Broken Wings [NGE]

[Teen Spirit]

Koda's phone rang. To her great surprise the Caller ID showed it was her mom calling. Or rather, this world's version of her mother. That was... quite surprising.

Hesitantly, she answered.

"I think you have the wrong Kodama," she said.

She had been trying to figure out how to communicate with her parents in this timeline but judging by what Ria had said, it seemed like something she would have to wait on for a while. She didn't think she could handle the hate and rejection.

"No...I meant to call you," Her not-quite-mother said hesitantly.

Apparently though her mother had been far more willing to reach out than Ria had expected.

"Oh?" Koda was surprised.

"Look I know there's probably a lot you want to say. But that's something I'm not ready for. I just wanted to let you know that your Aunt Sakura is in the hospital. It's serious but not life threatening," Hikari said.

Well that was concerning, it would also explain why mo...Hikari sounded so off. The family had been through enough as it was.

"What happened?" Koda asked with concern.

"Don't know," Hikari admitted. "She just suddenly came down with something while she was visiting. I'll call you back when we know more. Don't visit yet. I know you might want to but Touji and the others, they're not ready to handle you yet."

"I know, believe me I know." Koda said.

Nothing like being the monster your family feared and despised so much.

"I...Take care of yourself," her mother said.

"Yeah...you do the same." Koda replied, unsure of what else to say.

/

Entering WILLE with Ria felt like a mistake. This was more or less enemy territory for her now. Most of the staff wanted her dead to some degree.

And yet, as he walked through the halls of WILLE, Shinji couldn't help but feel that things were strangely honest for once. The way people looked at him, some glaring hatefully, others shaking their head as he passed like he was fool. For once, they were being honest with him. They weren't treating him with kid gloves.

Of course, that only made him angrier the more he thought about this. No one gave him grief over Third Impact or any of the massive mistakes he made while piloting. But protecting Ria, sticking up for his daughter? Actually trying to be a father for once? Now they judge him?! Ria saved Misato and stopped the assault and they all but spit on her.

If he were in her shoes, Shinji would probably have just fled to Europe and left WILLE to it's fate.

Thankfully not everyone was giving them the stink eye today.

Shinji did his best to stay out of the way as Ria approached Mana Kirishima.

Thankfully the Command Center was largely empty save for themselves and a few techs doing computer repair.

"Colonel Kirishima." Ria did her best to project an air of professionalism. "I was hoping I could enlist your help in an investigation."

"Oh?" Kirishima was mildly surprised. "I wasn't aware running investigations was part of your job?"

"Well it's not, technically," Ria admitted, "but I feel my duties could be greatly aided by one. I was hoping you could get me access to the T-RIDEN-T project. I figure if any place is going to be infiltrated by Angels, it would be there."

Mana bit her lip. "I mean, it would make sense. I'll see what I can do what I can do, but the Prime Minister has been... territorial about it ever since the Empress recruited you."

"Really?" Ria's curiosity was piqued.

"Recruiting you was the Prime Minister's idea, but he wanted you on a leash. No pardon without cooperation. The Empress's move to offer a blanket pardon took him by surprise. I suspect he's keeping tight hold of the T-RIDEN-T project so the Empress doesn't run politically all over him."

'So the pardon was a political move,' Shinji realized. It didn't change anything, but it was disheartening somewhat.

Ria frowned at that. "Do you think he would stop me from investigating the project?"

"Stop, delay, be a general pain about it," Mana admitted.

"Do you think he's hiding anything?" Ria asked.

"Are you asking if I think the Prime Minister of Japan is working with the Angels?" Mana asked directly.

"Well I mean… I'm not saying he is but..." Ria was hesitant.

Accusing the Prime Minister of being a traitor to mankind wasn't exactly a minor thing.

Mana nodded. "No, no, I understand, it's a reasonable concern. I mean, considering your grandfather is working with Ramiel."

Ria groaned.

"Sorry," Mana apologized. "Awkward subject. But if I had any reasonable suspicion of the Prime Minister, I would have brought it to the attention of the General."

"Oh." Ria seemed both disappointed and relieved.

"Still, I'll do what I can to get you access to the project and the candidates," Mana assured her.

"Thank you." Ria bowed slightly.

So far the day was off to a productive start at least.

/

"No," Ibuki said firmly.

"But I just…" Ria protested.

"I said no," Maya insisted. "I'm under orders. I've already passed along what you've told me about Mana's report on the Prime Minister, and I do appreciate that, But I can't give out that kind of info to what is effectively an unwelcome guard."

"Unwelcome?!" Ria was offended.

Sadly everyone save for Mana, and her mother obviously, had been just as unhelpful. Stonewalling her efforts to see if WILLE had anything on the Prime Minister. For some it was clear they were just under orders. Other employees did nothing to hide their outright contempt or hatred for her.

"I'm the only reason the Angels didn't slaughter most of WILLE when they invaded," Ria pointed out.

"You also tried to kill me," Maya countered.

"That was twenty years ago! He did kill me," Ria said as she pointed towards Shinji, who was standing in the back of Maya's office, "and you don't see me holding a grudge."

"Can you please not bring that up?" Shinji sighed.

It was what she expected. No one seemed interested in working with her. They all clung to tightly to the past.

Maya pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Look, kid," she said, "I'm not pulling a Misato on you. I forgive you for what happened twenty years ago, but I can't forget. More to the point, you're working for the government. I've watched the government slaughter almost everyone I knew. Every single other member of your species that we've encounter, barring maybe one, has been an enemy. And you're kind of good at lying. Giving you that info, good intentions or not, is dangerous."

That...as much as Ria hated it, was a completely fair point. Particularly on the 'Government' part. However grateful she was to the Empress for that pardon, that didn't mean she wanted to give WILLE to her on a silver platter. Nor did she fully trust the Empress. Her loyalty was to her family, not the Empress. Endangering WILLE meant endangering her mother. Which was not acceptable.

There was a balancing act to this. One she needed to learn quickly.

/

"Shinji, enemy at 12 o'clock!" Asuka shouted.

A 3D representation of Armisael exploded after a storm of computer generated bolts smashed into it.

"Pick up the pace, Ikari!" she barked. "Rei, target at 3!"

Unit-01 dodged Shamshel's whip-like tentacles and plunged it's one of it's black swords into the fake Angel's core. It dissolved into so many pixels.

One Angel left. Sachiel charged madly at Asuka.

She ducked and rolled to the side, stabbing the Angel's leg with her own sword, pinning it to ground.

The buildings beneath Asuka's feet glitched, turning into a massive of jagged textures.

A spear of light emerged from Sachiel's left claw, which it rapidly swung towards Unit-02.

Two bolts struck the arm, rendering it useless.

Shinji had given her the perfect window.

With a roar, Asuka stabbed up into Sachiel's core with her remaining sword. She pressed as hard as she could, so hard it felt like the controls might break in her hand.

After a moment, the core snapped in half, the Angel dissolving a moment later. They had won the simulated battle.

Asuka sighed as the entry plug ejected from Unit-02 and opened, LCL spilling out onto the platform below. She wasn't satisfied with the results, but it was an improvement.

"Shinji, your speed has improved but you're still lagging," she told him shortly after they showed and changed.

"I'm sorry," Shinji said meekly.

"And stop apologizing," Asuka ordered. "You're making progress. Soon we'll be ready for the Ramiel simulation."

Asuka wanted to be harsher with her words, chew him out for being so slow. But she bit her tongue. She needed Shinji and Rei. Once she would have been ashamed to admit it, but it was true. No one Pilot, even her, was enough to stop a multi-Angel attack on their own. She didn't want to damage any teamwork they built up.

And, if she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to risk losing him.

"So Rei, I was wondering... would you want to see a movie with me, Friday night? If we have the time, I mean." Shinji said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

The three of them were in an elevator, heading back out of the Vault.

Rei smiled. "That sounds wonderful."

Asuka bit her lip again. Rei and Shinji might have had some sort of weird relationship, but that didn't make the friendship she had with Shinji any less important.

Not that she wanted a relationship with Shinji. She would just be retreading what The Sub-Commander did and she had no desire to ever become like that woman.

'And I kind of ruined any chance of having a relationship a while ago,' Asuka admitted to herself.

Asuka wanted to smack herself. Why was she dwelling so much on this? What's done was done. She had far more important, far more interesting things to worry about.

"So, Wondergirl," Asuka spoke up as they left the elevator, "I overheard Misato talking about Unit-00 having 'backdoor features'. Do you know anything about them?"

"Yes," Ayanami admitted.

"And?" Asuka said impatiently

"It's classified," Ayanami stated evenly. "I am not allowed to discuss it by Commander Ikari's orders."

Shinji frowned at the mention of his father.

Asuka raised an eyebrow, somewhat bewildered. "But he's not here."

"Katsuragi has not rescinded the order. I suspect this is an oversight and not intentional on her part. I will ask her by the end of the day," Ayanami explained.

"So is that why you're not talking about why you have the same eyes as the Angels?" Asuka asked.

Wondergirl nodded, looking somewhat ashamed. "I apologize. I didn't mean to deceive either of you."

"It's okay," Shinji said sympathetically. "It's not like you directly lied to us."

"Thank you," She blushed.

Asuka couldn't really fault her, orders were orders after all. And it's not like she had pulled anything close to what Ria did.

One of the elevators let out a chime. Asuka looked back to see the older Shinji and Ria Soryu walking out of it.

'Speak of the devil...'

The two groups stared at each other awkwardly for a moment.

Asuka wasn't sure what to feel. She didn't hold the older Ikari with the same amount of contempt she held for the Sub-Commander. Even if he was an utter idiot.

"What are you doing here?" The younger Shinji's voice shook with surprising rage.

"My job," Ria replied flatly.

"Not you, him!" he said, stabbing a finger towards his older counterpart.

"I'm just…" his other self started to say.

One of the guards approached closer, probably to make sure the situation didn't escalate.

"You destroyed everything!" the younger Ikari exploded. "You ruined the world! Why would anyone allow you this close to the machine you used to do it?!"

His older self seemed to shrink, looking rather distraught.

"You're being unfair," Ria said flatly.

"You didn't give me enough time explain," he said defensively.

"Explain what?!" his younger self snapped. "What could possibly explain what you did?! Why does everyone defend you?! Our father wasn't nearly as bad as you, and no one tries to defend him!"

At that, Ria marched towards him. She grabbed him by the collar and lifted him just enough so he was at direct eye level with her, glaring hard at him.

Asuka remained still. Ria wasn't going to harm him. She knew that, even if Misato didn't. Still messing with that girl when she was angry was a dangerous prospect.

Ayanami stared at them, a genuinely angry expression on her face.

"I've been patient with you," her voice was completely monotone, "but you have no right to compare him to Gendo Ikari."

"Why?!" Shinji was fearless. "They're both liars! You're all liars. You tricked us and used us!"

Ria's glare hardened. "Yes, I lied, yes, he lied. And yeah, he did terrible things, but there's a difference between him and men like Gendo. Gendo Ikari caused Third Impact willingly! That was his goal! He lied to you to use you, to manipulate you. My father lied because he had no other option, and I lied for survival. And we're here trying to atone for what we did, make up for our mistakes. Do you think your father would ever do that? Ever admit he was wrong?"

Shinji was silent.

"Be angry at us if you want. Everyone else is," Ria sighed. "But never, EVER, compare my father to that man. Whatever mistakes my father has made, he's here now, trying to make up for them."

Ria gently put him down.

A moment later her back suddenly arched, every muscle in her body going stiff as she let out a strangled cry.

The sound of sparking electricity filled the air.

Asuka watched in bewilderment as Ria collapsed to the ground, two electrically wires trailing from her back towards the stun gun of a security officer standing behind her

For a moment everyone was silent, completely caught off guard. Then the older Shinji stepped towards the guard, an outraged and murderous look in his eyes.

"Ikari! Sir, stand down," the guard said, "The situation is under control…"

Shinji's artificial hand connected with the security guards face with a resounding crunch, knocking the guard to the floor.

 

[Teen Spirit]

By the time they pulled Shinji off the guard, Shinji had broken several of the guard's teeth and his nose. The guards face was a bloody swollen mess. Shinji's remaining real fist was bloody and rapidly bruising.

It was hard to deny what had happened; one of the guards had, of his own accord, attempted to assassinate Ria Soryu.

Misato wanted to beat her head against the wall in frustration. She hated Ria, but this was absolutely the worst way to go about dealing with her. Sure she had manhandled Shinji, but even Misato knew that she wouldn't try anything against him.

The other guards' reactions left her even more troubled and frustrated. The offending guard was handcuffed, but the other guards were surrounding him, almost as if they were protecting him. All of them glaring hard at Ria. Who was sitting next to her father in the opposite corner of the hall, as medics looked over Shinji.

The Pilots were off to one side, watching with interest.

She approached the would be assassin. "Explain, now."

"Ma'am," he began. "I saw an opportunity to eliminate a major threat to WILLE and humanity. She had just threatened Pilot Ikari and I believe posed a danger to the others as well."

"They were arguing!" Misato groaned. "And she has a pardon! You just assaulted a government official, a direct emissary of the Empress, technically!"

"Exactly," the officer said with feverous intensity. "WILLE is under occupation. The government and the Empress have betrayed humanity. Removing that Angel is the only way we stand a chance at actually winning this war."

Misato was dumbfounded, what could have possibly led him to go to that extreme...

'This is my fault.' The thought washed over her like a cold wave. Everything she had done, attacking Matariel, making it clear that she considered Ria an enemy. At least some of the Security staff had taken it to heart and now took Ria's presence as boot at their throat.

She knew Ria was a threat, but not a threat for today or even this year. Whatever she had planned they didn't need to worry about it now. And attacking her would only make things so much worse. At best it would alienate Shinji and Asuka, at worst it would push Ria into joining Ramiel.

"Ma'am, we can't afford to keep an enemy so close to us. We need to strike now before-" the officer said.

"SHUT! UP!" Misato howled.

Security looked at her in surprise.

Misato's voice shook with rage as she spoke. "We have a truce with that girl, and until that truce is over none of you are to so much as look at her funny!"

"But Ma'am!" the officer protested.

"And you," Misato said, "have earned yourself an immediate dismissal and you'll likely soon be changed with attempted murder among quite a few other things, depending on how upset the Empress is with all this. Do not press your luck by speaking any further."

This was a mess. Worse, it was a mess of her own creation.

The older Shinji approached her. Misato braced herself for the worst.

"I know," she said. "Believe me, I know."

"This needs to stop." Shinji's voice was surprisingly calm but very firm.

Sub-Director Soryu walked in, rushing to her daughter's side. "Ria!"

"I'll make sure the rest of WILLE knows not to pull anything like this again, I promise," Misato tried assure him.

"No," Shinji said. "You need to stop this feud with Ria, period. As long as WILLE knows you hate her and think she's a threat, this kind of thing will keep happening. Yeah, she tried to kill you, and you tried to kill her as well. You were both pushed into that. She also saved you."

"It's not…," Misato hesitated, "It's not that simple, Shinji."

His frustration grew. "Why?! Why is that not simple? What is it going to take to convince you that our daughter doesn't want to conquer the world?! That all she wants is to be with her family and her girlfriend? For crying out loud, the most dramatic conversation we had this morning was making sure she got home tonight at a reasonable hour! She's not some heartless monster! She cares about us! You know this! You raised her as much as anyone, even more than me!"

"I know!" Misato shouted. "Goddamnit I know! That's what makes this so hard."

It had taken her a while to accept that any Angel could have human emotions, but it was apparent with Dimitri and Ria that they were in fact rather human in that particular regard.

"Then why on Earth are you doing it?" Shinji said, his voice pleading.

"Because of Kaworu," Misato stated.

"What?" Shinji was almost dumbstruck.

All eyes were on them now.

"Kaworu," Misato sighed. "Looking back now it's clear he cared for you, and you cared for him. But none of that changed what happened with him."

She hated Ria because Misato knew the pain she could cause Shinji and Asuka if something went wrong. She could in a moment rip out their hearts and leave them emotionally ruined for life. And nothing Misato could do would change that.

"That…" Shinji hesistated, tears forming in his eyes. "That's different. The Angels were drawn to Adam. They don't have the Call driving them anymore. Nothing is going to force her to fight us."

"What if something is, though?" Misato argued. "Every Angel we've fought, they have families, they have people who care about and they should have cared for in return! Why would they all abandon it for some plan they have no way of knowing will work? What if the Evas returning triggered something inside of them, something they might not even be aware of?"

Shinji shook his head "You're getting into outright wild guessing and conspiracy theories now. Okito had this planned since before they arrived."

"I know," Misato admitted. "But think about it. Okito's attack put everything he planned in jeopardy, Shamshel's attack made us aware they were in human form, something we never would have guessed otherwise. Why are they attacking us when their plan doesn't seem to need it at all? They screwed themselves over for no gain. What if something drove them to that? What if they're fighting because something's driving them to fight? I'm probably wrong but I don't want to wake up tomorrow and discover she suddenly has strong urge to fight the Evas or just conquer us and be caught completely flat footed by it."

"That won't happen!" Shinji all but screamed. "And if it did, she would warn us!"

"Really?" Misato questioned "She lied to you about being an Angel and is probably still keeping some secrets from you."

At that Ria glared harshly at Misato before storming off.

"She lied because she knew everyone would act like this!" Shinji gestured to the guard who had tried to kill Ria. "She knew you would do this because it's plain to everyone that you..."

Before Shinji could say anything more, Misato got a message through her earpiece.

"General, we have a problem." Ritsuko said. "Okito Suzuhara has just gone into cardiac arrest."
/
Author's Note: Short update I know, but I have an Omake in the works for you guys.

 

[Teen Spirit]

"I'm no traitor," Okito said nervously, his eyes darting around the bathroom "I'm not going to go against one of our own."

"I'm not asking you to fight Ramiel," the Crown Princess assured him, using the sweet convincing voice she used any time she talked to a politician she didn't trust. "I hope for nothing more than to have them give up their misguided plan peacefully. But the point remains, what you've told me of his plan paints an image of something very inspired, but also very dangerous and very prone to failure. Ramiel's in over his head with this, and if he fails we're all in danger."

Okito was sweating nervously. "When you have the throne, you're going to do what's best for our kind? Assure that it's us on top and not the Lilin?"

Ria grabbed Okito by the back of the head. "When I'm on the throne, Japan will be the most powerful nation on Earth and it will be an Angel at the reins. You will have nothing to fear anymore. That I promise you."

It was incredibly, almost painfully hard not to roll her eyes at his weird Angel supremacist attitude, but she needed to convince him she was being earnest.

She removed her hand and took a step back.

"I joined Ramiel because I thought he was the best hope for our kind," Okito slowly admitted. "But I think that with you, things for us would be far safer. I'll support you as best as I can."

Ria was relieved. If he had refused they would be in a very dangerous position, killing him was far from ideal and if she allowed him to leave he would have been a threat to the nation.

"You're making the right call," Ria assured him.

He nodded, doubt still plaguing him.

"Now," Ria went on, "we need to leave separately, to avoid suspicion. I will leave first. I'll get in touch with you later. We can talk more about how to convince Ramiel then."

"Of course," Okito nodded.

She left, walking up to one of their guards.

"Hitoshi," she greeted him warmly.

"Your Highness," he replied

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor. We still have access to the wiretaps here, right?" she asked.

"Yes," he nodded.

Hawaii was a government in transition. It had been the 'People's Union of Hawaii' until about three months ago. The new government wasn't exactly popular with the hardliners of the old one, meaning they didn't share all the secrets of their embassy. Which was very fortunate for Ria.

"I had a conversation I would rather not get into… well anyone's hands," Ria explained. "Nothing serious, but I don't want my personal life being used for blackmail. So if you could get me the tapes that would be awesome."

"Of course," he said evenly.

"Thank you, Hitoshi." She bowed slightly. "I don't know what I would do without you."

/

It was hours after the dinner when they had returned safety to the Palace when Ria informed her sister of Ramiel's plan.

"So, he wants to become Adam?" Kyoko asked as she sat at the foot of the Ria's bed.

"Sort of," Ria said as she sat at her desk. "It seems like he wants us to be like Tabris, really powerful but still human form. I mean don't get wrong, it sounds like a pretty sweet deal if it worked."

"Really?" Kyoko arched an eyebrow.

"Sure, I'd be all for it if I thought for a moment he could succeed and not ruin everything. Being an immortal God-Empress would be pretty awesome," Ria admitted.

Of course she wouldn't do unless Ramiel also did the same for her family, whoever she ended up marrying, any lovers she had, and any kids she had, adopted or otherwise. Otherwise it would just be a whole lot of grief. And the god part was a bit awkward.

"But there's no chance Ramiel will actually be able to go through with this?" Kyoko asked.

Ria shook her head. "Not in a way we would like at least."

Kyoko nodded in agreement. Too many Angels would want a shot at their parents and WILLE for that matter.

"So what do we do?" Kyoko asked.

They found themselves in a peculiar situation. They had a lot of power, but were handicapped in how they could use it without raising questions they didn't have answers to.

"We need to get in contact with Suzuhara and Dimitri again," Ria explained. "They could get in contact with the other Angels. The more we have on our side the better. Plus...we should start considering revealing the truth to our parents."

Kyoko looked at her, horrified and confused. This was something they had planned to take to their graves. But this wasn't a situation they had ever expected.

Ria sighed. "I don't want to, but let's face it. We try doing this sneakily someone will figure out sooner or later that we're up to something. And if we do nothing, eventually Ramiel's plans are going to hurt people we care about. This way we can do something to stop him and tell them the truth on our terms."

She didn't like it, but it seemed the best option.

Kyoko looked at the wood floor, dejected and sad.

"Nothing will be the same once we tell them," she said mournfully.

Ria got up, grabbing her sister in a tight hug.

"I know," Ria said as she let go, "but they won't stop being our parents."

"You're not going to do it right away though?" Kyoko asked.

Ria shook her head. "Yeah it will be a little while. I need to figure out how to do properly."

Her sister sighed in relief.

"Now get out of here," Ria said as she motioned towards the door. "I need to do stuff."

Kyoko smirked as she walked out, her fear evaporating.

"Is it an email to Cho~?" she teased.

Ria said nothing.

"Well, admittedly I do think an apology letter is needed for the two left feet she showed tonight," Kyoko went on.

Ria started glaring at her.

"Though considering how often you chat with her I imagine she's starting to realize how clingy you are~," Kyoko sing-songed.

"Get. Out." Ria said, torn between frustration and amusement.

Kyoko stuck her tongue out at her, and left, giggling.

/
Ramiel listened to the recording. Iruel had been wise to track Sachiel so closely.

The Angel of Thunder sighed regretfully. Okito was a naive fool, but he had been a friend. And now he had been talked out of their plan. He had underestimated the Crown Princess. Ramiel had expected her to either support the plan or angrily reject it. He had not expected her to be so manipulative.

Well, what's done was done.

"So what do we do now?" Iruel asked.

Ramiel buckled his mask, securing it to his face. "What we've always done, look forward to the future."

The two marched into the Vladivostok City Council Chambers. The Chambers were a pit in both senses of the word. Ramiel and Iruel stood on the edge, looking down at the layers of descending rows of seats. The center was the lowest layer, with a large, ornate wooden table sitting at the very center of the room.

Dozens of men and two women stood around the desk, arguing loudly. They looked like vermin fighting over a piece of cheese from where Ramiel stood. Still, they would have their uses.

"Gentlemen," Ramiel said loudly as he slowly and purposefully walked down the stairs. "Gentlemen, why are you arguing? The city is ours. We've gone from the brink of defeat to holding the Capital. Is that not something to be proud of?"

"'We'?" one of the men huffed "I didn't see your lightning out there when we took the city, boy."

The Council knew what Ramiel was. None of them liked it, but at the time they had been too desperate to turn away his aid.

"Yes, but were it not for my good friend Iruel over here, the city's defense network would have not turned against the Communists," Ramiel pointed out. "Was that not a key advantage?"

The council muttered, some nervous, others angry.

"We are not ungrateful for your assistance," one of the women said, "but you have promised much and demanded quite a lot. We were wondering-"

"You promised us you could move mountains," a younger man interrupted. "So far we've seen nothing that a more respectable ally could not have brought us. Many of us are starting to... reconsider our agreement."

"Look at the history books, Emil. I don't move mountains, I melt them," Ramiel replied evenly.

He shrugged, his masked head bobbing up and down. "But you want results, more than just Iruel's aid and my small contributions? The assassinations I provided, the car bombs I insured would never be tied to you, the sabotage of the Pacific Fleet, to name a few."

The council was stone faced. There was little Ramiel could do to shame them.

"I understand, I do," Ramiel admitted. "I'm asking a lot, but I also intend to give you a lot. Let me ask you a question; what do you want this country to become? Not today, not tomorrow, but long term. Where do you want to see this nation, when you're old and grey and on death's door?"

The council muttered, some staring at Ramiel in annoyance, one or two pacing around the table, finally one of them, a young man with a shaved head and thick mustache, spoke up.

"I want a united Russia. A nation we can be proud of again. A nation stronger than the old Empire and Soviet Union ever were."

Mutters of agreement echoed through the Council room.

"I can give you that, and the power to ensure the new Russian state survives. But you have to be patient. If the world knew-"

Ramiel was interrupted by a large serrated knife being shoved into his back. One of the council members, a older man with a thick salt and pepper beard, had snuck up behind him. Another member pointed a large pistol directly at Iruel's head. Several other council members recoiled in shock.

Ramiel gasped, the air being forced out of his lungs.

"We will never be strong as long as we listen to children who think themselves gods," the attacker said angrily. "This foolishness is at an-"

Ramiel's AT-Field flared, throwing the man violently into a nearby empty desk, smashing the wood apart.

Ramiel leveled his arm at the man holding a gun to Iruel's head. The arm rapidly transformed until it resembled a crystal-like sword. The tip began to glow. The man, terrified, dropped his gun.

With casual ease, Ramiel pulled the knife out of his back, his shirt coated in blood.

The council could do little to hide it's shock.

"Cute," Ramiel said with disdain, lifting his mask slightly. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and smiled. "Now, where was I? Oh right, the future."
/
I'll probably do one more Omake (Maybe Ikari Era, maybe something else) before getting back to BW.

 

[Teen Spirit]

And because I'm insane. Here's a Non-Ikari Era Apocrypha Omake. Don't worry though. I intend to have a new BW update before the end of the year.
/
Ria felt electricity dancing in the back of her head.

"What...What the heck?" she said, looking around the classroom frantically.

"What is it?" Kensuke asked.

Suddenly it clicked, and she knew what was about to happen.

Ria opened her mouth to speak, before she could get out a word, the world outside suddenly darkened, day turning to near night in an instant.

Ria looked outside to see much of the nearby city blanketed in an unnatural blackness. There were no clouds, it was a perfectly sunny day. And yet the sun was not shining on what seemed like an entire block of Kyoto.

"I would suggest backing away from the windows," Ria said as she stepped back, her eyes fixed on the blackness outside.

Shinji retreated back to his desk.

The darkness was replaced with a pillar of blinding white light.

It was just like the light he'd seen when the Pilots appeared.

Ria pulled Kensuke away from the windows, shielding him as best she could.

"Duck!" she shouted, watching as Shinji crouched under his desk.

A moment later the windows burst in, showering the room with glass as freakishly cold air rushed into the room. Desks and chairs were thrown freely across the room as the wind howled. Shards of glass ripped at his shirt and pants.

Kensuke screamed in terror.

The first time this happened was far worse. This was still terrifying on an almost instinctive level. She was near something wrong, something that should not exist.

Thankfully, like the last time. It ended almost as quickly as it began.

"Alright what it is this time?" Ria grumbled in annoyance. "I mean we have all three of you now. So what is it? Mr. Suzuhara from a world where he's a Pilot? Mari's mom as an Eva Pilot? My kid from the future as a pilot, you know, to mix it up a bit? A guy version of Asuka or something?"

At least with this, Ria knew something positive would come out of this. These things always sent someone helpful.

"What are you talking about?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, come on!" Ria gestured outside. "That was clearly Leliel or whoever sending another Eva. At least this time she avoided dropping it on my head."

"Except there's no Eva out there," Kensuke said as he stared out the window.

"What?" Ria replied as she rushed towards the broken window.

Ria swallowed hard as she stared outside.

Several blocks of Kyoto had been replaced with... WILLE. A copy of the pyramid stood towering over the surrounding buildings, it's shadow falling hard over the school.

This was not an exact copy though, not even close. Only the distinctive shape and size of the pyramid remained. The glass had been removed from the lower half, replaced with thick, dark metal. Numerous missile launchers and cannons jutted from the building. The perimeter around the pyramid was lined with a thick concrete and steel barricade over 8 meters tall.

There was unsubtle menace to the place. It would almost be funny if it wasn't so unnerving.

That light had sent them help, sometimes desperately needed help. Yet nothing about what she was seeing filled Ria with any confidence, only fear and confusion.

/

Communication with the...other WILLE had been brief, and odd. A man she didn't not recognize explained over the phone that this other WILLE was quite familiar with what was going on, having experienced similar events themselves. They were very willing to discuss more, face to face of course. But they'd dealt with Iruel as well and didn't want any of their conversation getting leaked to the Angels, so nothing over electronic means.

Nothing they said was unreasonable. They had been reasonably friendly... and yet Misato found herself worried.

Thankfully the meeting was going to take place here, somewhere Misato could control.

Misato kept the meeting small. Her, Sub-Commander Soryu, Ria, and four security guards. Two in standard uniform, two fully armored.

She could barely contain her outrage at Ria being here but Asuka had insisted and if nothing else, Ria was the best defense against this other WILLE.

Ria was distinctly on edge, barely even paying attention to Misato, pacing around the room.

"First time we got the other Shinji and Asuka," Misato said. "Second time we got Rei. Whoever is sending them is friendly."

"And yet we're still nervous," Asuka observed.

Misato nodded.

A minute later the delegation from the other WILLE walked in to Misato's Office

First were two guards, armed similar to Misato's heavily armored guards, only their armor had a stark black and white color scheme. Following them was a woman. A tall, strongly built, but somewhat pale woman in a business suit, large sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat.

Ria immediately focused all her attention on the woman.

A long, awkward pause filled the air.

"...Hello," Misato said finally. "I'm General Misato Katsuragi, welcome to WILLE."

The woman smiled wolfishly.

"Sorry, sorry," the woman said as she removed her glasses. "Just being here made me nostalgic."

Red hair, fringed oddly with grey, fell to her shoulders. Red, glowing eyes stared hard at Misato.

The three of them recoiled. The woman before them... was Ria. A decade or two older to be sure but the resemblance was unmistakable.

"Ria Soryu, director of WILLE, a pleasure," she said, her voice dripping with smugness.

Ria, leading WILLE? The very idea seemed like a bizarre joke.

And what happened to her hair and eyes?

"...So, alternate universe or...?" Asuka struggled with words, trying to process what she was seeing.

"Did past versions of you and father get dropped off here, then Okito freaked out and started a war for basically no reason?" the older Ria asked.

Asuka nodded numbly.

"So either time travel or something close enough."

The younger Ria stepped in front of Misato, glaring angrily at her other self.

"What did you do?!" she shouted.

"Oh, this?" her older self asked as she grabbed her hair. "It's a long story. Stopped Ramiel at the wrong moment."

The two stared at each other, Ria clearly deeply disliking what she saw in her older self.

"...You look, well..." Asuka said hesitantly. "I mean you look like you could bench press a truck, but that's not a bad thing."

The older Ria smiled at that and nodded.

"How are you in charge of WILLE?" Misato demanded, her hand reaching towards her gun.

WILLE would never accept Ria working for them, let alone leading. Either this was some bizarre joke, or this Ria was everything Misato had suspected Ria would become.

"Not by choice, I can tell you that much," the older Ria said evenly.

Her younger self continued to pace as she stared at her. Strangely, it seemed she shared Misato's distrust of the woman.

"Would you two calm down?" Asuka groaned in annoyance.

"It's fine. I expected this from Misato," the older Ria sighed. "Though I didn't think 'I' would pull an Asuka."

"I don't like the look in your eyes," her younger self snarled. "I really don't like it."

"If you're from the future," Misato said, "you know how this ends. You know how to stop Ramiel and the others, right?"

The older Ria nodded. "Quite so. In fact I can provide quite a lot of intel on how to defeat the Angels. Future attacks, identities, tactics they used, and effective counter-tactics. Of course it will take us a few hours to send you the info. The transition really screwed with our computers."

"So why were you so insistent on meeting now?" Misato questioned.

"I wanted to make sure I understood the full situation," Ria explained. "And frankly, considering our history, I needed to make sure you didn't try to kill me on sight."

She was surprisingly calm, it almost seemed like she didn't bear Misato any ill will.

Misato trusted this woman less than she trusted the Ria she knew. But her guards were clearly human, and the intelligence she had could be invaluable.

"Well I'm pretty sure the Empress's Pardon applies to you as well so I won't give you trouble," Misato said.

She wasn't happy about it but she couldn't very well pass on the opportunity this Ria's knowledge of the future could provide. Besides, everything sent by the light had been helpful. So it stood a chance that whoever or whatever sent her knew what they were doing.

"Very good," Ria gave a curt nod. "I'll be back in six hours with as much info as I can gather. Until then..."

She turned towards Asuka, grabbed her in a brief hug.

"Oh!" Asuka said in surprise before returning it.

The two Ria's stared at each other. The older one simply nodded as the younger was almost shaking with rage as she watched her counterpart left.

"So why didn't you trust the look in her eyes?" Misato asked.

"Because I know what a mask looks like," Ria grunted. "She's lying about something. Something important."

"I'm not going to rush to judgement," Misato said calmly. "But we should keep our guard up."

/

Ria about collapsed onto into a chair the moment the moment she arrived back in the Command Center. She was overcome with emotion. It had taken every ounce of strength to avoid snapping Misato's neck the moment she saw her, and seeing Mother again…

"Was the virus successful?" she asked.

"Yes, my lady," Maya said. "The records we pulled show no differences between our two timelines until the moment we arrived."

'Why did you drag us here Leliel?' Ria wondered 'What do you have to gain?'

Still, this represented an opportunity. A chance to save her family, and get the revenge she had so long been denied.

Misato. The name boiled in her mind. So much pain, so much grief could be laid at the feet of that damned woman.

She looked at those gathered, most of them looked a lot like her. Red eyes and a bit of grey in their hair. Ramiel's grand plan had been snuffed out before he could take it too far, but his research had proven very useful, particularly when convincing people to join you. Corrupting your humanity meant little in the face of power and a few centuries of extra life.

"We have a chance here," Ria addressed those gathered. "A chance to fix every mistake of this blasted war. But it means going against the WILLE of this time. It means doing things they will not like."

That was a profound understatement. She would be warring against her other self, her family. But there wasn't time to make them understand, and they could never accept some of what needed to be done. She didn't need them to love her, she needed them to survive.

"We're behind you, to the end." Ibuki insisted. "None of us want to see a repeat of what happened."

The others nodded.

"Good," Ria said as she rose from her seat. "We have six hours to prepare for a war."

It was all Ria could do to fight back the tears until she reached her personal quarters.

She about collapsed as she reached the door, tears flowing freely. Seeing her mother again after so long. It was almost too much to bear.

She felt arms wrap around her tightly.

She turned to see Mari's head resting on her shoulder, her red eyes staring into Ria's own.

"Is everything okay?" Mari asked sweetly.

"Yeah, it's just seeing them again...a lot more intense than I thought it would be," Ria explained.

"I know. I'm surprised you didn't kill Misato on the spot," Mari replied.

Ria nodded. "I was very, very tempted. But that would risk everything."

Her time would come though. That much was beyond doubt.

Ria turned around, facing her wife. "We have a chance here. A chance to fix so many mistakes, to save my parents and give our daughter a world worth living in. But it requires doing a lot of ugly things."

"We done a lot of ugly things over the years to survive," Mari said. "This will save them from a whole world of pain. They might not appreciate it now, but they will."

They hugged tightly, doubt fleeing from Ria's mind. Justice, vengeance, her parents. It would all be hers.

 

[Teen Spirit]

"Okay, what happened?" Misato demanded as she entered the Vault.

The sight before her was odd. Okito was in his cell, moaning in pain, his body twitching, as one nearly suicidally brave nurse worked to keep him alive.

Ritsuko rubbed her forehead. "I overestimated his ability to heal."

"I don't understand," Misato said as the nurse laboriously pumped Okito's chest, "He was enduring without any problems until now."

Okito was shouting, his words gibberish punctuated by the occasional curse.

"Yes but we failed to realize how much worse his health would get. His injuries caused more and more complications as time went on; Infections, his wounds refusing to heal properly, which caused frequent blood loss, putting greater and greater strain on his heart... The spine break and our preventing it from healing caused respiratory problems and created numerous blood clots. And that's just the start of the list. I haven't even gotten to how damaged his digestive system has become... His health just got worse and worse. For a time his healing could handle it, making it seem like nothing had really changed. But it's a reached a point where his health has just degraded too much for him to handle anymore. If we don't at the very least increase his IV soon he'll be dead before the next hour," Ritsuko explained.

Misato considered her options.

"Ma'am," Ritsuko was clearly annoyed, "he's our prisoner. We can't let him die. You know what happens when we disobey basic conduct of war with the Angels and you do not want to give them any excuse to mistreat any of us if we're captured."

"What am I supposed to do here?" Misato protested. "We let him heal and he's a far greater risk to us and will almost certainly try to escape. We give him just enough to survive and we're probably just going to be back here in a week."

She had promised Touji and Hikari a fair trial. They already had their hands full today with Sakura. Letting their son die, no matter how evil he was... She would be crossing a line there. She'd have more people hating her, and Shinji and Asuka would trust her even less.

But killing Okito was the best path for WILLE and humanity, the only path outside of letting him heal a bit then letting Ria have a go at him. Healing him would put everyone in danger.

'If I keep my soul but lose everything I care about, what is even the point of fighting?' Misato wondered.

Misato's thoughts were interrupted by the shrill scream of the nurse through the speakers, Ritsuko and Misato turned to see the nurse flat against the wall.

Okito was glowing. From the center of his neck, a ethereal red glow radiated throughout the room.

Misato watched in horror as impossibly, he began lashing out with his remaining arm, clawing wildly at the air.

His restraints were breaking. The bomb collars attached to him began beeping. On instinct Misato slammed the override button. They would have killed the nurse as well.

Okito's eyes were wide and terrified. The metal bar that had been inserted into his spine was ejected, embedding itself in the broken head restraints.

Then the skin around the broken remains of his lower torso and his missing arm began to bubble. For moment it appeared his skin was boiling. He screamed incoherently. Then slowly, horrifically, limbs began to form.

Bone jutted suddenly from his wounds, followed my muscle and finally skin. He was healed, though his were strange and deformed. The skin on them was incredibly pale, his new arm shorter than his other, and his legs looked barely strong enough to stand on.

Misato was terrified beyond all measure. Her body stood frozen as she watched Okito examine his new body.

...And then he fainted, falling to the floor in a heap. Misato blinked a few times in shock.

"...What... what just happened?" Ritsuko asked in open amazement.

/

There was a walkway in the Vault, one that went front of all of Evangelions; Unit-01 on one side, Unit-02 and the strange new Unit-00 on the other.

Ria found herself sitting on that walkway, leaning against the railing as she stared at Unit-02.

Her shirt was burnt slightly and her whole body ached. But it wasn't that that was bugging her, nor was the attack itself. That was ultimately an idiot lashing out like his kind are so want to do. What ate at her mind was Misato's words.

Why did Okito give up everything for this war? What was driving Ramiel and the others? Was it just basic misplaced loyalty and greed? Or was Misato somehow right? And what did that mean about her? What would she be driven to?

And what if Koda was right and they were fundamentally just humans? That meant all her loyalty to Adam, her honor, her pride, huge chunks of what she defined herself by since she could remember where what, childish fantasies?

'All that isolation, the trust I placed in Okito, the fear, the doubt, wondering if I would ever be found out, What I nearly did all those years ago…'

She backed away from that last thought. That was something she was not prepared to face. Still, a questioned lingered in her head.

'What am I?'

Once upon a time the answer had been simple: An Angel wrapped in human flesh. Now she had so many doubts.

She stared down at her hand, the one she had to regrow after her fight with Kyoko. She flexed it. It felt more or less exactly the same. No mere human could ever regrow their hand like that. Her father would have to make do with an artificial hand for the rest of his life. Or Uncle Touji, who would never be able to walk without his cybernetic replacement leg. And yet…

The Angels were built with purpose, organic machines designed for a specific purpose, to represent something and reclaim Adam. Most of them were little more than animals. And even the sapient ones had no free will, not even Tabris. Ria had that, she was free as far as she could tell.

So what was she then? Angel? Human? Neither? Both?

The sound of footsteps caught her attention. She turned her head. The younger Asuka was approaching, her expression unreadable.

Ria sighed, most of her regret over lying had turned to plain frustration by this point.

"I have to say, this feels like the worst place for you to hide," Asuka said, her voice filled with false cheer.

"And yet here I am..." Ria deadpanned.

Ria eyed Unit-01 reflexively for a moment before turning back to Asuka.

"What exactly do you want?" Asuka asked.

Ria raised an eyebrow, somewhat off put by the question. "Pardon?"

"You don't seem the type for conquest yet you poked around here, knowing Misato hates your guts. I'm trying to figure out what you game is here," Asuka explained.

"It's my job," Ria sighed.

"But why did you take the job?" Asuka pressed.

"Because I stood by and did nothing for too long," Ria admitted. "And because I want this damned thing to end."

"So what when this is all over...you'll what, go back to being a writer?" Asuka asked.

"That's the plan," Ria said. "Settle down, actual publish our own ongoing project, get married, maybe to a couple women at once, have a couple of kids... Well, there's been talk of a taco truck too, but nothing's been set."

"That's it?" Asuka was skeptical. "You're telling me your biggest ambition in life is getting polygamy legalized?"

"Pretty much," Ria shrugged.

'I wonder if I could ask the The Empress to do that?' she mused.

"Why?" Asuka didn't get it.

"Is it so hard to believe I just want to live, be happy, and have a family?" Ria was frustrated and exhausted. Why did no one seem to get that?

"I thought it made sense when you asked me if I thought you were a disappointment to the Soryu name," Asuka explained, "but after I discovered the truth of what you were, I just don't get it. You can fight an army by yourself! Why wouldn't you have ambitions with those powers? I know I would want do something if I was in your shoes!"

Ria stared at her incredulously. "I was attacked less than an hour ago. That's what my power has gotten me; hatred and fear from nearly everyone in my whole world."

"You could have stopped him. You could have made sure he never did it again," Asuka retorted. "You could conquer WILLE today and I, Shinji, Rei... we wouldn't be able to stop you. No one would."

"Tell me, if it was you, do you think Shinji would still be your friend if you did that?" Ria stared at her.

"I don't...oh." Asuka trailed off for a moment. "Yeah I... guess he wouldn't, would he?"

'Now she's starting to get it.'

"There's nothing brutal force would give me that I want and I realized a long time ago I would never surpass you, so I decided to aim lower."

"Don't you mean your mother?" Asuka said, growing rather annoyed.

"No, I mean you," Ria pointed directly at the Pilot. "You and Shinji. No kid is ever going to surpass the Great Asuka Langely Soryu and Shinji Ikari, the Saviors of the World. Every time you fought an Angel you saved everything, the whole world. I could be Prime Minister of Japan and History would always remember me second. So why bother trying? Instead I aimed for what I wanted."

Asuka nodded, understanding dawning on her face.

"If you had told me this when we first met, I would have called you pathetic," Asuka admitted, "but I can't really fault you. You grew up in peacetime, you didn't have anything to aspire to. For you making any impact comparable to me would have required, well, doing what Okito did."

Ria nodded. It was egotistical, but for Asuka that was surprisingly understanding.

Still, Ria was annoyed.

"What is this?" she questioned. "You're acting civil, dare I say sympathetic, even. You and Shinji have been giving me the cold shoulder since the attack. So what, now you forgive me? You're sorry?!"

"Oh so what, you get to act like the wounded party now?" Asuka's voice grew shrill.

"Yeah, I think I do!" Ria rose to her feet. "All I've gotten from you, Shinji, and Misato is hatred since this all began! I had every damn reason to lie considering the grief I've been given!"

"I never hated you," Asuka said defensively, "I just never understood why you didn't trust me!"

"Because you made it clear you're not my mother!" Ria nearly screamed at her.

For a moment they stood their, Ria's heart hammering in her chest. She wanted to cry. Asuka looked stunned.

"You and my mom were once the same person but now you're not, you've diverged. I've done my best to respect that," Ria did her best to force herself back to calm. "But you can't say you're not her so emphatically, then expect me to trust you as much as I trust her."

And when it came down to it, she had assumed for a while there that her parents had accepted her because they had to; they were her parents. It was their duty. It wasn't until Mari that she realized someone could accept her without obligation.

"But you said we were family. I treated you like family," Asuka countered.

"So did Misato," Ria replied grimly, "look how that turned out."

"Well…"Asuka fell silent, unable to counter the point.

Ria wanted to be angry with Asuka, furious even. But beneath her attitude, Ria couldn't help but feel Asuka was trying her best to extend an olive branch.

"What if we just say we both made mistakes and call it even?" Ria offered.

She surprised even herself with the offer. Why should she be the one to make the first step? Asuka had turned her back on her, so she should apologize, right?

'I want her back more than I want an apology,' Ria realized.

Asuka wasn't her mother, but at the same time she was. It wasn't like she needed Asuka there for her, after all, she had her parents. But being angry at them hurt. As confused as she was right now, she wanted them back. She wanted to have more than just Mari and her parents and maybe Koda to depend on.

"I... sure," Asuka said hesitantly. "Yeah, I can agree to that."

She offered her hand. Ria took it and gave a firm shake. They weren't back to hugs yet, but it was a start.

/

"So why are you doing this? I mean, we live in this city, we know what it used to look like," Kyoko Misato Ikari asked as she sat on the hotel bed, trying to pretend she wasn't bored out of her mind.

Koda walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her shoulders, her hair hidden beneath a shower cap. The stink of chemicals filled the air.

"Why not?" she replied as she sat in a chair. "I mean, it's a chance to see the place not blown up and remodeled into a bunker, parts of it anyways. It seems Okito managed to wreck a good chunk of it."

She shook her head bitterly.

"Man, I mean Okito was always a dolt, but in a, you know, lovable way. Okito here is just a monster."

"He's not your brother. These are not our friends and family," K. Misato Ikari insisted.

"Yeah, but they're close enough," Koda insisted right back.

Ikari shook her head. "Close enough isn't good enough. The only people that matter are our own universe. We should be worried about tracking down Leliel. And then figuring out how to get back home."

Before Koda could reply her phone rang.

She picked it up. "Hmm, unfamiliar number."

She put it down, placing it on speaker phone.

"This is Kodama Suzuhara. Who am I speaking to?" she asked.

"Hey asshole, give me back my phone!" a nearly identical voice shouted angrily.

Both Ikari and Suzuhara turned towards the phone in shock.

"Are...you me?" Kodama asked.

"Fuck off!" her counterpart shouted. "I'm actually human and not a goddamn monster! Now shut off your damn phone, it's screwing up mine! I had to use a freaking pay phone to even make this damn call because of that!"

Koda turned towards Ikari.

"Do I actually sound like that?" she whispered.

"Pretty much yeah," the younger girl replied. "Not normally that... verbose in the swearing though."

"So our aunt is in the hospital and your first concern is... your phone?" Koda prodded.

"Oh, like you care," Kodama snapped. "You're just Okito with breasts! You would probably sooner eat her!"

"Okay, first off," Koda growled, growing irate. "If you ever say the phrase 'Okito with breasts' again, I will find you and turn you into a coat. Second thing... no."

"What, WHY?!" her counterpart shouted, playing havoc with the phone's speakers.

"Because you're belligerent asshole, an immature brat, and frankly... why should I? It's my phone."

Angry noises came out of the phone.

"Goodbye, Kodama Suzuhara," Koda said as she hung up the phone over her counterpart's protests.

"Well that was...something," Ikari said dryly.

"Quite," Koda agreed. "She has issues."

She sat in her chair, looking contemplative.

"I think I should head out early, meet Ria at WILLE."

"Why?" Koda asked.

"I want to see what caused all that anger," Koda stated, with a hard look in her eyes.

 

[Teen Spirit]

Happy New Years Everybody.
/
Misato had gathered the senior staff, plus Shinji, the Pilots, and even Ria, into the conference room. Ria paced around the back of the room, her eyes focused on Misato. The two eyed each other like animals about to fight over territory.

This was a hastily set up meeting, one necessitated by Okito's near death and impossible healing. His bizarre recovery had borne some very unexpected fruit once they got him on the operating table, even more so when they did more advanced testing.

"We found the Angel's Core," Ritsuko announced to those gathered.

Mild surprise washed over those gathered, save for Ria who looked as though she had been punched in the face.

"For the longest time we weren't even sure if they had a Core anymore," Misato explained. "We could never find it no matter how hard we looked. Turns out we just didn't look close enough."

A diagram appeared on a large screen behind Misato and Ritsuko. It was a detailed drawing of a human Larynx, showing all the muscle and cartilage. A single red arrow pointed towards the center of it.

"The Angel's Core turns out be microscopic," Ritsuko said, "woven around their median thyrohyoid ligament. Nearly impossible to detect unless you know where to look. Thankfully the Third Angel's... episode gave us a very clear idea of where to do so. Now, we have to conduct further tests, hopefully with the cooperation of Ria Soryu and the other Kodama Suzuhara of course, but we believe…"

"What does this mean for us?" the younger Asuka asked with unmasked boredom.

"It means one good slice across the throat is all that it would take to kill Okito, and the rest of them as well. Which would have made several battles a whole lot easier," Ria answered, her voice carrying easily through the room.

"More or less, yes," Misato replied, keeping her tone neutral. "We've found an Achilles' Heel."

"Though this does raise a question," Ritsuko added, "one I'm hoping Ria here can answer."

"I suppose asking for some sort of neck guard is out of the question?" Ria asked casually.

"We can arrange something," Ritsuko replied.

Misato shot her a confused look. Why would she offer something like that to Ria?

"But more to the point," she went on, "I have a question for you concerning your transformation during the assault."

Ahh yes, the Mini-Zeruel did have a rather noticeable Core in the center of it's... Her… their chest. And it's not as though they could just grow another S2 engine. It could just be like the Cores made when the Angels turn into their original full-sized selves, a false shell.

"If this is a biology question I'm going to be of zero help," Ria admitted. "I'm honestly just as surprised to learn where the Core is as the rest of you."

Misato had expected as much.

Unexpectedly, the older Shinji's hand shot up.

"...Yes?" Ritsuko was taken off guard by the interruption.

"What did you do with Okito?" he asked nervously.

"Slapped a new bomb collar on his neck and put him back in a cell," Misato explained. "Don't have to keep him paralyzed now, so just turned it into a conventional prison cell."

He was secure, posing little risk of escaping or having another massive heart attack. Sparing him instead of letting him die on the operating table had been the right call after all. Maybe there was still room in this for her soul.

/

A year ago today probably would have been one of the worst days of Touji's life, now it probably didn't even rank in the top five.

His sister, Sakura, was in a coma. Stable, brain activity was fine, but no signs of any recovery, and the illness that brought her low was leaving the doctors baffled.

Part of Touji feared it might have been Bardiel but Hikari had insisted she was normal before collapsing. So at least there was a small bit of comfort there.

Now Okito had nearly died from a heart attack. Okito may have been...well, Okito, Kenny, and Kodama could be brutal drug lords and they would still be far better people than Okito was, but Touji couldn't pretend hearing that his son was on the verge of death didn't hurt. It hurt a lot.

The drive back to WILLE had been rough, Touji staring straight ahead as he drove through hours of construction, his eyes heavy with deep bags underneath.

He felt numb. He had cried at the hospital over Sakura but now... he was just too emotionally exhausted to feel anything. All he wanted to do was check in and see what was happening with Okito, if he was dead or not, and then go home.

He parked his car at his assigned spot in the underground garage, sighing deeply as he fixed the buttons on his uniform.

He put in his radio ear piece, thumbing the thing on. He was only going to be here briefly but he needed to be prepared for the worst.

"All squads, be advised there is a situation developing at the front desk," Dispatch announced. "One of the other Angels has attempted to enter. She's been pardoned but is not yet cleared to enter WILLE. Situation is under control but be prepared."

Other Angels? That meant…

"Oh, Hell," Touji swore under his breath.

He made his way brisky to the front desk.

An entire squad surrounded the girl, guns in hand but not leveled. Touji could only see the back of her. She had vibrant blue hair and was wearing a dark jacket and blue jeans, but she was very familiar.

"Look, just talk to Ria Soryu. She can vouch for me," The voice was unmistakably Kodama's.

As if this day wasn't frustrating enough as it was. Now he had Kodama's doppelgänger to deal with.

"Girl, General Katsurgi is in command here, and she was quite clear on who is and isn't allowed inside of WILLE. And you certainly aren't allow-"

"Takuboku, stand down," Touji called out.

Everyone turned towards him, the other Kodama looking at him with awkward shock.

He really didn't know how to feel about her. He couldn't muster the rage and hate he felt towards Ria when he first found out the truth, but it was hard not seeing Okito when he looked into her eyes.

He approached her, the two eying each other uneasily.

"Why are you here?" he asked her.

"Well, your daughter decided to scream at me over the phone over trivial sh-stuff, so I figured that griefing Okito over being a horrible person would make me feel better. Then I hear he's had a heart attack or something so that put a damper on that. Mostly now I'm just trying meet up with Ria. She promised me a tour of the city."

"Don't you live here?" Touji questioned.

She sounded like Kodama, though Kodama wouldn't have censored herself.

"Yeah, but it kind of got wrecked in our war and it kills a few hours if nothing else," Kodama explained. "And it's not like I have a lot of other people here I can hang out with."

Touji sighed and turned towards Takuboku, who was sitting at the front desk.

"Just let her in," he said wearily. "I'll escort her."

"You can't authorize that," Takuboku pointed out nervously.

"Do you really want to create another incident?" another Security Officer pointed out. "General was on a warpath after the Soryu kid was tased."

"Wait, what?!" Kodama blurted out.

"Someone attacked her?" Touji asked.

"It's a long story," Takuboku replied, sinking embarrassedly in his chair. "Someone got overzealous. Everyone's fine. Well, mostly. I mean, Masao is up on criminal charges now and I'm pretty sure Mr. Ikari gave him a concussion, but you know... other than that it's fine."

'Well, at least he finally learned to throw a punch,' Touji mused.

He took Kodama by the shoulder, escorting her away from the group and towards the nearest elevator.

The ride up was awkward, painfully awkward as neither said a word to each other.

"What on Earth did you do to your hair?" he said finally. "It looks like you dipped it in paint."

Kodama chuckled slightly. "Well, I like it. Makes me look distinct."

"Hikari would scream if she saw it," Touji commented.

He sighed wearily, a question was pounding inside his head. He had to ask it. "So what was Okito like... where you live?"

Everything he'd heard painted this Kodama being almost the polar opposite of Okito. Heroic, kind even.

Kodama sighed, she was staring at him, a look of sad sympathy on her face.

"He's an idiot," she said with a half smile, "but... you know, not a destructive idiot."

"So what went wrong with us?" Touji said.

"He…" She hesitated for a second. "I don't know, best I can figure, he was given a burden he couldn't handle mentally. I really can't say for certain. I'm honestly quite confused why me and him turned out so different. But it was beyond your control."

"I know," Touji replied, "but it's good to hear someone say it. Thank you."

/

Okito awoke, staring at a painfully bright ceiling. To his great surprise, he was no longer restrained, though a distinctive itch told him he still had an explosive collar attached to his neck.

He rubbed it, cold hard metal and plastic encircling his neck. But the rest of him was free. He wasn't even restrained. Of course, if he tried to escape...

Gingerly, he sat up. He was in a great deal of pain. Every part of him hurt intensely, his new arm was pale and misshapen, and there was a IV strapped to his good arm. Still, he could move around and he had most of his limbs back.

In his excitement, Okito swung his legs off the hospital bed he had been resting on, and stood up. For the first time in too long he could move, he was free to walk around. He took a step.

A moment later he collapsed to the ground, his legs giving out almost instantly.

"Ow," he said as his face hit the metal floor, cold steel pressing his face in.

Life was still pain for him, he just could move slightly now.

He picked himself up. Tabris was standing above him, smiling peacefully.

"Why are you here?" Okito spat as he climbed back onto the bed. "What do you want from me?"

Every time Tabris showed up, Okito wasn't sure if he was going insane or if that was simply what he hoped was happening.

He wanted nothing from Tabris, he wanted nothing to do with him. He should just go away and leave him alone.

"I want you to help me fix your mistake," Tabris said peacefully.

Okito nearly laughed. "Why don't you ask Zeruel? She's the only one of us who still has any sort of faith in you."

For a brief moment, Tabris frowned sadly. "She can not hear me yet. Few can."

"So why me?!" Okito shouted.

"You were my herald once. Reaching you was... easier," Tabris explained.

"Yeah, a herald of what?" Okito growled. "A god who abandoned his servants, of a failure who gave up!"

"I did not abandon you," Tabris insisted. "This is was supposed to be your reward. You all served well and proudly."

"REWARD?!" Okito screamed. "You think this is a reward?! You twisted and mutilated us into our own enemies! You gave us a second life with a no purpose, no duty! You abandoned us!"

'You abandoned me!' he added mentally.

"You are free. Free from me, free from duty, free to live life as you see fit," Tabris said softly.

A venomous sneer appeared across Okito's face. "'Life as we see fit'? Unless you disagree with what we've done with it, of course."

Tabris shook his head sadly, enraging Okito further. "Ramiel and Leliel both are meddling in things far beyond their understanding. Ramiel's efforts will end in failure and misery."

Okito glared at Tabris. "I don't believe you. I think you're scared. I think Ramiel has the power to usurp your authority and that worries you. That's what I believe."

"That's because you're an idiot," an entire different voice said sharply.

Before Okito's eyes, Tabris vanished, replaced by a blue haired girl in an unfamiliar school uniform. Her red eyes coolly judged him, and not kindly.

'Lilith!' Okito realized in terror. He immediately pressed himself against the wall, all but calling at it. Desperate to be somewhere, anywhere else as long as it was away from her.

She was working with Tabris, with Adam. No no no, it was more than that. She was controlling him. Tabris now served at Lilith's beck and call.

"W-why are you here?!" Okito said in abject horror.

"Because your stupidity has set into motion a truly dangerous series of events that has cascaded far beyond your control," she said nearly emotionlessly.

Okito mustered as much courage as he could.

"F-fuck off," he stuttered, shaking like a leaf. "I will not be judged by Adam, let alone you."

"You exist because I allowed it," she stated. "You still live because it could prove useful. If I had the power, you and all of your kind would be washed away."

"IF, if!" Okito struck back. "You don't! Ramiel will make us all gods in our own right. We will stop you, we will crush you! We will do what Adam never could!"

For a brief, brilliant moment, Okito found his zeal renewed.

"Ramiel will die screaming, a victim of his own crimes. His plans are not enough to save you. If I return, you will all die," Lilith said, her words hanging in the air.

Okito's mind raced. She was bluffing, she had to be. She used to be, part of her at least, was one of the Pilots. She wouldn't do anything she knew would upset one of them, right? After all, Ria was around.

...Would Lilith really go that far?

Okito shook his head. Even if he believed Lilith, even if he did want to stop it, nothing he could do or say would stop Ramiel.

"There's still time to save the ones you care about," she added.

"How?" Okito asked bluntly.

But she was gone, leaving Okito completely alone.

 

[Teen Spirit]

Dimitri paced around his quarters, which in reality were little more than a slightly dressed up cell. He was trapped, unable to escape. More importantly, liberating the other Leliel seemed impossible right now. He had gone over every route he could think of. There was no way he could find and get to Leliel without assistance, and assistance required trust. Something he could not afford at the moment.

None of the others could be trusted, not even Sandalphon. If he did trust them and they betrayed him, or got careless, Ramiel would find out. And then his entire plan would be shot and more than likely, Ramiel would make it clear how... displeased he was.

Strangely, Dimitri was missing having Sachiel around, a sentiment he had never had once felt before and likely never would again. At least with that idiot around, he knew none of the other Angels would hurt him. Now, that was far from certain.

The steel door to his quarters shook with heavy knocking. Wearily, Dimitri opened it a crack.

Iruel was standing outside, a toothy half smile across his face. Dimitri looked him over through the small crack. He was thinner again, skin hanging on his body like a deflated balloon.

"What do you want?" Dimitri asked sharply.

Dimitri wanted little to do with the Angel of Fear at the best of times. This was not the best of times.

"I need your help," Iruel said evenly.

Dimitri narrowed his gaze.

"Why on Earth would I want to help you?" he questioned.

Going to WILLE again would seem like a safer option than helping Iruel.

Iruel pushed the door open, nearly knocking Dimitri over.

'Oh sure fine, walk right in. Wasn't like I had that door closed for a reason!' Dimitri thought.

The two stared at each other as Iruel closed the door behind him. Neither liked the other. Dimitri didn't hate him as much as Ramiel or Okito, but he was a close third. The fat bastard always seemed like he was up to something.

More so than the other Angels, at least.

"You'll help me because I'll help you," Iruel's voice dripped with false charm.

Dimitri found himself off put by the offer. Why would Iruel want to help him?

"I don't need help. I don't exactly have anything planned," he said flatly.

"Come come, dear Matarael, we both know you want that other Leliel out of here." Iruel chided

Matarael slammed his arm against Iruel's neck, pressing him against the wall.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't melt you right now." Dimitri threatened, his eyes blazing red.

If Iruel knew what he was doing he was screwed.

"I wasn't spying on you," Iruel insisted.

Dimitri glared at him "I don't believe you."

"You worked with Leliel," Iruel pointed out "You're here against your will and you tried to join WILLE. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that you'd want that girl out of here."

Dimitri backed off. Iruel gingerly rubbed his neck for a moment.

"And you expect me to believe that you want her out of here as well?" Dmitri snarled. To say he was skeptical would have been a profound understatement.

"I do actually," Iruel said as he pulled a cigarette and a lighter from his pants pocket.

Dimitri was profoundly confused.

"So what, you're siding with the Lilin now?" he snarked.

"Oh no, nothing that simple. It just so happens Leliel being out of here suits my needs as much it suits yours," Iruel said as he inhaled, the unpleasant smell of cheap tobacco filling the air.

"Just like Okito being captured served yours?" Dmitri observed.

It was pretty obvious that someone had set Sachiel up during that invasion, and who had more opportunity to do that than Iruel?

"The Third Angel's removal served everyone's interest, even if Ramiel refuses to realize that." Iruel noted dryily.

"You realize I have no reason to trust you in the slightest," Dimitri replied.

"Good," Iruel nodded. "Trust is useless here. What I'm offering is a deal based on mutual benefit. You want Leliel out of here, and Leliel not being here serves my interests quite well. So helping you serves me as much as it serves you."

If he was turning his back on Ramiel, and he had no apparent interest in helping the Lilim, what exactly was his plan?

"What are you offering?" Dimitri asked, dismayed that he was even considering any of this.

"Ramiel and the others are leaving soon for a plan of theirs. Security will be lighter around here for a few hours at least. I'll make sure you find the right doors open to you, and security... lighter than expected," Iruel explained.

He trusted the man less than he trusted a starved fox locked in a hen house. But the offer was undeniably tempting.

"If you're using me I will do everything I can to make sure you die, slowly," Dimitri said bluntly.

Iruel nodded. "Good. If you have the will to do that, you have the will to get the other Leliel out of this bunker."

This was a rather unexpected turn for Dimitri. It now seemed he actually had a chance to escape, to get out of here with Leliel and get back to his family. His mom no doubt was worried-

"Wait, what 'plan'?" he asked. "What is Ramiel doing?"

Iruel left, his only answer a knowing smile.

/

"So Asuka and you are on good terms again?" Ria's mother asked as they sat with Shinji in the break room.

Ria shrugged. "Sorta. More we're willing to start over."

"Well, it's progress," Asuka replied.

More progress than she had expected, if truth be told. While her other self was still in many ways an egotistical blowhard trying to cover up her own insecurities, she was in many ways now far more mature than Asuka herself had been at that point in her life.

"I take it my other self hasn't made the same offer?" Shinji asked.

Ria shook her head sadly. "Not even so much as a peep."

Shinji hated being lied to and misled, more so than most people. Asuka couldn't exactly blame him for being upset, even if his reaction was extreme.

And they were still keeping the truth from them on so many other things. The truth of the Evas, and everything about Rei for starters. One of these days they would have to set it right.

"Yo," a cheery voice said.

Asuka turned to see Kodama walking in, only her hair was a shocking blue in color.

"Hey, Koda," Ria said casually, before turning and staring wide eyed at her. "Wait, what did you do to your hair?"

"Ehh, I was trying out a new look," Koda said casually.

Koda walked up towards Ria and stuck out her hand. After a moment, Ria gave her an awkward fist bump.

Koda smiled broadly. "Alright. So what's up, Big Z?"

Ria glared at her. "Please don't call me that. Bad enough my girlfriend keeps emailing me angel puns. All of them." Ria smiled at the thought, though.

"Right, right, sorry," Koda said sheepishly.

"So why are you here, anyways?" Ria asked. "Thought we agreed to meet up downtown?"

Koda gave a half shrug. "We did, but my other self called and yelled at me, and that weirded me out, so I just needed to get out of the hotel room."

Asuka nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, dealing with another you is always awkward, particularly when they're angry at you."

"Agreed," Shinji added.

"So I figured might as well met up with you early. Was going to go down to see the trainwreck you call Okito but he's apparently a mess right now." Koda went on.

"Wait," Shinji interjected, "They let you in?"

That was surprising. Koda's existence and nature wasn't exactly a secret to WILLE.

"Well, they didn't want to at first. But my fath- Err, I mean Mr. Suzuhara intervened on my behalf at the front desk," Koda explained.

"Oh, I heard you got tased." she added. "Sorry to hear about that."

"Yeah, attempted assassinations suck," Ria said bitterly.

"No arguments here," Koda said sympathetically. "I remember the first time I encountered Shinji, er... well the Shinji from the Catholic school universe. He nearly shot me in the face."

Asuka stared at the girl in confusion. What the Hell had gone on in Koda's universe?

"Wait," Shinji said, "Touji let you in?"

That was unexpected. Touji hadn't exactly been friendly since Ria was found out. And he had to deal with everything Okito did to his family.

Koda nodded "Yep. Which reminds me, he actually wanted to talk to you, Mr. Ikari. I think it's half apology, half congratulating you on punching out that guy."

An apology, from Touji? Was it about Ria? Why was he apologizing to Shinji and not to her?

It was a step in the right direction at least.

"I'll... see him in a bit," Shinji said, rather puzzled.

"So how's Kyoko doing?" Asuka asked, concerned for her sort-of younger daughter.

"Moody," Koda replied. "Trying to convince her to at least see a movie with me or something but no go so far."

Well that was disheartening. Maybe they could try signalling Leliel again, beg her to let Kyoko go back home.

Asuka's thoughts were interrupted by a nearly deafening crack of thunder. They all jumped out of their seats in surprise.

She turned to see an all too familiar ball of glowing energy hovering high in the air, above the ruins of the last full battle.

"Damn it," Ria hissed.

"Son of a bitch!" Koda spat.

The ball expanded then disappeared as though the wind had blown it away.

Asuka stared in shock. It wasn't Shamshel that had appeared, or Sahaquiel.

The Angel above them was a figure of sharp angles, with a dazzlingly blue exterior shell.

It was Ramiel. The Fifth Angel had come to Japan.

 

[Teen Spirit]

Chapter 17: Astraphobia

Seeing Ramiel in his full form was a surreal experience. There was nothing organic about its shape, no soft edges or curves, nothing resembling flesh. In his true form, Ramiel looked more like a machine than anything else.

Still, for Shamshel it was a glorious sight. Today was the day she had been waiting for. Today they would make the Lilim pay, today they would save Sachiel.

Regret pained her. Okitio may have been an oaf, but he was a friend. A friend Maria hadn't been the best to. A friend she could have saved if she had been by his side during the assault.

Something still bugged her about that mission. What was Ramiel trying to gain by kidnapping the true pilots? And why had none of them been able to save Okito?

She tried to push it out of her head. She had greater things to focus on.

She stood up, a few of her toes hanging over the edge of the building and it was quite a ways down. Not as far as the fall down WILLE had been, but far enough to hurt.

She took a step back

"Are you ready?" Israfel asked through her earpiece.

"I'm ready," Shamshel confirmed. "You know, Leliel is probably going to pull something again."

Part of her wondered if they were insane for doing this as long as Leliel, the real Leliel, was out there.

"Even if she can. We're prepared this time. There will be no surprises this time," Israfel insisted.

/

"What do we have that can actually hurt the damn thing?" Misato asked urgently as she walked in the Command room.

"We just finished an Eva-Scale Positron Rifle. It's pretty much the same as the Mark 2 we used back in the day." Ibuki replied.

"That requires being attached to the city's power supply and with the set up required... whoever used it would be a sitting duck," Sub-Commander Soryu observed.

"We're a sitting duck right now and he's not attacking," Misato noted.

"Because he's baiting us," Soryu replied. "Or he knows if he actually kills us the Government is going to respond to every Angel attack with N2 Mines."

Ahh yes, nothing like knowing that if they failed the back up plan was desperate scorched-earth tactics.

"Have the Positron Rifle ready to launch but keep it in reserve for now," Misato ordered. "Have Unit-00 equipped with the Sniper Rifle. Have Unit-01 and Unit-02 given a standard heavy loadout. We don't know what other Angels are going to appear, and at this point we have to assume they will."

There's no way it was just Ramiel attacking. Others would appear. Maybe two, maybe a half dozen. Misato wasn't going to depend on another miracle to save them.

Particularly since those miracles came from the Angel Leliel.

The Command Room was alive with activity now, every station manned and operating.

"How many defenses worth noting are operational?" Soryu asked.

"Two Positron Cannons are functional," Maya replied.

"How protected are they from another hack?" the Sub-Commander said.

"The cannons will only fire with an order from WILLE or the Government and multiple redundancies have been installed," Maya explained.

The security was probably why only two of them had been rebuilt, just too time consuming.

Between the two turrets they might be able to break Ramiel's AT-Field, giving the Pilots a chance to actually get at the Angel himself.

"Unit-02's Synchronization Rate is holding at 70%," a tech called out.

"Unit-01 and Unit-00 are each holding at 75%," another added.

Misato looked around, Ritsuko was very curiously absent. She must have been held up or something.

Misato turned her attention to the Pilots.

"Are you all ready?" she asked over the radio.

"Let's get on with it," Asuka groaned.

"Ready, ma'am." Shinji replied.

"We are fully prepared, General," Rei said.

Misato was quitely grateful they had waited so long to attack like this again. Any sooner and they would have been stuck deploying them one by one.

She braced herself for what was about to come, breathing in deeply.

"Evas, Launch!" she shouted.

/

'This was how things should be,' Asuka decided.

No more angst, no more bullshit or confusion. Just the smell of LCL, her connection to Unit-02, and the looming thrill of battle.

Asuka was in her element now. She was where she belonged, on the battlefield.

Unit-02 rose to street level, Shinji and Rei arriving behind her. Ramiel hovering in the air ahead of them, no sign of it preparing to attack or do anything. It was just hovering there.

Asuka had reviewed video of the original operation against the Angel plenty of times. If it wanted to it could have blasted them the moment they appeared. It was waiting though. But for what?

As if on cue the tell-tale orange ball of light that signaled the arrival of another angel appeared below Ramiel, then another light appeared to the left of him, then another above Ramiel, then one more close to the first ball of light.

Four more Angels appeared on the battlefield. Among them were the all too familiar forms of Shamshel and Israfel. The newcomers were a massive glowing double helix ring floating above Ramiel like a demented halo. It was Armisael, one of the last Angels to appear.

The other resembled some massive Pre-Cambrian creature. A flat, fish-like greyish green body with two long claw limbs, two goofy looking eyes set to the far left side of what passed for it's head, and a very fish like tail. Only the tail seemed to be mutating from the moment it appeared, separating into two legs.

'Is that the Angel I saw in the Volcano?' Asuka wondered briefly.

"Oh Scheiße," she heard her other self mutter over the radio.

"What?" Asuka asked.

"Do not let Armisael near your Evangelions at any cost," she warned. "It can merge with and corrupt them."

"We are aware of that," Wondergirl replied evenly. "But thank you for the reminder."

'All right, 3 on 5. Not great but I got this, we have this.' Asuka assured herself.

The Angels, save for Ramiel, charged towards the Evas, Israfel splitting into it's two different colored halves. Shamshel glided along the ground, it's whips spinning as it moved, slicing up new construction. Armisael condensed itself into a single solid structure and plunged towards them like a massive glowing worm. Sandalphon ran on unstable legs, almost comically crashing into buildings and stumbling as it moved.

Asuka readied her two black swords, a feral grin appearing on her face. Besides her Shinji leveled his magnetic crossbow and Ayanami fired two shots out of her sniper rifle.

The shots hit their target, bringing Sandalphon crashing to the ground, a small chunk of it's torso blown off.

Then Asuka heard it. The unmistakable whine of something charging filled the air around their Evangelions.

"Scatter!" she urgently ordered.

The three Evangelions immediately separated, diving in three different directions.

A moment later the space where they had been was hit by a blast of energy from Ramiel.

Shamshel lunged towards Asuka as the twin halves of Israfel went after Shinji. Armisael spun in place above Rei as Sandalphon made it's way towards her.

'They're trying to seperate us,' Asuka realized.

A glowing whip of light struck near Asuka, ripping a half finished department store apart.

Asuka charged Shamshel, her swords at the ready.

The familiar charging whine of Ramiel's laser filled the air.

With a grunt of frustration, Asuka rolled Unit-02 out of the way, narrowly dodging the blast. Which only gave her a fraction of a second to get of the way of the attack Shamshel launched immediately afterwards.

/

Misato watched the scene repeat itself a number of times. Every time one of the pilots would get a chance to strike at one of the Angels, Ramiel or one of the others would lash out. Not at full power, just enough to be a threat, forcing the pilots to break off or dodge. Never giving them the chance to go on the attack or reorganize.

Misato found herself almost admiring the tactics. But that was buried under mountains of hate and worry.

They needed to go on the attack. They needed to kill one of these bastards.

There were the Positron Turrets. But the moment they used them, Ramiel would likely immediately destroy them. And that was assuming they weren't somehow corrupted.

When they used them they needed to make them count.

"What are they doing?" Soryu wondered.

"What do you mean?" Misato asked.

"The Angels…. They aren't pressing the attack. They aren't even trying to cut their umbilical cables. They're just... keeping them busy. So what are they trying to do?"

She was right, they may have denied the Evangelions any chance to attack, but they weren't capitalizing on that advantage at all. At the rate things were going, the Angels would run out of energy and be forced to retreat before they inflicted any damage.

'So what is their game? What are they trying to do with this attack?'

/

Ria paced up and down the hallway. Her nerves shot, fear and raw anger dueling within her. She wanted to kill Ramiel. She wanted to kill all of them, but it was painfully beyond her.

"I've done this before," Koda said. "It's not going to warp you or turn you into something you aren't."

"You're asking me to break into the Vault," Ria countered. "The General will not approve of giving me any part of our original bodies."

"Why do you care about that?" Koda asked.

"Because I don't have the time to fight my way there and I don't want Misato trying to argue I've gone rogue!" Ria shouted.

As much as she would love to get into that fight, as much as she felt a coward for staying here, the Vault was fortified and protected, even for her it would take some time to get there.

"Oh good, there you are."

Ria turned to see Dr. Akagi approaching them, a plastic bag with an unidentifiable thumb sized chunk of grey bone in her hand. Ria felt weird staring at the bone, deeply unsettled for reasons she couldn't place.

"You were looking for me?" Ria asked, puzzled.

Why would Akagi be looking for her, and now of all time?

Ritsuko spoke in a hurried tone "We don't have time so I'll be blunt. There's nothing in our arsenal that can hurt Ramiel, nothing that we'll stand a chance at setting up, anyways. We need an equally strong Angel to fight it. To put it simply we need Zeruel."

Ritsuko tossed the bag to Ria. Ria caught it. There was something intensely familiar about the bone, Ria found herself longing for... something.

"Is that...?" Koda said in naked shock.

"Yes. That is a chunk of Zeruel, specifically its bone mask," Ritsuko explained

Ria stared at it shock, nearly fumbling and dropping it before grapping onto it tightly.

This... this was her. Her original self. One of the few remaining fragments of the Might of God. It was just inert bone now, but Ria could almost feel the history of it. The assault on Tokyo-3, the battle inside Geofront.

Her death.

"You're giving it to me?" Ria was beyond confused.

"I don't trust you as much as the Sub-Commander does, but I do trust you far more than the General does," Ritsuko said calmly. "I know you want Ramiel and the others dead as much as I do. Now get out of here. You have to transform outside of WILLE or else this will raise far too many questions."

"I... I'll stay here and make sure no one tries to free Okito." Koda said.

"A smart move," Ritsuko agreed.

"Make sure you get your blood on it," Koda added nervously.

Ria looked at the bone again. "Will it hurt?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Koda replied, nodding.

Strangely that brought Ria comfort as she sprinted down the hall.

It didn't take her long to get outside. Soon enough she found herself standing on top of a half ruined apartment block. The wind whipping at her hair as she stared at the battle unfolding ahead of her.

She looked down at the bone, held gingerly in her hands. She was thrilled and terrified at once, so close to what she once was, yet hanging on the edge, hesitant to go that one step more.

'Stop being a coward. You need to do this, there is no other way,' she told herself.

Ria grabbed the bone like a knife,

"I am Zeruel, the Might of God," she chanted as she raised it up, her eyes closed. "I am the Fourteenth Angel, God's strength made manifest. By my hand Evas fell, by my hand cities burned. And by my hand Ramiel shall die!"

She drove the bone deep into her hand. Blood flowed freely, dripping onto the concrete below.

Sparks of electricity danced around her body as she shook in agony.

Her eyes opened, deep pools of black with blazing red irises. Then she rose into the air, seemingly weightless as the electricity enveloped her.

It grew outwards, expanding rapidly in moments into a huge ball of light.

/

Asuka caught the light of another Angel manifesting out of the corner of her eye.

'Gott in Himmel! Another one?!' Asuka thought as she sliced the tip off of one of Shamshel's whip arms.

'So who is it this time? Arael, Bardiel, that Tabris one?'

Asuka dodged as she heard Ramiel charging for another shot.

To her surprise, it wasn't aimed at her or Shinji or Wondergirl. It struck the still forming Angel.

Even more surprisingly, the shot bounced, deflecting upwards into the sky.

The fighting ground to a halt as the Angels stared at the newcomer.

The figure that emerged from the energy looked almost absurd. A bit taller than an Evangelion, but bulkier. With a small bone mask for a face and massive bony shoulders that jutted sharply off it's body. It's arms were large flat grey things, like segmented sheets of paper. And it's color scheme was garish mix of black, white and orange, with a massive red core in the center of it's chest.

It took a moment for Asuka to match the thing before her with the photos she had seen of all the Angels.

"Oooh..." Asuka said as she made the connection.

Zeruel had joined the battle.

 

[Teen Spirit]

Misato stared at the screen in front of her, her mind not quite accepting what she was seeing.

Zeruel was out there fighting. No, Ria was out there fighting.

'Ritsuko, what have you done?' It had to be Ritsuko of course, everyone else who had access to that part of the Vault was in this room.

The sight filled Misato with old terror. Images of Zeruel moments away from wiping her and the rest of the bridge staff flashed before her.

For a brief moment, she wanted to kill her, she want to order the Positron cannons to fire on Zeruel and get rid of the problem Ria Soryu had posed since Misato first learned the truth.

Then she turned towards Asuka, who was sitting at her post, looking at once confused and incredibly scared, scared for the safety of her daughter.

"Ria, why? What are you trying to prove?" she whispered.

Misato turned away. She was better than this. Zeruel wasn't the enemy now.

"Ibuki. Have the Positron Cannons trained on the 5th Angel. Have them ready to fire on my command," Misato ordered

"Yes, General," Maya replied with a nod.

With any luck, Ria's appearance threw off whatever plan Ramiel was trying to enact here. Maybe she'd even kill the bastard.

'I'll give the girl a medal if she pulls that off,' Misato thought.

/

Shinji was watching from a TV in one of the most secure parts of WILLE, proud yet horrified.

She shouldn't have to do this. This was his burden, not hers. Everything he and Asuka had done, every battle they'd fought so others would not have to... And now his daughter had to fight, and all he could do was watch. He should have been there to stop her from doing this. How did she even do this? Who gave her access to the Vault?

He couldn't deny her bravery though. In the face of all that had happened, the fact that not four hours ago WILLE security was trying to kill her simply for existing, and she was still willing to fight.

Shinji felt his real hand clenching hard.

He wished desperately he could do something, anything to help her right now instead of being just sitting here uselessly.

He had hated being a Pilot with every fiber of his being, but being able to do nothing in the face of an Angel attack, especially when his family was on the line, was somehow so much worse.

/

Everyone in the shelter was crowded around the few laptops people had brought in with them, all watching the battle above unfold.

Mari found herself towards the front, nearly crushed by all the bodies around her.

She had to bite her lip to prevent herself from screaming when Zeruel appeared.

Ria's original form was... awe-inspiring in a way. She could almost feel the power radiating from her.

Some of the crowd, most older survivors of the first conflict and a few Mari suspected were transplants from Koda's universe, reacted with terror, recoiling at the sight of Zeruel.

Most were just puzzled. An Angel had shot at another Angel. For almost everyone here that seemed an impossible situation.

More than anything, Mari was scared, scared for her girlfriend. She understood why Ria would fight, but that didn't mean she approved of it.

Mari pulled herself out of the crowd, shoving and pushing as she backed up, just to avoid being crushed.

Mari leaned against the wall, her breath was hard, her hands shaking.

"So, they're fighting..." Mari turned to see Mrs. Suzuhara standing near here, a serious expression on her face. Kodama, Kensuke, and his namesake were in the far corner, looking varying degrees of miserable.

"It would appear so," Mari kept her voice low, doing her best to avoid being heard.

"I wouldn't worry about her," Hikari said reassuringly. "She's a tough girl."

"I know, but this isn't any normal fight. They're still outnumbered and Ramiel's leveled two cities as it is," Mari replied nervously.

Hikari nodded. "True enough. But you can't do anything to help her now. No use worrying yourself to death over something you can't affect."

Mari sunk to the floor, she couldn't argue against her point. But she still felt miserable and helpless.

/

The Evangelions quickly seized the upper hand, forcing the Angels to backpedal, even wounding them a bit.

Ramiel and Zeruel hovered in the air above the battle, barely a few city blocks' distance apart from each other.

Ramiel turned, presenting one corner of itself towards Zeruel. The octahedron was utterly incapable of making any sort of expression but for anyone watching it was clear the two were staring at each other.

For a moment, the two remained motionless, neither attacking. Each waiting for the other to make their move.

Zeruel was the first to attack, the hollow eye holes of her mask briefly glowing before a massive blast struck Ramiel.

A cross shaped Pillar of Light appeared in the air near Ramiel, it's AT-Field flaring brightly.

The air was filled with the high pitched electrical humming of Ramiel's building attack.

At the last moment, Zeruel rose slightly in the air, as a massive wave of energy just barely missed her legs. Ramiel's attack utterly obliterated the tops of several skyscrapers that had unfortunately been in the path of it's attack.

Zeruel unleashed a barrage of attacks, multiple blasts striking Ramiel within moments. For a split second one couldn't see the Angel of Lighting, it's form hidden by the glow of several cross-explosions.

This time Ramiel had been struck, the very top of the figure was damaged. A jagged hole was punched into one side, the crystalline flesh surrounding it was blackened, thick smoke pouring from the wound.

/

A cheer went through the shelter along with a few shouts of "that was for Seoul!" or simply "Melbourne!".

The majority were unmistakably increasingly confused, though. Now it was crystal clear that two Angels were fighting. But still, for a brief moment, people were cheering for Ria.

Mari couldn't wait to tell her that.

/

"All cannons open fire!" Misato shouted.

For a moment she waited for what she was certain would be Ramiel's death blow, but nothing happened.

"Sorry, General the Cannons are having trouble accepting the authentication codes! Rebooting the systems now!" Maya explained.

"God help me. My best hope right now is an Angel," Misato muttered under her breath in frustration.

/

Zeruel's arms unfolded, reaching below it's stubby legs.

Before they could unleash their next attack, Armisael flew towards Zeruel, aiming for the Angel's core.

With disdain, Zeruel swatted the Sixteenth Angel away, sending them crashing into the street below.

Then a light appeared, the baleful orange light of another Angel appeared formed in the air above Ramiel.

The bright glow filled the skies above Kyoto, for a moment even drowning out the sun.

The figure that emerged was massive, dominating the sky, it's wings easily several times as long as an Evangelion was tall. Like Armisael it almost appeared as if it was made out of white light, but unlike the Sixteenth it was a jagged thing of sharp corners. Resembling a giant crystal bird.

Zeruel's attention immediately shifted to the newcomer, her rage towards Ramiel now entirely eclipsed by her overwhelming hatred for this particular Angel.

It was the Fifteenth of their kind. Arael, the Angel of Birds, the Light of God.

Zeruel fired upon the bird-like Angel immediately. Her target's AT-Field stretched like a rubber band for a moment, but it did not break.

Light radiated from Arael, washing over Zeruel.

Zeruel's next attack suddenly halted and she went still and limp, hanging silently in the air.

/

The cry of pure anguish that came out of Asuka would haunt Misato until the day she died.

'This wasn't a trap for us,' Misato realized with horror, 'this was a trap for Ria!'

How did she not see that? It seemed so clear now, the sheer number of Angels, the refusal to press the attack. How did she miss that?

'How could I have been that blind?'

And they had set a trap for another Angel, one of their own kind. It was clear the Angels could fight each other, sure, but there was a difference between fighting and setting a trap involving Arael. Arael, The one that had so broken Asuka, and now they were sending them against her daughter, against Ria.

'Ria…'

Misato was sickened, at the sight before her, and at herself. Ria had thrown herself into this fight, wounded Ramiel, and was now enduring a fate that had broken her mother. And until a moment ago the only thing Misato felt towards her was contempt.

"We need to kill it!" Asuka shouted, tears rolling down her face.

'Guilt later, action now,' Misato reminded herself.

"Focus all Turrets on Arael!" Misato called out "Launch the Positron Rifle!"

"Roger," Maya replied.

Misato turned her attention to her Pilots. "Unit-00, you will act as shooter. Grab the Positron Rifle. You will fire upon Arael on my signal. Unit-01 and Unit-02, move to defend Unit-00. Do not let the Angels get to her."

"What about Ramiel?" Pilot Soryu questioned. "He's damaged, we have a chance."

"Fuck Ramiel!" her older self shouted.

Misato's heart tore, she could see all the old pain hitting Asuka. She was at once a scared teenager again and a mother terrified for the safety of her child.

"Arael is the bigger danger right now," Misato firmly insisted.

Emotions aside, Arael was the biggest threat. Whatever it was doing now, Ria wasn't attacking. Shewas just frozen. If Arael did that to any of the Pilots they would be sitting ducks out there.

"Understood," Pilot Soryu replied.

A massive metal container launched up the streets. One side fell away, revealing a large and unwieldy looking rifle, various cables running along it's length.

"Moving to grab the Rifle now," Ayanami said.

Unit-02 and Unit-01 pulled back to Unit-00's side. With any luck they could end this before too much more damage was inflicted.

/

Shinji collapsed to his knees. Screaming in rage.

'Not this, not this not this, anything but this. Not again!'

He could see Asuka lying in the hospital again. Her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. He could see her her curled in a ball after the battle, hugging her knees tightly, the fireball of confidence and energy he'd fallen for utterly broken. He had been too broken himself then to do anything for her then. And now he was watching the same thing start again with Ria.

And he was just as powerless now as he was then…

/

Hikari watched the scene unfold on screen. None of the people watching understood what was happening to Zeruel right now, not even Mari. Mari looked concerned, but not as terrified as she would have been if she knew the truth.

Hikari kept her distance, making sure no one could hear her or was playing her any attention.

"So this was your plan, Ramiel?" she muttered in disgust. "You really are a sadistic bastard aren't you?"

/

"At least Okito stopped pretending when the truth came out."

Shut up.

"Well, I guess that explains why you were so quick to defend your father,"

I am not listening to this.

"She's one of them, she will betray you sooner or later."

Stop. It.

I can feel my body, distantly. The false Core surrounding me, growing through my skin. Faint echoes of the war outside lingering in my ear. Arael is prying at my mind, forcing me to withdraw in myself.

A concrete floor is beneath me, the heat of a spotlight hitting my back. None of this is real.

"Real enough for our purposes." It's was Dad's voice but not his words.

Arael stood before me, wearing his face. Though a younger version of it. Not the face he had now, or the face of the Pilot. But the face he had when I was young, before he left. When he was not even truly an adult yet.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here," I say, making my contempt clear.

"Relax. I just want to make a deal. With you." His false charm grates on me. I want to snap his neck.

"Why should I make a deal with anyone allied with Ramiel, especially you?" I snap.

"What do you mean, especially me?" He seemed genuinely confused.

That he's wearing my father's face only serves to make me more enraged.

My arms are shaking, my stomach is doing knots. "You violated my mother!"

He looks genuinely surprised, horrified even.

"Ohh...I didn't know." His voice was someone else's this time, perhaps his real one.

"You 'didn't know'," I sneer.

That didn't change anything. He still made her suffer, he still tortured her.

How many times have I woken up over the years because of her screaming in her sleep from the nightmares? The nightmares he caused.

I will kill him, as soon as I break free of this I'm going to rip him to shreds. There will be nothing but ashes left of him.

"I'll be honest with you Ria," he said, again using my father's voice, "Ramiel wants me to convince you to join us or break you. And I really don't want to do the latter. So hear me out?"

I laugh bitterly. Is he serious? Are they really still trying to recruit me?

"Why would I even consider joining you?" I asked, contempt dripping from my words.

"Because we could end this, here and now. Peacefully, without anyone being hurt. Not even the Pilots. We don't need to fight. Ramiel's plans have passed the point where he needs direct action against you. We're fighting because of Misato's actions." His pleas fell on uncaring ears.

"Look if you want to start an 'I hate Misato Katasurgi' club I'll be the first to join. But Ramiel's plan is madness and you're a fool for following him," I state.

"I admit I have my own doubts about his plans," Arael said with shocking honesty, "but what's the harm in letting him try? Why drag on this destructive conflict?"

I shake my head "So many reasons. Because it could backfire horribly, because if it succeeds he's going to aim for world conquest. Because he convinced the first real friend I had to be a giant idiot and try to ruin everything good in his life. Because the part of me that's still Zeruel finds it blasphemous to even consider. And that's just scratching the surface of the issue."

He looks at me, saddened and disappointed.

"I can tell you're not going to budge on this."

"What was your first clue, Captain Obvious?" I retort. "So I guess you're going to torture me now?"

"For how angry you were over what happened to your mother you seem shockingly unconcerned by that," he observes.

I'm going to enjoy killing you.

"Because I'm stronger than she was then. I had a far better childhood than she had. There's nothing you can use against me that will hurt me as much as hurt her," I retort.

At that, he smiled.

"Oh really?" he said mockingly. "Then why did I appear to you like this?"

It was only now I realized what he was wearing; pajamas. The same pajamas he wore the night…

Oh no.

The light shut off. For a moment there was nothing but darkness surrounding me.

Then with a snap the spotlight turned back on, this time above another figure.

It was...me. Only when I was younger, so much younger. She was a tiny thing, with long reddish brown hair, fluffy one piece pajamas, and a large butcher's knife with a false ivory handle held tightly in her hands. She looked determined and terrified.

It was at this point that I began to scream.

/

From within Unit-02, Asuka watched in horror as Zeruel plunged out of the sky, falling uncontrollably until she crashed into the street with a loud thunderclap, kicking up a wall of dust and debris. Arael's light was still focused on her.

'What the hell? What did it do to her?' Asuka wondered fearfully.

Then all of the Angels save for one half of Israfel and Ramiel turned away from the Evas and focused on Ria.

She was completely vulnerable, unable to defend herself. And now four Angels were barreling down on her.

 

[Teen Spirit]

The knife is awkward in my hands, I can barely keep a grasp on it with even both hands. This body is clumsy and awkward, even walking can be a challenge at times.

It creep slowly, making sure each step barely makes a sound. The soft carpet makes this easy.

No, stop it.

He's sleeping on the couch tonight; they've had another of their fights. Odds are he'll be gone soon. He's been on the phone a lot with some people offering him a job away from here, away from me. They think I haven't heard the quiet conversations.

Part of me wonders if I should just wait for him to leave. That way he's out of my life without any risk on my part. But then the nightmares wouldn't stop if I just left him alone.

The nightmares...every night, I can see, I can hear, I can still feel him ripping me apart. I live my defeat over and over again every time I close my eyes.

I need peace of mind. I need the nightmares to end. I need justice.

I was young and scared!

No one will know. No one will know. That's what I keep telling myself. It just has to be him, my mother will be unharmed. I have no ill feelings towards her.

I'm close now, meters away from the couch.

He's snoring, one arm draped over the side.

Stop making me see this.

One step, followed by another step. My heart is pounding, I'm sweating quite a bit. My mind is filled with doubts. But I need to do this, I have to do this

No you didn't! You didn't have to do any of this!

I'm at his side. He's fast asleep. This will be over quickly. Once slice across the neck and the Third Child will be dead and I can finally sleep in peace.

I stopped myself, I stopped myself from going too far!

I raise the knife, it shakes in my hand. The damn thing is so unwieldy. I lower it slowly, it's almost touching his neck. So close, so very close...

The phone rings, piercing the quiet night.

In a panic I run away, my feet carrying me as fast as I can. I ditch the knife in the closet, hidden behind dusty storage bins.

No, that's not... No!

I retreat to my room, peering out carefully to watch my father wake slowly. It's only by the fourth ring that he's anywhere close to awake, mom manages to reach the phone before he does. Letting out a sleepy grunt of annoyance as she did.

The scene ends, I'm left kneeling on the concrete.

That wasn't right, I stopped myself. I stopped myself from going too far of my own free will. It wasn't the phone call! I knew I was making a mistake and stopped myself!

Didn't I?

I feel my body and soul fighting, two halves of me waging a war before being ripped apart.

"Liar!" a voice accuses.

I look up to see two people staring down at me. They're me, aspects of me at least.

One's wearing my school uniform while the other has on a black cloak, their face hidden behind the mask Leliel gifted me.

"You wouldn't have stopped willingly. The only reason you did is you knew you would get caught!" the human half accused.

She was right.

"And like a coward you never tried again!" my Angelic half roared.

"I got over it!" I shouted. "The nightmares stopped! I realized I was wrong!"

"You're a monster for trying. A human girl would have never done such a thing."

"And an Angel would have finished the job. So what even are you?"

"I am Ria Soryu!" I declare defiantly.

My angel side leers at me, pressing their mask against my face.

"That's who you are. I asked what you are."

"I am…I…" I can't answer. I don't have an answer. I don't know. I just don't know.

"A human would have told Misato the truth about Okito the day he first attacked," my human side chastises me.

"An Angel would have joined him or killed him!"

I struggle to find words. "I... He was my friend! He said it wasn't him! I... I believed him."

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did!" I snap back. "I was an idiot for doing so but I honestly thought he was telling the truth. The situation was confused and the Pilots had just arrived. Anything seemed possible."

"Liar," my human side sneered. "You were scared of what would happen if you told. Because there was no way of telling them about Okito without also revealing what you were. And you couldn't have that could you?"

"They accepted me, they love me!" I shouted, trembling.

"Then why didn't you tell them about the Knife?" The Angel questioned.

Words fail me, doubt wracks my brain. Why did I hide it? Why did I ever consider doing it?

The two fade away into the shadows, replaced by a new figure.

"You were scared they would end up hating you, like I do," Kodama Suzuhara said acidly.

Ria stared at Kodama, who was glaring down at her with hateful eyes.

"Of course, it's not like you ever actually cared about me," she said scornfully. "Okito was your friend, I was just along for the ride."

"That's not true!" I say defiantly. "You're my friend! You've been my friend for years!"

She snorts dismissively. "Please, you've already replaced me with that Angel wearing my face."

Rage boils up inside of me.

"You turned your back on me!" I shout. "I was there for you but you abandoned me without even hesitating."

"Because you're a monster and you know it," Kodama sneered. "You didn't even warn me of Okito. He could have killed me you know, killed my entire family."

"But he didn't, did he?" a new voice calls out. "And don't act like you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were in her shoes."

I feel arms wrap around me, soft, reassuring, lifting me back on my feet.

I turn around and see Mari smiling at me.

Kodama looks afraid, as if she had not expected this.

"Ignore her," Mari assures me. "She isn't really there. None of this is real, remember?"

She's right, she's so right.

/

Rei grabbed the rifle, narrowly avoiding Ramiel's attack.

Shinji watched in horror as the Angels descended on Ria. Shamshel's whips carved chunks out of her sides. The other Angels watched on.

What was Arael doing to her, why wasn't she fighting back?

Asuka was dueling with Israfel, clashing as the Angel danced around.

They weren't trying to kill them. They were just toying with them, with him, with all of them.

Shinji was paralyzed. There were so many here! Angels he had struggled to survive against by themselves, Angels he had never fought, all working together. What could he do?

Another blast from Ramiel nearly hit Unit-00.

"It will not be possible to fire as long as Ramiel keeps targeting me," Ayanami said.

"Shinji!" Asuka's shout snapped Shinji back into Focus. "I'm a little busy here. You need to distract Ramiel!"

"Right!" Shinji replied.

Ramiel was already wounded, if they could get Zeruel, er, Ria, back up and fighting he was toast.

Unit-01 took off, crossbow in hand, firing shot after shot into Ramiel as he strafed around the giant Diamond.

The bolts found their mark, burying themselves inside of Ramiel. Fragments of Crystal falling to the ground as the wounds left jagged scars across his surface.

Armisael broke off and turned towards Unit-01, twisting through the air as it did.

Shinji turned to face it.

That's when he froze, utterly horrified. Part of the Angel had transformed...into a pale copy of Rei.

He grabbed at it, stopping the Angel from reaching him. Thick, distorted veins began to to appear along Unit-01's arms.

And his arms as well.

The Angel looked at him with pleading red eyes.

In the distance he heard Misato screaming at him to do something. What he could not be sure.

'Why do you have her face?! Why are you doing this?!' Shinji desperately wondered.

It took every ounce of strength to keep it from getting to Unit-01's head.

More veins appeared along his arms, thick, painful.

He could hear someone whispering in ears, whispering and giggling.

Then he saw it, something that pulled him away from Armisael, something that filled him with hope.

Zeruel slowly got back up, pushing herself up with her arms. The Angels swarmed her. A moment later, Sandalphon was kicked through the air, flying into a nearby building. The half-finished skyscraper collapsed on top of it, sending out a cloud of concrete and steel.

This was good. Whatever they were doing to her, Ria could endure it. She was beating them, She-

The light around Zeruel magnified to near blinding levels, halting her in place. Shamshel's whip coiled around one of her shoulders and threw her back down to the ground as Shamshel carved more and more chunks out of her.

Sub-Commander Soryu let out of a stream of curses over the radio as she sobbed openly.

Whatever Arael was doing, Asuka was terrified. This Angel had hurt her, as it was hurting Ria.

"Why do you fight? We don't want you dead. Surrender and no one will by hurt. Surrender and you can save her," a voice whispered in his head, smooth and warm like velvet.

He looked at the Angel again. It was still wearing Rei's face. Why was it wearing her face? What did it do to Rei all those years ago?

...This was the Angel that destroyed Unit-00 the first time. Misato said Rei had survived. But this Angel had hurt her.

The voice whispered, "Surrender and you will be spared. No, more than that, you will be a hero. The Pilot who ended a war."

"You hurt her..." Shinji whispered, his body shaking with rage. "You hurt my friends, you hurt my family!"

Shinji pulled a black sword out of Unit-01's left shoulder pylon.

"Oh."

Shinji screamed as he drove the blade into Armisael.

/

Mari vanished, dissolving into so much dust. I grabbed frantically for her, tried to pull her back up into the forefront of my mind. But nothing... I am alone.

Then Misato stands before me. A fearful expression on her face. Hatred rises in me like bile, I fight it. This is just Arael trying to get a rise out of me.

...Why is she so small?

She's standing in a Command Center, not the one she has now. The original one, the one she used at NERV.

This is the attack, my attack, Zeruel's attack.

She looks so small, so weak. I could just crush her right now.

"Are you ready for your first day of school, Ria?" Misato's voice was so sweet and kind.

"Uh-huh! Got my new shoes and everything!"

The memory hits me hard, happier times, far happier.

"Get out," her voice is now barely more than a hiss, filled with hatred and contempt.

"What is this?!" I shout, demanding answers. I didn't need a reminder of what Misato had done to me. She betrayed me, abandoned me, treated me like I was nothing more than trash.

I see Misato again, this time larger, larger than me. She's looked down at me with a pained expression on her face, but she smiles, trying to hide to hide her fear.

She kneels at my side.

"Your mother... she needs some time to rest," she explains carefully, "as does your dad. But they'll be back in no time, don't you worry. Until then you'll be staying with Grandma Misato! Doesn't that sound fun?"

I scream, wracked by rage... and regret, so much regret.

Now she has gun pointed at my face

"She will betray you!" she shouts at my parents.

Her voice changes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't involve you in this. There are just so few people I trust these days."

"Why are you showing me this?!" I shout, half begging.

Misato looks older now, nearly as much older as she is now. She's sitting, a reassuring smile on her face.

"Look," she says, "there's always going to be idiots in the world. You can't let them stop you from being who you want to be. If you think this girl is pretty you should ask her out. She may reject you, but hey, you never know until you try. And there will be others."

"Shut up!" I roar.

She abandoned you.

She hates you.

She loved you.

She fears you.

She fears for you.

"Liar!" I shout. "She doesn't care for me at all!"

You despise her.

You want her dead

You fear her

You miss her

You want your grandmother back.

"SHUT UP!" I scream "SHUT UP, SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

I could feel my mind slipping, thoughts giving way to raw emotions.

Cowardice

Fear

Pride

Love

Hate

Regret

Insecurity

Death

Reason for existing

What am I?

Separation.

Rage

RAGE

RAGE

/

Iruel had proven largely true, shockingly enough. The way towards the other Leliel had proven clear, mostly. Mostly being the key word.

A few guards were patrolling near the cell door, armed and armored with surplus Russian and Chinese military equipment. They would have been trouble for any normal person. But for an Angel, even one like Matarael, they were barely more than a speed bump.

They died horrifically, screaming in agony as they melted. Dmitri felt sick at the sight, they were monsters working for a monster. But they didn't deserve that, no one did.

He melted the door down, noxious bubbles appear as the steel dissolved.

The jail was a rather large room, divided into four separate cells with a central corridor running through them.

The first two cells were empty, save for beds and a small bathroom.

Leliel was in the rear left one, strapped to a hospital bed, kept asleep by whatever was in her IV.

The rear right one contained a human prisoner, a battered man strapped to a wheelchair. He looked at Dmitri with an exhausted expression.

For a brief moment Dmitri considered grabbing him as well, but he lacked the time. And considering who it was, he wasn't entirely sure the man should be saved.

He turned his attention towards Leliel, thick armored glass stood between him and her. For most people it would have taken a bomb to get through, though like the door, Dimitri had a far simpler solution.

He spit at it.

The glass dissolved, collapsing in places.

An alarm began blaring. He didn't have a lot of time.

He quickly pulled the various tubes they had in Leliel and pulled her around his shoulders.

'Okay, we need to get to the train station,' he thought. 'Hopefully she'll be a awake by then. Convince her to come with me and then we'll head for Neo Kobe. Oh this is going to be hard to explain to mother.'

He dashed through the bunker, carrying the unconscious Leliel. It had taken a bit of scouting, but he had been able to find the place's entrance. In few moments he would be out of here and on his way to freedom.

...What was Sahaquiel doing here?

Dmitri paused. Sahaquiel was resting against the entrance door. Tossing something between her hands. Her strawberry blonde hair flowing to her back in loose ringlets. An amused expression appearing on her face the moment she saw him.

'Oh, this isn't good.'

"I do apologize for Iruel getting you involved in this, but, well, Iruel didn't have any other way of getting to the Other Leliel without making a whole lot of noise and well...we couldn't have Ramiel finding out about our plans too soon," she said calmly.

She paused, holding the object she had been fiddling with in her hand. It was a ring, some of her hair wrapped around it.

"What are you talking about?" Dimitri said nervously as he prepared to retreat.

"Goodbye, Matarael." She flicked the ring towards him. The hair around it beginning to glow brightly.

A split second later in detonated, hitting Dmitri square in the chest.