The Characters and concept of Neon Genesis Evangelion are property of Gainax. I created this "scerario" in the spirit of the TV series and manga. I made it in the hope that it would open up people's minds and give something to a series that really touched me. This little series that I have created is a piece of fan fiction thought up by yours truly, so if you are going to copy or distribute this work, please give credit where it is due, k? Now enjoy!

(It is quiet outside, save the gentle roar of rain falling. Within the apartment of Major Misato Katsuragi, the Second and Third Children are doing what they can to fight boredom.)

Asuka: This is so unfair! I should be outside enjoying the warm weather and the sky falls! You Japanese have such weird weather patterns!

(Asuka Langley Soryu is laying on her back, staring up at the television with an equally bored Pen-Pen at her side.)

Shinji (quietly): It is not strange. It rains everywhere.

(Shinji Ikari is reading a physics book at the kitchen table, turning the page without looking up at his annoyed roommate.)

Asuka: Leave it to you to be contrary, baka.

(Asuka grabs the remote and switches the channel.)

Asuka: I wish that Misato would get home, already.

Shinji: (turning another page): Why is that?

(Asuka lifts her head off the floor.)

Asuka: At least there would be something to do! You are about as fun as a stump!

Shinji (sighing): I'm sorry.

(Asuka sits up, her back is to the TV.)

Asuka (angry): What are you apologizing for?! You are always apologizing!

Shinji (sadly): I'm sorry-Ouch!

(Young Ikari stumbles out of his chair as he is hit in the head by the pillow Asuka had been using up to that point.)

Asuka (sighing loudly): Boys are stupid!

(Asuka's body makes a loud thud as the girl lays back down, while Shinji sits on the floor, rubbing his head.)

-------------------------------

(Within the inner sanctuary of Commander Gendo Ikari, the commander of NERV sits, gazing out at the sprawling etching of the Tree of Life. Commander Ikari's hands are folded just under his nose.)

Fuyutsuki (sighing, with his hands behind his back): Dr. Akagi reports that fifty percent of the data was stolen before the hacker was detected. It would seemed that Seele is seeking...insurance. How long before they decide to take the Geo-Front by force?

Gendo (calmly): Has the spy been found, yet?

Fuyutsuki (looking over at the younger man): Not yet. It is only a matter of time, though. Whoever it was, they did not count on the vigilance of the MAGI.

Gendo: Once again, Man's arrogance will lead to his downfall. I expect that this will be more efficient than the last time.

Fuyutsuki (thinking): You bastard...

Fuyutsuki: We already have a lead. We will have the spy within the hour.

(Gendo grins beneath his hands.)

Fuyutsuki (turning toward Gendo once more): ...will you be making your...visit today?

Gendo: ...I have other things to see to.

Fuyutsuki: Is that wise? The boy-

Gendo (softly): I will handle my business as I see fit. I am sure that they will understand.

Fuyutsuki (thinking): And in that is your curse, Ikari.

---------------------------------

(Shinji stands up from the table after looking at his watch. He bites his lip slightly before looking over at the girl on the floor. She is on her stomach now, swinging her legs restlessly.)

Shinji: ...

(Asuka ignores him for a full ten seconds before looking over her shoulder, obviously irritated.)

Asuka (annoyed): What?

Shinji: ...I...um...will be going out for a while.

(Asuka looked out the window, then back at the boy.)

Asuka (her eyes wide): What are you, stupid? It's pouring outside!

Shinji: I-I know. It's important!

(Asuka tuns back on her stomach.)

Asuka: You're weird. Go ahead! Catch your death of cold! I don't care.

Shinji: ...Asuka...

(Asuka sighs loudly and looks over her shoulder again.)

Asuka (her nose high): What? You're still here? If you want me to go outside with you, forget it! I might be bored, but I'm not dumb.

(Shinji opens his mouth, but couldn't meet the redhead's fierce gaze.)

Shinji: ...nevermind...forget it...

(Asuka watches as Shinji walks slowly to his room and returns a moment later with a bouquet of white flowers. The Second Child's eyes widen for a moment and her heart skips a beat.

Asuka (shaken): W-Who are those for?

(Shinji gazes sadly down at the flowers.)

Shinji (quietly): Someone very important.

(Shinji walks to the hall and begins putting his shoes on. Asuka then realizes that Shinji didn't intend on giving her the flowers.)

Asuka (furious): Fine! Go see this special someone! I hope you do catch your death of cold out there!

(With that, Asuka jumps up and stomps back to her room. Shinji flinches when he hears the door slam down the hall.

Shinji (whispering): Asuka...it's not...

(The boy shakes his head and reaches out slowly, opening the apartment door.)

------------------------------------

(Not far from Katsuragi's apartment, there is a pale form in the drenching rain.

Rei: ...

(The young EVA pilot is in her school uniform, which has become soaked to the skin, but the girl doesn't mind. She turns her face into the wind and closes her eyes, as if listening.)

(Ayanami's eyes flicker under her closed lids. Suddenly, the image of Shinji flashes into her mind. His eyes are filled with tears, but he is smiling.)

(The wind stirs her dripping skirt, but Rei does not notice this. She opens her eyes and begins walking, fading away into the sheets of rain.)

---------------------------------------

(Within the Command Center of NERV Central, Misato walks in stretching her arms over her head. She is somewhat surprised when she sees Dr. Ritsuko Akagi working around one of the three super-computers that make up the MAGI.)

Misato (yawning): Good morning, Ritsuko. What are you doing here?

(The blond doctor turns away from the massive, housing unit that holds the Magus Casper.)

Ritsuko: Visiting Mother.

Misato (blinking): Huh?

Ritsuko (chuckling): Never mind, didn't get much sleep last night, I see.

Misato (picking up a mug with the NERV insignia on the side): Yeah, well, you know how it is. Being a military woman doesn't give me much time to have fun.

(Misato poured some coffee from the pot nearby into the mug. Sighing, the Major sits down in a vacant chair at the control console and takes a sip. She promptly spits it back in.)

Misato (coughing): What the hell is in this stuff? Is someone trying to kill us?

Ritsuko (sighing): I'm sorry, it is the flavor that I use to get me started in the day. I wasn't counting on someone else drinking it.

(The doctor sits down on the rolling chair next to Casper. The Magus' innards are exposed and the massive housing unit is raised for easy access. Ritsuko picks up the laptop that sits next to the chair and began rattling in commands.

Misato (sipping carefully): So...what are you doing?

Ritsuko (not looking up): The MAGI's annual check-up. While the MAGI are high technology, they are also high maintenance. They require annual tune-ups every few months or every other Angel attack, which ever comes first.

Misato: ...Is it safe to have the MAGI...like this?

Ritsuko: This is the price of constant vigilance, Major. It is better to know if there is something wrong now, than waiting until it can really catch us.

Misato: Hmmm.

(The door of the command center slides open and Maya Ibuki walks in. The young woman sees Misato and smiles in welcome. She is carrying two steaming mugs.)

Maya: Hello, Major. I brought you something drinkable.

(Misato puts down her mug eagerly.)

Misato: Oh, you are a lifesaver, Maya!

Ritsuko (sighing): You never did like my special brew...

-----------------------------------

(Far off the coast of Japan, a geological vessal, the Tempest, is anchored while those onboard study their unusual find.

Scientist A: I don't think that I have ever seen this before-

Scientist B: I don't think anyone has.

Scientist A: What do you think? Hot spots don't just move without warning like that, it takes time. A lot of time!

Scientist B: Then how do you explain the trail?

Scientist A: I don't know! I mean, if I didn't know better, I would say that I was looking at the gopher tunnels that my wife is always complaining about!

(The two geologists are looking at the camera picture from the remote probe they had sent down to the ocean floor. The smothering tunnel was huge, about as wide as several football fields lined up length-wise.)

Scientist A (stroking his beard): Perhaps we had better get a sample. We might be able to understand what the hell is going on down there if we had something to use as a reference.

Scientist B: Already ahead of you.

(The probe zoomed closer to the bulging ocean floor and a reinforced claw reached out for the sample.)

Scientist A (pointing): What the hell is that?

(The two scientists lean in close to the screen.)

Scientist B: It looks like some sort of glowing ball. Maybe a bit of magna has burned to the surface.

(The claw of the probe reached out and touched the glowing globe. The screen suddenly went blank with static and the two just stared at it.)

Scientist A: What happened?

(They could now feel a shuttering under their feet and they looked at each other.)

Scientists A and B: An erruption?!

(They turned away from the flickering screen and ran outside to the deck. They gaped as the water exploded around them and a gigantic, fleshy shape emerged from the sea...)

---------------------------------------

Shinji: ...

(The rain rattles down on the umbrella over his head and on the ebony tombstone before him. The rain, unfortunately, is coming down sideways so that the umbrella isn't doing much good.)

Shinji (thinking): He didn't come. It is like before...when I ran away. Mother. The one who had bonded us together, even when neither of us wanted it.

(The boy's hand tightens on the umbrella as he fights the tears.)

Shinji (thinking): I shouldn't be surprised, but-but I thought-

Rei: You are crying again.

(The Third Child yelps and spins to see who had intruded on his silence. Fierce words die as he sees Rei standing before him.)

Shinji (softly): Ayanami...

(The blue-haired girl's red eyes gaze at him.)

Rei: You cry often, Pilot Ikari.

Shinji (wiping his eyes with the back of his hand): W-What are you doing here, Rei?

(He suddenly notices that she is standing the rain with no protection.)

Shinji: Where's your umbrella?

Rei: I did not bring one.

Shinji: It's raining!

(The boy awkardly moves closer to Rei and lifts the umbrella so that it protects the two of them. The action also forces Shinji to come very close to the First Child. Her red eyes watch him as he adjusts his grip so that the rain is not hitting her in the face anymore.)

Rei: ...Why did you do that?

Shinji (surprised): Huh? What?

Rei (her eyes lowering to look at his now damp shirt): Why did you come closer?

Shinji (eyes wide): Well...um...because you were getting wet.

Rei: The water was not harming me.

Shinji: It is common courtesy to share something like an umbrella if there is only one.

(The boy scratches the back of his head.)

Shinji: You were...well, getting soaked-

Rei (softly): I was already wet.

Shinji (eyes up and away from Rei's): Yeah, well...um...

Rei (very softly): Thank you.

Shinji (face very hot): Yeah, sure. No problem.

(For a long time, there is not a word spoken. Shinji gazes up at the umbrella, wondering when the rain will let up. Rei gazes up at Shinji, her eyes watching the moisture dry on his cheeks. Then, slowly, her eyes lower to his hand, to the flowers.)

Rei: ...

Shinji (looking down): Oh, these? These are for...my mother. She passed away a long time ago.

Rei: ...Com...

Shinji: Huh?

Rei: ...Commander Ikari's...wife...

(Her eyes do not sway from the flowers.)

Shinji: ...He was supposed to come here...like before...

Rei: ...he has...

Shinji: What?

Rei (a drop of rain curves down her cheek): ...he has forgotten...pain...

(That was when the sirens went off...)

-----------------------------------

Ritsuko: Okay, Maya, try the F-2 program. Let's see if it takes.

Maya (her fingers dancing over the keys of her own laptop): Yes, ma'am.

(Misato leans forward, watching Ritsuko and Maya work as one. She can hear the sound of Casper digesting the program and reacting.)

Maya: Casper is responding within the predicted range.

Ritsuko: Hmmm...the level two self-diagnostic subsystems seem to be a little slow right now.

(The doctor's fingers blur across her keyboard and Misato almost finds herself being dazed by the monotone sound. She also knew that she was stalling. She still had a mountain of papers waiting for her in her office from the last Angel attack. She was seriously considering hiring some secretaries to handle the paperwork.)

Ritsuko (almost to herself): This is strange. I don't know what could have caused a lapse like this. Only thing that comes close to this-

(Suddenly, klaxons blare and the holographic screens flicker to life. The skeleton crew on-duty blink in surprise as they try to understand what is going on.)

Misato (jumping to her feet): An attack?!

(Suddenly, just as the alarms came, they went. Not only did the holographic screens die, but the lights in the command center as well. The sound of machines running down seems very loud in the chamber.)

Misato: What happened?! Status report!

Tech A (shouting): Major! We've got nothing! Radar, Infrared, and power are all dead! We are dead in the water!

Misato (shocked): What?! How can this be?!

(Misato looks over at Ritsuko who is blinking like she has just awoken from a dream.)

Ritsuko: This doesn't make any sense. The back-up generators should be coming online!

Misato (angry): What did you do?

Ritsuko (shaking her head in slow disbelief): This isn't my fault! The program I just ran is a Diagnostic program, not an offensive one! This shouldn't be happening!

Misato (her face grim): Well, you had better figure out what is going on, Dr. Akagi, because it would appear that we are under attack!

--------------------------------------

Touji: That's strange. There were alarms, then nothing.

Hikari (looking out the window of her kitchen): Maybe it was a drill or a malfunctioning computer.

(Hikari has finally gotten Touji to come to her household for an actual meal. Nothing fancy, since Asuka always said that it was never smart to put too much into impressing a man.)

Hikari: ...

Touji (looking at the table): ...

(The girl is desperately trying to fill the silence. It is one thing to order Touji around in school. That was her job. It was something totally different when she actually has him in her own home.)

Touji: ...yeah.

(Hikari bites her lip and begins to drain the rice in the sink. She watches the cloudy liquid funnel down the drain and begins filling the bowl again.)

Touji (uncomfortably loud): I would like-

(The boy stops when he sees Hikari jump at the volume of his voice. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself.)

Touji (gentler): I...would like to thank you for having me over. You really...

(He pauses, trying to remember what his little sister had told him to say.)

Touji: ...you really shouldn't go through so much trouble.

Hikari (sighing very softly): It is no trouble...Touji. I always make too much...anyways.

(Hikari is glad that her back is to Suzuhara or he was sure to see that she is blushing.)

Touji (rubbing the back of his neck): Yeah, um...well, I am glad...uh...that you invited me. Your cooking reminds me-

Hikari (her hands going still): "Reminds" you...?

Touji: Of how mother used to cook.

(Hikari blinks and feels her face burn. The room fills with silence that is only broken by the sound of gently running water. Then...)

Hikari (nervous): Suz-T-Touji?

Touji: Hmmm?

Hikari: Y-You aren't going to be piloting again, are you?

Touji (blinking): Piloting...

Hikari (very quiet): EVA. You aren't ever going to pilot an Evangelion again, are you?

Touji (leaning back in his chair): I don't think so.

(Even as he says it, he feels the dark tide rise within him. EVA Unit 03. He had seen the video footage...once. Once was all that he had been able to take before he had gotten sick all over the Debriefing room floor. Asuka had glared at him and looked away in disgust. Rei had been quiet, but she was always quiet...gazing at the image of EVA unit 03 with indifferent eyes. Shinji...well, Shinji had been absent.)

Touji (gazing at Hikari's stiff shoulder, thinking): I wonder how much she knows? Does she know what happened to me?

(Touji suddenly wants to protect the class rep. It sounded silly, even as he thought it, but Hikari suddenly looked so fragile.)

Touji (looking at his folded hands on the table): I don't think that it is even an issue anymore. Don't worry about it.

(Touji leans back in his chair and folds his arms behind his head.)

Hikari: ...I...worried...you know.

Touji: Huh?

Hikari (wiping her face with the back of her hand): I-I was worried. Y-You laid there, not responding to anything and-and all I could was sit there!

Touji (his eyes wide): C-Class rep-Hikari...are you crying?

Hikari (shuttering): Of course not! W-Why should I be crying?! ...Y-You...just don't know-?!

(Hikari doesn't know how he managed it without making a sound, but Touji is suddenly behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.)

Touji (softly, awkwardly): I-I'm sorry, Hikari...

Hikari (sniffing): You should be...you-you jerk! You scared me to death! Y-You made me cry!

(Touji hushs her gently.)

Touji (his eyes closed): ...Don't worry, Class rep. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise.

(As fate would have it, it is then that the first earthquake hit...)

------------------------------------------------

(By now, the primary crew of the contorl center has arrived and relieves the wild-eyed personnel of the skeleton one.)

Shigeru: Minimum power restored, Major! We have life-support and minor power systems online!

Maya: I have informed Commander Ikari of our situation. He is on his way.

Misato (nodding): Good work. Do we know what caused the power-outage? Was it internal or external?

Hyuga (looking over his shoulder at the major and Dr. Akagi): I am getting conflicting information, sir. Some reports are saying that it came from a EM pulse outside Tokyo-3's borders. Others say that the MAGI engaged an emergency D-17!

Misato: ...A D-17?

Ritsuko: This is getting stranger and stranger. Why would the MAGI perform an emergency lock-out? There was not even a warning!

Misato (looking over her shoulder): Maybe...you don't know your mother as well as you would like.

Ritsuko: ...

Misato (turning back to the matter at hand): In any case, we know that we are under attack. What is the condition of the EVAs?

Maya: No damage. We will have manual access to the EVA power-source in two minutes!

Gendo (appearing in his tower behind them all): Very good. Prepare them for launch the moment we are back online.

(Several of the less seasoned technicians jump at the sudden appearance of Commander Ikari and Fuyutsuki, but Ritsuko, Misato, Maya, Shigeru, and Hyuga act as though it was the most natural thing in the world.)

Misato: Notify the pilots of our situation and get them here! We don't want to be caught with our pants down like last time!

(Just then, the earthquake hits, throwing Misato and Ritsuko to the floor while the rest of them hang on to their consoles for dear life.)

Misato (coming to her knees): What the hell was that?

Maya: Origin unknown, but the source is about fifty kilometers outside Toyko-3's limits, Major!

Fuyutsuki (quietly): Was this a part of your scenario, Ikari?

Gendo (folding his hands before his face): ...we will handle it.

(Asuka Langley Soryu stands before the entrance to NERV Central. Her fists are on her hips and she has a scowl on her face.)

Asuka: ...Stupid power goes out too easily around here!

Shinji (calling): Asuka!

(The Second Child looks over her shoulder and sees Shinji and Rei running toward her. The boy has one arm around the girl's shoulders to keep her under the umbrella he is holding. Asuka feels sick at the sight of the two of them so close together. Her hands tremble at her sides with suppressed emotion. She violently slides her ID card through the scanner again and suddenly there is an acceptance chime. The power has come back...somewhat.)

Shinji: Asuka, wait!

(The boy calls as the red-haired German girl turns toward the opening door.)

Asuka (coldly): What do you want, Third Child?

(Shinji comes to a halt behind Asuka, breathing heavily, hands on his knees. Asuka notices that Rei is breathing a little harder too, but her face remains its usual, emotionless mask. Asuka's eyes narrow and she coolly looks over at the Third Child again.)

Shinji (gulping air): Do you know...what is going...on?

(Asuka snorts and turns toward the entrance-way, stomping inside.)

Shinji (surprised): W-Wait! Asuka! What's happening?

Asuka (not looking over her shoulder this time): If you hadn't been playing around with that- You would have known, you dork!

Shinji: ...?

Rei: ...

(The floor suddenly seems to heave, throwing Asuka and Shinji to the deck. Rei, however, somehow manages to brace herself against the wall just as the shockwave hits.)

Asuka (furious as she comes to her feet again): What the hell keeps doing that?!

Rei (eyes on the floor): ...? It...comes...

Asuka (glaring over at the First Child): What are you mumbling about?!

(With a toss of her head, the Second Child makes her stand.)

Asuka: Humph! In any case, we have to check in with headquarters. There is obviously something going on! Come on, Shinji!

(Asuka begins running and Shinji moves to follow. He pauses, however, when Rei remains standing against the wall, staring at the floor at her feet.)

Shinji (reaching for her): Ayanami?

Asuka: What the hell are you doing, baka Shinji? If Wonder Girl wants to waste her time watching her shoes dry, then let her! We have better things to do!

Shinji (with an undecided look on his face, he gazes over at the redheaded pilot.): I-I don't know, Asuka-

Asuka (exploding): AAARRGH!!! COME ON, IDIOT!!!

(With that, Asuka snags Shinji by her arm and drags him after her. Shinji stumbles after the girl, looking back at Rei until he is pulled around the corner...)

-----------------------------------------

Maya: Major, I have just gotten news on the source of those earthquakes! It would appear that with every quake, the epicenter is moving!

Misato: Just what does that mean, Maya?

Ritsuko (arms crossed): It means, major, that the thing that is the cause of the earthquakes is not staying stationary, like they normally do. Let's just say...that this is not a natural occurrence.

Misato (rubbing the bridge of her nose): So this is likely-

Ritsuko (nodding): An Angel.

Misato: Humph, not very discreet. Almost like walking up to the front door and knocking.

Maya: That's probably because there is no way to reach it at this point. Apparently the source of the earthquakes is several kilometers under the surface. Even N-2 mines would do nothing more than make big potholes in the earth without doing a thing to the target!

Misato (rubbing her lower lip in thought): I see. Well, I guess in that there is a blessing and a curse.

(At the blank look from the technicians around her, Major Katsuragi grins a little grimly.)

Misato: ...no huge holes to fill with water.

(Above the crew of the Command Center, Gendo and Fuyutsuki are focusing on a problem of a different nature.)

Fuyutsuki (very quietly): We have tracked down the intruder.

Gendo (hands folded before his face): Has he been taken care of?

Fuyutsuki (hesitant): ...Actually, I am not sure if gender can be assigned to this particular...spy.

Gendo: ...

Fuyutsuki: ...

Gendo: How long ago?

Fuyutsuki: I'm not sure. It's possible that it is the remains of the...Eleventh.

Gendo: ...I see. Is everything under control?

Fuyutsuki: ...it will be tight.

Gendo: Pay special attention to this. Should it be known that we are under attack, then the scavengers will surely move in to feed.

Fuyutsuki (turning away): Understood.

(The Vice-Commander leaves the platform and the silent Commander Ikari behind.)

Gendo (his glasses reflecting the red emergency lights): ...a mere coincidence...

-----------------------------------------

Shinji (panting): Asuka! Slow down! I ran all the way here from the other side of town!

Asuka (fuming): That's not my fault, Third Child! Don't expect sympathy from me, when you were-when you were-Arrrgh!

(The redheaded pilot turns sharply down a hall she almost missed. Shinji slams into the wall and almost falls.)

Shinji: Owww!

Asuka (not looking at Shinji): Clumsy, perverted, disloyal Dummkopf!!!

(Shinji gazes, confused, at the girl dragging him down that hallway. Her voice sounded almost...stricken.)

Shinji: What did I do, Asuka-

Asuka: Shut up! You're breaking my concentration!

(Shinji falls silent, feeling that for some reason, it was all that Asuka could do to keep herself together.)

--------------------------------------------

Shigeru: Major, the Second and Third Children have arrived at the EVA containment area! They are suiting up as we speak!

Misato: Very good, prepare the EVAs for immediate dispatch.

Maya: Yes, ma'am. Manual power is online and final preparations are underway for emergency launch.

Misato: Very well-wait! Where's the First Child?! Shigeru, you said that Asuka and Shinji have arrived. Where is Rei?

Shigeru: We have a record of her entering Headquarters, but she has not reported in!

Misato (turning away from Shigeru): I'm...sure she will be along. Have Unit 00 put on standby.

Shigeru: Roger.

Gendo: ...What is the status of the target?

Maya: We still do not have the MAGI to back us up! We only know that there is an unknown object moving toward us.

Gendo: Then stand down from Alert 1 status.

Shigeru, Hyuga, and Maya: Sir?

Gendo: Do it!

Maya: Y-Yes, sir.

(Almost instantly the red, flashing icons of Alert 1 status change to the orange warning ones of Alert 2. Misato studies the Commander for a moment before turning away and looking to Maya.)

Misato: Have we been able to access the MAGI yet?

Maya: Negative, ma'am. All three of the MAGI have gone into Minimum Activation Mode and they still have the D-17 protocol in effect!

Misato: ...?!

suko: It is almost like they are trying to protect themselves against something...

Misato: We need the MAGI back! Ritsuko...

Ritusko (stepping toward Casper): I'm already on it!

-------------------------------------------

(Shinji seals his plug suit and pressed the vacuum button. There is a sudden hiss of air and the suit hugs itself to his body. While there is a wall separating him and the Second Child, the wall doesn't connect with the ceiling and he can here the frustrated growls from the other pilot.)

Shinji (calling softly): ...Asuka?

Asuka (shouting): What?!

Shinji (ducking his head a little): I-uh-I...

(Silence reigns in the locker chamber as the Seocnd Child waits and the Third Child tries to think of something to say...or rather, how to say it.)

Shinji (sighing a bracing breath first): I...was wondering...why you were so mad at me?

(There is a shocked silence on the other side of the wall. Then,)

Asuka: You really are stupid sometimes!

(Shinji can her the girl activate her vacuum switch with a vengeance.)

Shinji: Asuka-?

Asuka What?!

Shinji (very softly, as he heads for the locker room exit): ...please...don't die.

(And he is gone. The shunned silence is broken by another earthquake which rumbles through HQ like the growl of a vicious beast. When the earthquake passes...)

Asuka (whispering): ...Shinji?

(No answer.)

Asuka (whispering): You...either...dummkopf...

--------------------------------------------

(Miles away from NERV HQ, young Touji Suzuhara stands up at the table. The hanging lamp overhead is still swinging.)

Touji (thinking): That's six and each one seems to be getting stronger.

(The boy looks over at Hikari who is also worried, but is trying to hide it. She is now chopping chicken for the meal she is preparing.)

Touji (thinking): They haven't issued any sort of warning or ordered the civilians to the shelters...but, this feels bad.

(Touji turns towards Hikari.)

Touji: Uh...Class-I mean, Hikari?

Hikari (distracted): Hmmm?

(Touji stares at Hikari for a long time, even when the girl begins to blush. He wonders if she is thinking about when he held her...just before the first earthquake. It had been very awkward when the world had stopped shaking and he had found that he was holding a very feminine body against his.)

Touji (thinking): Who would have known that the Class Rep had such a body on her?

(Touji shakes his head and tries to remind himself that he is trying to be noble. He balls his hands into fists with the effort.)

Touji: I think we had better head over to the shelter.

(That got Hikari's full attention.)

Hikari: Huh? What?

Touji (gesturing around them): I-I know that they haven't-uh-issued a warning...but I have a bad feeling about this!

Hikari: Touji...I don't think that NERV would let the civilians stay on the surface if there was any real danger to them!

Touji: ...Hikari, NERV isn't always right.

Hikari: ...?

Touji (turning his head away): Please...don't ask me why. Just come with me.

Hikari: ...

Touji: ...

Hikari (softly): ...okay.

Touji (blinking): Huh?

Hikari (putting the chicken aside): I said okay. Let me write a letter to my family, first. I don't want them to worry.

(Touji watchs as Hikari wipes her hands and gets out a piece of paper to write out her letter. Touji stares at her as she leans down to write the letter.)

Touji (thinking): ...okay.

--------------------------------------

Maya (shouting): Major!

(Misato turns away from Casper, which has been elevated and opened once again by the expert hands of Dr. Akagi.)

Misato: What?

Maya: I'm detecting structual damage occurring on the lowest levels of NERV HQ! It's very close to Terminal Dogma!

Misato (sweat breaking out on her forehead): Oh my God.

Ritsuko: We have to get the EVAs down there immediately, Major!

Misato (looking over her shoulder at the doctor): I am well aware of that, Dr. Akagi! Maya, what are the condition of the EVAs and their pilots?

Maya: Units 01 and 02 are ready to go! Unit 00 is still on standby...with no pilot.

Misato (nodding): Understood, patch me through.

------------------------------------------

(Shinji Ikari watches the chains and the catwalks around the containment cage sway and whine as the most recent of the earthquakes tear through HQ. Suddenly, Misat's face appears on the holographic screen at eye-level.)

Shinji (startled): M-Misato-

Misato: Shinji, Asuka! We've got a real problem here!

(Asuka's face appears next to Misato's.)

Asuka: So what's going on? Do we-

Misato: You must move out, I will brief you on the way! You two are going to leave the containment area via Corridor B.

Asuka: W-What-

Misato (her eyes showing real fear): This is no time to argue, Asuka! We are very close to having a-a-

Asuka: ...!

----------------------------------------------

Misato: EVAs, move out!

Shinji and Asuka: Roger!

(A small screen flickers to life, showing a view of the two EVAs. Unit 02 steps forward and turns toward the large Corridor beside the launch tracks.)

Shinji: ...! W-What-

Hyuga: Major! All power going to Unit 01 has been cut off!

Misato: What?!

Ritsuko: This is strange. The MAGI have gone back online-

Misato (snapping): Doctor, it would seem that the MAGI are fighting us on this one!

Ritsuko: ...!

Misato (turning back to the view screen): Hang tight, Shinji. Asuka, you move out!

Asuka: Y-Yes, ma'am.

(With a look back at the silent, slumped Unit 01, Asuka's Unit 02 begins running down Corridor B. Shinji, upon hearing the EVA's thundering footsteps fade away, slams his fist into the side of his pilot seat.)

Shinji (bitterly): Damn it!

----------------------------------------------

Shigeru: Major?

Misato: What is it, Shigeru.

Shigeru: Well, I have found the First Child.

(An image appears on the view screen of the pale, blue-haired pilot walking down a corridor.)

Misato: ...where is that?

(Gendo Ikari suddenly jerks to his feet and leaves the Command Center.)

Shigeru: I-It's Terminal Dogma...

------------------------------------------------

(Asuka's red EVA charges down the final corridor before it reaches the access hatch.)

Asuka: Misato, I'm at the hatch...what am I supposed to do now, blast my way down?

Misato: Er...no, Asuka. Just a moment!

(There is a moment of silence except for the continuous rumbling that is coming from deep below. The EVA waits, power cord trailing away behind it, an assault rifle in its hand. Suddenly, the floor shutters more than it has been and the massive access hatch begins to slide open.)

Asuka: ...

(The access hatch is very dark and it looks like a giant mouth to the girl.)

Asuka (thinking): Let's go, Asuka.

----------------------------------------------

Misato: Can you tell me what is going on, Ritsuko? At least give me a timetable!

(Ritsuko is now sitting in a rolling chair next to Casper like she had been before the day had really started. Her fingers are moving swiftly and surely across her keyboard.)

Ritsuko (her voice flat): I wish I could tell you, Major, but I don't even know why we are being locked out to begin with. The MAGI are computers modeled off the human mind.

(Her eyes flash behind her reading glasses at the impatient woman hovering over her.)

Ritsuko: Can you explain the human mind to me, Misato?

(Misato opens her mouth, then turns away.)

Misato (quietly): I just hope that you remember that at this moment, Asuka is going down to face the unknown without so much as a decent briefing. If she is...killed because of...your mother, then...

(Ritsuko eyes Major Katsuragi, though her fingers continue to move.)

Ritsuko: ...I understand.

----------------------------------------------

(Shinji is completely silent in his entry plug, listening to the conversations going on around him. While his EVA was dead, his plug suit's battery was still operating.)

Shinji (thinking): Why are so many things going wrong? Why is everything against us?

(He leans back against the headrest of the cockpit. While there seem to be nothing but shouts and orders coming from the Command Center, Asuka is utterly quiet. If it weren't for the fact that he could hear the power cable being pulled out, he would be sure that Unit 02 was...gone.)

Shinji: ...Asuka?

(Silence)

Shinji: A-Asuka?

Asuka: What do you want, Third Child? I am kind of busy right now.

(Shinji looked at the dark walls of the entry plug, lit only by the emergency power on his plug suit.)

Shinji (closing his eyes): I-I'm sorry for bothering you.

Asuka (sighing with frustration): Then, why are you?

Shinji: ...I feel alone.

Asuka: ...

Shinji (bowing his head slightly): ...about this morning.

Asuka (sighing impatiently): Yeah?

Shinji: The flowers...

Asuka (her voice freezing): Yeah?

Shinji: ...they were for my mother.

Asuka: ...?

Shinji (wrapping his arms around his knees): That's what I wanted to ask you this morning...if you would come with me.

Asuka: ...!

Shinji (bringing a hand to his face): S-Somehow I knew that my father won't be there this time. I-I didn't want to be...alone.

Asuka (softly): ...Shinji...

Shinji: Y-You are so...strong, Asuka. You always seem like you know...what to do...even when you don't have a clue.

Asuka: Jerk.

(But her voice lacked the usual conviction it normally had, softening the word.)

Shinji (his eyes staring at the console of his entry plug): I-I know that I am a coward. Maybe that is why I-I admire you so much. You stand firm, no matter what! Nothing can hurt you.

Asuka: ...

Shinji (very softly): ...I just wish that you...that you didn't always push me away...

Asuka: ...!

(Silence)

Asuka: Shinji-

-----------------------------------------------

Ritsuko: What the-

Misato (looking over at her): What is it?

Ritsuko (looking up at Misato, turning the laptop toward her): See for yourself...

Misato: ...! Deliberation?! The MAGI are...fighting with each other?!

Ritsuko (turning the laptop back toward herself): ...In a way, yes.

Misato: What are they debating?!

Ritsuko (looking up from her screen): Whether to help us or to let us die...

------------------------------------------------

Asuka: Shinji, I-

(Suddenly, Asuka notices that the floor of the bottom level is rushing up to meet her EVA. Unit 02 hits the reinforced metal floor with enough force to fold the surface like paper around her mecha's feet.)

Asuka (growling): Damn...Shinji!

Shinji: Huh? What?!

Asuka: You almost made me drop my assault rifle, dummkopf!

Shinji (indignant): W-What? How could I do that-

Asuka (looking around): Nevermind. I don't have time to explain it to you! Let a real EVA pilot work!

Shinji (angry): W-Why you--A real EVA pilot?! You're nothing but a rookie compared to me-

Misato (obviously stressed): Shinji! Asuka! Cut it out! We have enough to worry about without the two of you going at each other's throats! Just cool it!

Shinji: Y-Yes, ma'am.

Asuka: Yeah, yeah, Misato. I'm at the bottom of the shaft. There isn't much lighting here.

(Unit 02 scanned about it, gazing at the tall, dark, metal walls and corridors that seemed to stretch forever on either side of the EVA.)

Misato: Switch to Night-Vision, Asuka. Be very careful!

Asuka: Yeah, you know me. Caution always comes first.

Shinji (scoffing): Ha.

-----------------------------------------------

Gendo: ...

(He is a lone figure in a corridor leading to Heaven's Gate. The earthquakes have stopped, which means that the Angel is near.)

Gendo: ...Rei?

(He comes to the reinforced, double doors at the end of the corridor. Heaven's Gate. The name almost brings a smirk to his lips, but worry overrides that.)

Gendo: Rei?

(His cold voice echoes back to him in the darkness, mocking him. Mocking what he has become. He turns away from the ghosts of the darkness and comes to the double doors. It is dangerous with the Angel so near, but, sometimes it is the things that don't go bump in the night that you have to be afraid of.)

(The doors slowly open before him, whining on over-taxed servomotors. The dim light beyond reveals what the double-spy Kaji had shown Katsuragi so many months ago. Lillith, still pinned to the red-wood cross, gazes down at him with dispassionate eyes. Just before the restrained creature, is a single pale form.)

Gendo: Rei...

(The girl is knee-deep in the LCL pool that separates Lillith from the door. She slowly turns toward the Commander, her red eyes emotionless...)

Gendo: Rei, why are you here? You should be above, piloting Unit 00.

Rei: ...

Gendo: ...

Rei (softly): She calls me like you call me...like Pilot Ikari calls me.

Gendo (his face looking years older): Now is not the time for that.

Rei: You did not visit...her.

Gendo: ...?

(Rei begins to walk towards Gendo, her eyes silent pools of red.)

Rei: ...Shinji cried.

Gendo: The boy inherits that from his mother. She was far too emotional.

Rei: ...

Gendo: ...

Rei: ...it is here.

Gendo: What?!

(Ikari turns away from Rei and finds himself looking into a glowing red orb floating in the darkness at the end of the corridor.)

Gendo: Rei! We have to get out of here!

Rei: ...as you wish.

(The creature begins moving toward the two of them, its sharp claws scraping the metal floor. Gendo reaches down and helps Rei out of the LCL. Her face is indifferent as they move outside the chamber and Gendo hits the close button. The doors slowly begin to close with the Angel growling and Lillith looking on.)

----------------------------------------------

Ritsuko: Okay, Maya, we have run out of options!

Maya: Agreed, ma'am.

Ritsuko: We are going to have to engage the LRP.

Maya (nodding): Yes, ma'am, brining it online now.

Misato: What exactly is a LRP, Ritsuko?

(Ritsuko sighs and takes her glasses off.)

Ritsuko: For simplicity's sake, it is like turning off a stubborn computer and turning it back on. It basically resets the MAGI system and reboots it from memory.

Misato (grabbing Ritsuko by the labels of her lab-coat): Why didn't you do this sooner?!

Ritsuko (slapping Misato's hands away): You still don't understand, do you?! The MAGI aren't your common PC, Misato! For all intents and purposes, we are going to be giving the MAGI a stroke! We are just hoping that the system will reinitialize! You see, LRP stands for Last Resort Program. It was designed by my mother in case there was absolutely no way to regain control of the MAGI.

(Ritsuko turns away from the Major and gazes up at the three units holding the MAGI.)

Ritsuko (quietly): We might very well be killing the MAGI with this little trick.

Misato: ...

-----------------------------------------------

(Heaven's Gate groans behind them, shaking the floor under their feet. Gendo looks at the oncoming Angel with a look of grim determination. Rei looks at the Angel with idle interest.)

Gendo: Rei?

Rei: ...Yes, Commander Ikari?

Gendo (softly): Are you afraid?

Rei: ...

Rei: ...I...

(Gendo looks at her.)

Rei (very softly): I do not wish...to die...

Gendo: Then, you won't.

(Gendo reaches out and grasps Rei gently by the shoulders. The girl looks up at him with her unusual crimson eyes. Suddenly, Gendo leans down and kisses the girl on the forehead. The girl gasps and her eyes blink in surprise.)

Gendo: Goodbye.

Rei: Gen-

(Commander Ikari suddenly grips Rei's shoulders tighter and pushes her through the closing doors of Lillith's Chamber. The girl falls into the LCL pool beyond. She rolls to her feet with incredible speed, but she is too late.)

Rei (screaming): Commander Ikari-

(Rei is shocked to see a gentle smile, a smile that tugs at the distant reaches of her mind, on the Commander's face, just before the doors seal shut with a boom.)

-----------------------------------------------

(Unit 02 looks around the corner of the corridor in front of it. Asuka can hear movement outside her EVA, but as if yet, she hasn't seen anything that resembled an Angel.)

Asuka (thinking): This is a strange place. Never knew something like this existed under my feet. Humph, I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

(Suddenly, she hears something on her audio-pick-ups. Asuka leans forward in her pilot seat.)

Misato: What is that, Asuka?

(Unit 02 begins running around the corner, its power cable rubbing against the corner.)

Asuka (calling back): I can't be positive, Misato, but I could have sworn I just heard the sound of someone...screaming!

Misato (disbelief on her hovering face): "Screaming?!"

Asuka: Yeah-arghh!

(Suddenly, it seemed like the entire corridor was filled by a gray and black mass. Its massive head seems to be made of a shell or armor that curved around almost like the bow of a submarine. In what could be called the creature's neck was all sinew and rough flesh. A glowing orb, which Asuka knew to be an S-2 organ, pulsed in the center of the Angel's throat. The closest thing that Asuka could relate the Angel's body to was a turtle's shell. It was stream-lined, layered, and ridged. The Angel's body seems to heave and stir like the gills of a fish. From there, the Angel spread out into its forward limbs, which were tipped with long, razor-sharp claws that raked the metal floor with every lunge forward.)

Asuka: ...My God!

Misato: Asuka?!

Asuka: I've made contact!

(The girl's eyes move slowly over the Angel and her eyes spot a limp, bloody form near the Angel's left claw.)

Asuka (shocked): Commander Ikari?!

-----------------------------------------------

Misato: What?! What the hell is he doing there?!

(Ritsuko suddenly looks up from her laptop and her fingers stop. On the small, secondary screen, the image from Unit 02's cameras reveal the Commander, his back against the wall, his life's blood draining on the floor.)

Maya (pleading softly): Doctor? Ma'am? Ma'am, we have to finish this!

(Ritsuko tears her eyes away from the screen.)

Ritsuko (shaken): Y-Yes, of course.

(Ritsuko's fingers move across the keyboard once more. They move with such speed it seems that they had been created just for the task. She hits the Send key and the LRP is engaged.)

Ritsuko (softly): We'll know if we are going to live to see tomorrow in about three minutes.

(Her eyes wander back to the secondary screen...)

------------------------------------------------

(Meanwhile, within the entry plug of Unit 01, Shinji is hugging his knees to his chest very tightly.)

Shinji (whispering): Father...

------------------------------------------------

(The shelter is not as packed as it would have been if there had been an official order for evacuation, but there were still many. Frightened-eyed children with world-wise parents sit on blankets and talk quietly among themselves. Touji and Hikari are surprised that many of their classmates have decided to come to the shelter on their own.)

Kenseke (for Touji's ears only): I saw you come in with the class rep. (Sly grin) Anything I should know about?

Touji (wrinkling his nose): What the hell are you talking about?!

Kenseke (a big grin on his face): Heard you were over at Horaki's...

Touji (feeling caged): And if I was?

Kenseke (leaning in close): So what size?

Touji (leaning away): W-What do you mean?

Kenseke: What are you, dense? What cup-size does she wear?

Touji (his cheeks burning): That's none of your business, Aida!

(When he saw a concerned look from Hikari, Touji lowered his voice.)

Touji (whispering): Why don't you keep your mind out of the gutter for once?!

Kenseke (eyes wide): Look who's talking! Aren't you the one always teasing Shinji?

(Kenseke clasped his hands together, batting his eyes innocently at Suzuhara.)

Kenseke: "Oh, come on, Shinji! I know you've banged Soryu! Tell me, does she bite in bed? No? What about Ayanami? I know you are into that mystical, quiet stuff! How-" ouch!

(Kenseke rubs his ribs where Touji has secretly jabbed him while waving and laughing nervously at the approaching, wide-eyed Hikari.)

Hikari (looking between the two of them): What are you two talking about?

Touji (laughing a little wildly): O-Oh, nothing important, Hikari! Just GUY stuff.

Hikari (her gaze turning suspicious): "Guy stuff?" Like the stuff you talk with Shinji about-

Touji: N-No! Nothing like that, right- (Touji wrapped a tight arm around Kenseke's slender neck) buddy?

Kenseke (coughing): Yeah...sure...nothing like that...

Hikari: Hmmm.

------------------------------------------------

(Unit 02 levels the assault rifle on the Angel. The creature seems to watch her, but she couldn't see anything that resembled eyes. The girl grits her teeth and her hands tighten on the control handles.)

Misato: Careful, Asuka. We don't know anything about this Angel.

Asuka (frustrated): I know that!

(Her finger tightens slightly on the trigger.)

Misato: Try to simply contain the Angel for now, okay? We are working on getting power to Unit 01. Then, we can-

Asuka: What are you saying?! That I can't take this thing without Shinji's help?!

Misato (flinching): Of course not. It would just be safer.

Asuka: I'll have you know that I'm ten times a better pilot than Shinji!

Misato (holding up a hand): Asuka, please, I didn't say that you couldn't handle it-

Asuka: I'll show you some real soldiering!

Misato (horrified): Asuka, no!

(The girl doesn't listen as she trains her crosshairs on the Angel's S-2 organ. The Angel seems to be waiting now.)

Asuka (screaming): EAT THIS!!!

------------------------------------------------

(The entire Command Center shutters and the Secondary screen went to static.)

Misato: ASUKA!!! Ritsuko, is-

Ritsuko (gazing at her laptop): Thirty seconds!

Misato (frantic): Shinji!

Shinji (shaken): Misato, is-

Misato: The moment you have power-MOVE!!!

Shinji: Got it!

Misato: Ritsuko?!

Ritsuko: 24, 23, 22, 21, 20...

------------------------------------------------

(Asuka breathes heavily as she shakes her head.)

Asuka (dazed): Ohhh, my head-

(Distantly, she can hear Misato screaming her name. Asuka opens her eyes and sees that the submarine shell that covered the top of the Angel's head had concealed more lines of sinew...and...lots of teeth...)

Asuka (struggling to sort out her thoughts): Why do I...always get the ones with...teeth?

(The Angel suddenly lunges forward and Asuka screams. She turns and sees that the Angel had buried one of its massive claws in the EVA's joint between the arm and body. It began separating the EVA's armor and flesh.)

Asuka: ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!

(The EVA moves, grabbing the Angel's wrist and tried to pull the creature's claw out. The Angel's mouth suddenly opens wide and lets out a blood-chilling roar...not unlike Unit 01...when it had gone berserk. Then, Asuka feels the teeth bury in the EVA's flesh, taking the head and shoulders of the EVA into its mouth. The teeth felt like hundreds of daggers on her own body. Again, she screams...)

------------------------------------------------

Shinji (frantic): Come on! Come on!

(Asuka's last scream is still echoing in the boy's ears as he moves the control handles of the entry plug without any reaction from the EVA. There is no "bond," as Ayanami called it. He can't "feel" the EVA around him. It is almost like he is in a...tomb.)

Shinji (sobbing softly, head bowed): Please...let me...go to...her...

------------------------------------------------

(It feels like her heart is being ripped out. Misato can hear Asuka whimpering and crying, but she can't see anything. The EVA's video units are out, but as cruel fate would have it, the audio is working just fine.)

Asuka (weakly): Urghhh!

Ritsuko: 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!

(The lights in the Command Center suddenly goes down and for a moment, Misato is sure that she can actually hear the Angel through all the plates oarmor. The only sound in the entire, cavernous chamber is the sound of the MAGI, humming and digesting the LRP. And then-)

------------------------------------------------

(His EVA is ALIVE. He has POWER. Unit 01 explodes away from the launch platform, its footsteps earth-shaking and frantic. Unit 01 stretches out, its legs carrying it forward at speeds not thought possible, even for an Evangelion. Each step shatters the metal floor as Unit 01 sprints toward the access hatch. Shinji isn't even aware of the tears streaming down his face as he pushes his EVA forward with the fire in his soul.)

Misato (shouting): Shinji! You need a weapon-

Shinji (his voice shaking): Don't...need...one...

(This time, the roar of the inhuman is easily heard by the humans in the Command Center.)

Maya: Shinji's synch ratio just shot up to two hundred percent!

Misato (slamming her palm on the command console): Shinji! What is his condition?

Maya (in disbelief): H-He's fine. Heart rate is a little high, but other than that-

Ritsuko (to herself): That brilliant bastard. That brilliant, heartless bastard...

------------------------------------------------

(The access hatch rushes into his view and Shinji simply launches his EVA for it. Where Unit 02 had hopped from ledge to ledge, Unit 01 dove into the shaft. The EVA's eyes glow like infernos in the darkness of the access tunnel. The layers of armor whistle by the EVA as it rockets toward the ground floor of NERV Central.)

Shinji (shuttering): Asuka...Asuka...

(The boy reaches up without really thinking about it. The Progressive Knife comes eagerly to the EVA's hand, glowing as it begins to vibrate.)

Misato: Shinji...

Shinji: It should have been...me, Misato.

Misato: ...?

Shinji (his voice very quiet): Asuka...was brave enough...for life...

Misato: Shinji, s-she died doing what she wanted...piloting EVA-

Shinji (crying): But she's not the one that should have died!!

(The EVA turns in the air and seconds later, it lands in the footprints left behind by Unit 02. The floor actually warps and twists as the shockwave of the impact spreads away from the EVA's feet. The EVA's eyes and Knife are the only source of light now. The EVA's growls echo off the metal walls of Terminal Dogma.)

Shinji: ...

(Stretching away from the EVA, lays the power cable of Unit 02, now lack and still. Unit 01 begins to stalk forward, moving with an animal's grace, which is both beautiful and terrifying. The EVA follows the cable around the corner and finds...)

(Silence)

(...the Angel poised over Unit 02's shattered frame, its mouth dips with the EVA's blood. Shinji knew then that he did go a little mad. Unit 02's chest armor was ripped open and its left arm had been torn away. The EVA...wanted to attack...Shinji wanted to see...to see what had happened...when he hadn't been able to get there in time...)

------------------------------------------------

Misato: My God...

(The rest of the Command Center is utterly silent.)

Misato: A-Asuka...I'm so sorry...

------------------------------------------------

(Unit 01 throws its head back and its roar shakes the walls and floor around it. It launches itself toward the Angel, coming in low. The impact throws the Angel against the wall, crumbling the metal-plated surface. The EVA slashes at the Angel wildly, throwing its blood across the floor, walls, Unit 02...Commander Ikari...)

Shinji (screaming): Damn you! Damn you to Hell, you monster!!

(The Angel throws up a claw in defense, but the EVA caught the thick, hard wrist and buries its Progressive Knife into the bridge of flesh between the body and arm...like how the Angel had with Unit 02. The Knife screams and blood splashes across Unit 01's grinning face and chest. With a horrible, ripping sound, the EVA tears the Angel's arm from its body.)

(The Angel screams again and its massive claw comes up and begins slashing away armor and flesh. The EVA ignores this and turns its glowing eyes on the S-2 organ hovering before its face. It begins to stab the Progressive Knife against the smooth, glowing orb's surface. The Angel's claw suddenly lunges forward and comes out the EVA's back, pinning it against the wall. The Angel opens its mouth again in a feral grin so much like Unit 01's. Its head moves toward the Evangelion with the intention of biting the EVA's head off...)

Asuka (her voice hoarse from screaming): I...don't...think so...

------------------------------------------------

Hyuga: Ohmygod! Unit 02 has reactivated!!

Misato (jerking forward with emotion): Asuka!!

------------------------------------------------

(Unit 02's foot slams into the side of the Angel's curved skull. The Angel tumbles back toward Heaven's Gate. The red EVA holds a hand to the place where its left arm used to be.)

Asuka (her eyes dim): No one...picks on Shinji, but me...Got That?

(The Angel rears up so that it is towering over Unit 02.)

Asuka: Don't...patronize me...

(Unit 02 activites its own Progressive Knife, which it holds loosely in its right hand.)

Asuka: ...

(The Angel roars and lunges toward the red EVA like a snake moving in on a mouse. The problem is Asuka is no mouse. The EVA moves with the claws that urge it toward the creature's main body. But as it is lowering its head, Asuka screams her battle cry and the Progressive Knife is flying toward the S-2 organ.)

Asuka (shouting): RRRGHH!!

(Sparks that fly from the breach in the S-2 organ's surface bouce off the EVA's bloodied face. The Angel tightens its death grip on the EVA, but it only serves to push the Progressive Knife deeper into the Angel's most important part. Asuka grits her teeth, her EVA's feet being pushed into the abused floor as the Angel begins to lean in on the Evangelion.)

Asuka: ...!

(Then, the S-2 orb went dark and the Angel's grip eases. The EVA and the Angel collapse to the deck.)

------------------------------------------------

Asuka: ...zzzz...zz-uh?

(Young Soryu blinks at the sunlight burning in through the windows. The walls are white save the little picture of a field of flowers hanging next to the door. In front of the window, there is a small table overflowing with flowers of all different colors. A particular group catches her eyes.)

Asuka (thinking): White...flowers...

(The girl shakes her head in confusion.)

Asuka: Where...?

(The sound of soft breathing near her catches her attention. Turning her head slowly, since it feels like it is about to burst, she finds Shinji asleep in the chair next to her bed. He looks like he is having a bad dream.)

Asuka (speaking carefuly): Hey, Shinji?

(Snore)

Asuka (a little more firmly): Shinji...

(Snore)

Asuka (snapping): Hey! Baka Shinji!!!

(At this, the boy comes awake while the girl groans, holding her bandaged head.)

Shinji: A-Asuka-?

Asuka (eyes tightly shut): Dummkopf! GOD, that hurt, ohhh-

Shinji (coming to his feet): Asuka!

Asuka (surprised): What-huh-

(Asuka Langley Soryu would never forget the shock she felt that day in the hospital room. One moment she was dealing with the worst headache she had ever known in her life, the next, she was wrapping in Shinji's arms, his quiet tears burning at her temple.)

Shinji (his voice thick): I'm-I'm so sorry, I couldn't get to you f-faster!

Asuka (eyes wide): Shinji...

Shinji (eyes tightly shut): I-I could hear you screaming and crying...and I couldn't do-I couldn't do a single GODDAMNED thing!!!

Asuka (her eyes staring at the wall opposite of her): Shinji, I-you-I...

(Asuka sighs and closes her eyes, resting her cheek against his neck.)

Asuka (quietly): There was nothing you could have done.

Shinji: ...I was so worried...

Asuka: ...!

Asuka: S-Shinji, I-

(The door suddenly opens and Misato, flowers in hand, finds herself staring at Shinji and Asuka locked in a tight embrace.)

Misato: Oh!

Shinji: M-Misato-

Asuka (quietly): Shinji?

Shinji: Eh?

Asuka (shouting): GET OFF ME, YOU JERK!!!

(Shinji finds himself on the floor, staring up at Asuka.)

Asuka (to Misato): My God, you turn your back for one moment and boys take complete advantage of you! Every DAMN time!!

(Shinji stares up at the furious redhead for a long moment, his cheeks almost the color of her hair. Then, he drags himself slowly to his feet and flexes his bandaged hands at his sides.)

Shinji (softly): I-I'm sorry, Asuka. I didn't mean to-

(He fights with himself, then lifts his head, forcing the emotion deep inside. He would deal with it later, when he was away from the watching gaze of a certain EVA pilot.)

Shinji: Excuse me.

Misato (stepping aside, concerned): Yeah...sure...

(The room is silent except for the soft, slow footsteps of the young pilot.)

Asuka (sighing): Huh, well, that's Ikari for you.

(The girl carefully lays back down with her arms behind her head.)

Misato (closing the door behind herself): That was a little cold, even for you, Asuka.

(Asuka snorts and looks out the window. The sun is setting. She briefly wonders how long she has been out...how long Shinji had been watching over her.)

Asuka (firmly): He's always so emotional! He never acts like a man...

(Misato walks over to the table next to Asuka's bed, noting Shinji's flowers sitting at the front of the small garden. She gently touches the delicate, white flowers before setting her own small arrangement down next to it.)

Misato (gently): He was the first to get to you.

(Asuka looks away from Misato's back.)

Asuka: Well, that was a part of the mission. We were supposed to go in as a team, but, you know-

Misato: I didn't mean during the mission, I meant after...

Asuka (her breath catching): A-After?

Misato: Didn't you see his hands, Asuka? He manually ejected you plug and opened it up with no protection other than his plug suit's gloves!

(Asuka turns sharply towards Misato, regretting it a second later as the headache hit her with a vengeance.)

Asuka (hand to her head): H-He what?!

Misato (arranging the flowers): You heard me. He opened the entry plug without protection! He received second degree burns on both hands!

Asuka: What is he, stupid? He should have wait-

(The crack of a palm against a cheek seems to stun the world into absolute silence.)

Misato (tears in her eyes): H-He pulled you out of your cracked entry plug without any regard for his own life! He held you in his arms, trying to stop you from losing too much blood! Even when we finally got there, he refused to get treated himself until he saw that you were in good hands!

(Misato turns away and tries to compose herself. She had been on edge ever since she had seen the remains of the EVAs and the Angel yesterday. Misato carefully straightens up, aware that the girl behind her is deathly quiet.)

Misato (at the door, softly): Get better soon, Asuka.

(The door closes carefully behind the major, leaving the girl alone. After a few seconds, Asuka turns on her side so that her back is to the door.)

Asuka (choked voice): ...baka...Shinji...

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(Deep within NERV Central, in an isolated chamber under top security and secrecy, a man lays, his eyes gazing at nothing. At his side, a pale, blue-haired girl keeps a silent vigil. While it seems like he sees nothing, it is obvious that there is something. Within, Gendo Ikari, Supreme Commander of NERV, sees everything...and he feels...fear...)

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To Be Continued...

Author's Notes:

Okay, this is my first fan fic for Evangelion, but I have been thinking about a story like this since I saw the last volume of Evangelion, the TV series. There were a lot of "What if's" rattling around in my head and this is the final product.

Now, I'd like to make a small confession. I haven't seen the End of Evangelion, yet, so you will not be seeing any references to it in my fan fics unless otherwise noted. Basically, SBTA takes place some time after the last two tapes...I'm not exactly sure about the time line...

One last thing before I get off my soap box... I know that some fans of this great series are thoroughly convinced that Gendo Ikari is completely evil. Yes, he's got an uncanny ability at being cruel, but I think there's more to this character than that. I will attempt to go about going deeper into Gendo Ikari in the next chapter...so watch for that and see if I succeed in convincing you!

Please, if you have some helpful C&Cs, let me know! That's what I'm here for! You can email me at Horizon302@aol.com.

That's all for now. Watch for Chapter 2 of Step Beyond the Abyss, One Man's Story!