face before being replaced by anger.

            “Dammit!”

 

Surface

 

            When EVA-01 stepped off the lift, Shinji saw Ragnarock waiting for him.

            “What are you doing – oh, yeah.  Sorry Ragnarock.  I forgot.”

            Ragnarock grinned and shook his head slightly.

            “Just call me Raiu from now on,” the dragon stated in Raiu’s voice, “whatever form I’m in.  I was just using the name Ragnarock as a cover.  Now, to see if we can pump you up to 500% Sincro.”

            Without warning, Raiu charged Shinji.  The EVA pilot barely had time to activate his prog knife to block the slash.  EVA-01 jumped backwards and kicked at Raiu, trying to force him farther away.  Raiu laughed, grabbed the titan’s foot, and slammed it to the ground.  Shinji tried a leg sweep, but Raiu merely jumped over his feet.  The EVA stood up and backed away, putting distance between the two fighters.

            “Scan!” Raiu called out.

            “SINCRO RATE: 150%,” EVA-01’s computer stated.

            “Hmmm.  Not too bad for starting off.”

            Raiu leapt into the air and flew out of Shinji’s range of sight, which was drastically reduced due to the evening sky.  Shinji spun around, expecting an attack from any side.  Much to the pilot’s chagrin, Raiu struck from above.  The dragon dove down and kicked EVA-01 in the back, knocking the living robot to the ground.  Raiu landed near him and waited for the EVA to stand.  Shinji painfully forced EVA-01 to rise and face Raiu.

            “That . . . hurt.”

            “I’d assume so.  I’m fighting as ruthlessly as Kea would to show you what he’s like.  You’ll need the preparation for our next encounter with him.”

            Raiu waited a few moments before speaking.

            “Scan!” Raiu barked again.

            “SINCRO RATE: 155%.”

            After Shinji had caught his breath, Raiu attacked again.  This time, he lashed out with his arm blades.  Shinji blocked the attack with his prog knife and kicked Raiu in the stomach.  Shinji cried out in pain at the feeling of having just kicked a brick wall with his own foot.  Raiu backed of and growled to himself.

            “Damn, forgot to relax my muscles more.  Sorry Shinji.”

            Raiu waited for Shinji to say he was ready before attacking again.  The black dragon ran forward, ready to slash into EVA-01.  Unit-01 crouched and met Raiu’s charge, trying to tackle the dragon at the waist.  Raiu snapped his knee up, connecting with the EVA’s chest, and sending it flying for several city blocks.

 

EVA control room

 

            “What the hell is Raiu doing?!” Asuka yelled.

            “Remember how he tricked you into attacking him to raise your Sincro Rate?” Rei asked. “He’s doing the same thing to Shinji while training him.”

            “Well, it looks like he’s trying to kill Shinji to me!”

 

Outskirts

 

            “Scan!”

            “SINCRO RATE: 225%,” EVA-01’s computer droned.

            “Still not advancing fast enough.” Raiu growled. “Shinji, activate your comm. link to the control room.”

            The two opponents rested while Shinji patched brought up an audio link to the base.

            “Asuka, get out here and protect your boyfriend.  You both need the training and Shinji is getting his ass kicked.”

            Siron came running on to the scene several seconds later and stopped by EVA-01.

            “That was fast.”

            “I was getting in Siron as Shinji activated the audio link,” Asuka replied smugly.

            “Alrighty then.  Defend yourself.”

            Raiu charged Siron and would have knocked her to the ground if she hadn’t jumped out of the way.  Siron fired her sonic disrupters at Raiu.  The dragon merely batted the waves aside as if they were fleas.  Siron froze in shock then fired a sonic boom at the black dragon.  The blast hit him, knocking him back a step or two, and stunning him slightly.  Raiu quickly recovered and fired a burst of lasers at Siron, blasting holes in her shoulder pads and shin guards.  He stepped up to her and roundhouse kicked her, sending her flying for several hundred yards.

            “I though you said I was four times as powerful as an EVA,” Siron stated as she slowly stood up.

            “I did.  But I never said how powerful I am in this form.”

            “Crap,” Siron swore before attacking Raiu again.

            This time, Raiu went for no holds barred and began beating the shit out of Siron.  He slammed his knee into her stomach, elbowed her in the spine as she doubled over, and then kicked her in the side, almost cracking the armor.

            “Stop it!” Shinji shouted from within EVA-01.

            “Make me,” Raiu growled before sending a telepathic message to Rei.

            “Don’t worry.  I’ll stop before I seriously injure her or Shinji stops me.  Tell the others, but not Shinji and Asuka.”

            Raiu picked up Siron and slammed her to the ground rather cruelly.

            “I said, STOP IT!!” Shinji almost roared.

            “Again, make me!  You think Kea will go easy on you and just stop when you ask him to?  I’m holding back compared to what he would do.”

            “YOU BASTARD!!” Shinji screamed.

            EVA-01 ran at Raiu as the dragon grabbed Siron again.  The Evangelion leapt into the air and came crashing down on Raiu, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to drop Siron.

            “Scan!” Raiu snapped from beneath Unit-01.

            “SINCRO RATE: 350%.”

            “Better.” Raiu stated conversationally. “But not good enough.”

            The dragon kicked EVA-01 off him and jumped up, landing in a defensive position.  He waited for the EVAs to stand before attacking again.  He lashed out with his tail and pulled Siron’s feet out from under her, then punched Shinji’s EVA in the chest, forcing it back a couple steps.  The EVA clutched its chest and went into berserker mode.  It charged Raiu and slammed into him at full speed, sending both of them sprawling to the ground.  EVA-01 stood and was about to attack Raiu again when it started convulsing violently.

            “About damn time.” Raiu grumbled, slowly standing up. “EVA-01. Download, access, and activate program Sularos.  Pass code: Hatred.”

            EVA-01 ceased convulsing and stood up silently.  The armor shifted color to a deep emerald green and ballooned out slightly as the EVA’s musculature increased.  The chest plates and the armor on the limbs morphed to resemble the armor of a knight from the pages of a history book.  The armor on EVA-01’s head reshaped itself into a dark purple jet pilot’s helmet with a green visor covering the EVA’s eyes.  The armor around the mouth fell off to reveal a grey skinned, human shaped lower face without the chin spike.  The gauntlet on Unit-01’s left arm melted and fanned out to form a deep purple shield attached to its forearm.  The right shoulder-mounted blade opened up to reveal a weapon hilt.  EVA-01 reached up and pulled on the hilt.  As the EVA lowered its arm, a blade sprang from the hilt, forming a sword that resembled that of a samurai’s.  As the changes finalized, EVA-01 reacted much the same way as Siron did when she finished her transformation.

            “What the hell happened?!”

            “Congratulations, Shinji.” Raiu stated. “You are now in control of Sularos, the upgraded EVA-01.”

            “So I’m like Siron now, right?”

            “Yep.” The dragon replied. “However, Sularos is geared more for close combat than Siron is.  The samurai prog sword in your right hand is almost as powerful as my arm blades.  The shield on your left arm can withstand anything up to my Mega Flare attack.  The body armor is only half that strong, unfortunately.  You can also launch mortar shells from your left shoulder-mounted blade.  They’re half as powerful as an N2 mine but with a much more limited blast radius.  You still have the fusion cannon.  It’s about half as powerful as my Mega Flare.  Aside from your weaponry, Sularos is about five times stronger than an EVA and four times as agile.  Unfortunately, EVA-01’s jets were destroyed in the transformation and I don’t want to risk screwing up the armor and body just to reinstall them.”

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