2023-09-29: Twelfth Angel Part 1 ~ Rei, beyond her heart

• Log: Twelfth Angel Part 1 ~ Rei, beyond her heart
• Cast: Asuka Shikinami Langley, Rei Ayanami, Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Junior High Students, Rikka Takarada, Liam 7-020, Shiho Hahnenfuss, Gendo Ikari (NPC'd by Mari Makinami Illustrious), Akane Shinjo
• Where: Outskirts of Tokyo-3
• OOC - IC Date: September 29, U.C. 0097
• Summary: "Everybody. Thank you. Sayona"

---

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

It was a perfect day for the testing of Evangelion Unit-03. The Matsushiro Secondary Experiment Facility nestled into the mountains of Nagano abuzz with activity. A haze of grey clouds had settled in despite weather reports to the contrary, but that's to be expected when one tests in the mountains. A temporary cage set up around Evangelion Unit-03 with dividers that didn't even crest its head. Within a nearby bunker, technical crew worked feverishly to begin Phase 2 of testing, hopes already high that they were on track to prevent the Near Miss that happened with Unit-04.

Hopes dashed, in an instant. As alarms suddenly sounded, and members of the technical staff began to stave off a disaster in real time, panic suddenly beginning to overtake them one by one.

"Plug Depth increasing! It's now over 100!"

Monitors showing strands of hexagonal DNA writhed and twisted attempting to line up in greens and reds and blues.

Monitored Test Subject: Eva-03 Assigned TEST Pilot
Verifying Neurologic Linkup: Synchronization Rate Severe Fluctuation

"Psychological Contamination is in the danger zone!"

More monitors set the entry plug aglow as it scanned it for the source of abnormalities, coming up short.

Monitored Model Structure: Interior of Eva-03 Entry Plug
Status: Interior Array Breaching Safety Level
Verify and Correct Plug Depth Status Immediately.

Within it's test cage, the colossus writhed against it's restraints, the Evangelions arms seeming to resist all efforts to calm it, it's neck twisting furiously as it began to thrash. The walls of the test cage buckling against it's furious onslaught.

Within the bunker, Colonel Misato Katsuragi asked the question, "Why now?" as Dr. Ritsuko Akagi supervised the attempt to salvage the test. Another member of the crew announced, "Pilot immersion well past the safe zone!"

Dr. Akagi hunched over that terminal immediately, "Pull her back now! Hit the overrides! She'll cease to be human at this rate!" The Infrared already saw the body heat of the pilot, dissolving, as Misato called out authoritatively, "Abort the test! Abort now! Shut down all circuits!"

The technical crew immediately tried, as explosive bolts blew the Umbilical cable out of the back of Evangelion Unit-03, as the behemoth lunged forward, pulling, and tugging and twisting. A member of the crew announced, "Negative response! We're detecting high energy readings from within the Eva!"

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi stared in horror as she finally made sense of the results, "This can't be... it's-!" The restraint armor at the back of Unit-03 split open, revealing thick blue strands, latticing it as some warped adhesive, preventing the plug's ejection.

"An Angel!?" Misato Katsuragi questioned, as the Evangelion's maw split opened to reveal teeth, it's inhuman roar like a song that sings the end of the world. The building energy released in a blue, then white flash from ground zero within the test cage.

To it's cry, seven thunders answer. A blue spherical detonation consumes the Nagano region, its blast zone purest white in its consumption of Matsushiro testing facility and the mountains surrounds. A halo like shockwave erupts outwards, flattening the region even as the blast zone expands further and further.

There is no greenery left on the mountainside. In fact, there are no mountains nearby Matsushiro. Outside of the blast wave, trees flattened like toothpicks smolder into disintegrating piles of blackened ash.

And footsteps pound, a silhouette in the smoke, as it heads southeast. Noone needs it's destination to be announced.

Everyone knows.

-=-=-

It can felt almost all the way to Tokyo-3. Has one really considered an Evangelion's sheer mass? Despite being involved in battles with one all the time, ruminations upon such things are lost in the din of battle.

Now one is forced to contemplate it. With each resounding thud on the horizon, like a distant boom of thunder. Birds take off in flocks from high energy powerlines that sway back and forth within this corridor of the Japan's mountains. It has been walking for hours without cease, now in this mid-afternoon, so close to dusk. There's also the sense of dragging.

Take a look, and you'll see it. Dark grey and accented in red. It walks like an Evangelion, but it has no cable. Look, and you will see the split in the red restraint armor by its mouth, and it's bestial teeth. One might think that is an angelic quality but, is it, is it truly?

The Beast walks, and to those that know the secret of the Evangelion, one will know it looks more Eva than Angel in every way.

One has to truly look closely to see signs that it is not, simply an Evangelion. The Umbilical cable is gone, but there is another thinner one, snapped and swaying and wrapped around it's right wrist. Down on the ground below, being dragged behind it is an enormous particle cannon, being pulled as if it were an enormous beast of burden.

It walks like an Eva, but watch, and you will see the lack of human intelligence in that act, that it has no use for such implements.

A silhouette of destruction, that will arrive in Tokyo-3 in a matter of hours. If it reaches the Geofront, Third Impact seems a certainty.

Humanity will not survive, should Angels inherit the Earth... but is this truly an Angel?

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has deployed in The Twelfth Angel - Bardiel, the Angel of Haze.
KTS: Will Barrier activated! (But will not apply until relevant Morale threshold.)
Knight teleports in.
POT: Knight is now set observer.

KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has deployed in Powered Zenon.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Before:

Rei sits.

They're early, after all. They had no need to conduct a tour of the premises, and perhaps it would have been a little unpleasant, given that one of those who reside here is currently in confinement. Let it be a pleasant time, sitting at the un-set but covered table. The tablecloth is plain and white, held down by the small bamboo plant Rei was given -- a centerpiece chosen by sheer expediency.

Rei reads a book; an old hardcover edition, from the vogue of print eighty or ninety years ago. The story is older, from a resident of what is now the AEU, but Rei can read it just fine. It is a book she has read a number of times; it was already aged, but it is even more well worn now.

"No red rose in all my garden!" he cried, and his beautiful eyes filled with tears. "Ah, on what little things does happiness depend! I have read all that the wise men have written, and all the secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a red rose is my life made wretched."

Gendo Ikari sits on the opposite side.

Gendo Ikari has been simply *slouching*. He has nothing to do but wait, now. The house isn't that bad, and the emergent theme of the decor is pleasant enough. The scenario has some slack in it.

Something faintly rattles the windows in the southern wall. Rei glances up from her book.

A moment later, her phone and Gendo Ikari's phone buzz in perfect chorus. Rei looks towards Gendo, eyes widening. He draws the phone, holding it in a white-gloved hand. It takes only a cursory glance before he pulls himself upwards. "Come, Rei," Gendo says: "It's Matsushiro."

Rei considers the book for a faltering moment, then leaves it laying on the table.

She follows Gendo Ikari.

After:

With no contact from Matsushiro other than some emergency signals, the plan was hastily improvised. Interception near the Hokuto-Nirasaki line, where the natural contours of the ground will guide the Angel. Probably.

Deployment was swift, hasty. There were requests for aid, supporting forces. The power-lines that snake through Japan's forests and mountains shake and rustle, their gentle high-tension hum interrupted by each of those distant and thunderous steps.

Eva-00 is deployed with several weapons near a power station - a necessity given the electrical power requirements of the Eva. (Though, perhaps, this no longer applies for one of the units approaching.)

Rei breathes, a little heavy, in the entry plug. Something inside feels different. Perhaps it is simply the bitterness of disappointment. She is looking through a pallet rifle's optics.

"... Target sighted..."

But it's not quite near enough to shoot.

... Right?

KTS: Rei Ayanami has deployed in Evangelion Unit-00.
KTS: EN Barrier activated!

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

        The day of cookening is here--ah yeah, it's finally arrived. Shinji Ikari has been preparing for this for some time; Misato and Asuka's dinners this past week were all the effects of his practicing for it. To make up for it, he made them special lunches for today's testing, confident in his ability to make the menu that he and Rei had decided on for today.
        
        He's on his way to Rei's apartment, stopping off at a local grocery store. The basil, Rei had said in a call earlier. There is not enough.
        
        Then I'll pick some up on the way there, Shinji reassures her. You really should start growing some for yourself!
        
        He's already picked out a plastic case of fresh basil; it, and the receipt for it, have been added to the bag he carries with his share of tonight's ingredients. Right now, on his way out, Shinji considers some planters set up near the grocery store's exit. Some of them are flowers; some of them are vegetables; some of them are herbs. The full, lush leaves of the basil plant sprout from one of them.
        
        "This'll be perfect for her," he says to himself as he picks it up and turns it around to inspect it. It's vibrant and in good health; no scraggly leaves, its color verdant. He smiles--he's been smiling a lot this week--and turns to return to the check-out line.
        
        There is a faint stir in the earth. Shinji thinks little of it; earthquakes are common in Japan.
        
        But then his phone rings.
        
        He pulls it out and unlocks it, then checks the message he's been sent. The color drains from his face as he sucks in a sharp gasp. Then he's off in a dead sprint.
        
        The basil planter falls from his grasp, forgotten, and impacts the floor before falling on its side. The soil scatters, a bed for the hapless sprawl of the basil's beautiful leaves, reaching for help it will never find.

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

An emergency request for aid comes through.

They've talked about this. Tsutsujidai must be their top priority, but the very last thing Gridman asked of them was to protect this world. That must apply especially to the ones he loved most. The city will have to tend to itself for the next few hours, as the Neon Genesis Junior High Students uniformly decide to head to Tokyo-3.

Much of their journey is silent. Eventually, Borr sighs loudly. "Didn't think it'd be this unnerving to go out without him. I'm freaked out. If Gridman was scared of Angels, what hope do we have?"

"Doesn't really matter, does it?" Vit, his phone clenched tightly in one hand, replies. "We already decided we have to do this. Doesn't matter if we win or lose, we've gotta keep those kids safe."

Calibur grunts in response -- but even the samurai is on-edge, his hand resting back on the pommel of one of his swords.

Max is, uncharacteristically, silent. He stares out the window, as if willing them to arrive at the battle faster.

---

The second the transport has arrived, all four Hyper Agents vanish in a blur, reappearing in the Angel's wake. Destruction follows the creature. It cannot be allowed to reach the city.

"EVERYONE!" Max roars, sudden intensity creasing his brow.

In a swift movement, the enormous man pulls a small, squishy shape from his inner suit pocket. It hovers just before him as he releases it to pull down his sleeve, revealing his own version of the Primal Accepter.

"We're with you." Vit exposes his Accepter as well, with Borr and Calibur mirroring the action. "Let's do this."

"ACCESS!" Four voices shout in harmony. "FLASH!"

The Neon Genesis Junior High Students collapse into white light and enter the phone, which then falls helplessly to the ground. Hmm. Something to worry about later. Hopefully, nobody will step on it.

Brilliant, pixelated rings of light appear before the Angel, and Powered Zenon emerges. Their armor, though closed around nothing, promises a drawn-out fight. Calibur, inverted and honed into an axe, glints in the sunlight.

"Think this one's like Duma?" Vit asks, casually, despite the strain in his voice. "Hey, Angel, you wanna calm down? Maybe take this somewhere else?"

Borr groans. "Don't be a dumbass, Vit. Just look at it, it's totally in rage mode."

"I respect the effort." Calibur chimes in.

"Regardless of its capabilities, it goes no further." Max rumbles, and through his armor, brandishes Powered Zenon's axe. "For Gridman's sake, we will eliminate this threat!"

"Right!" Borr, Vit, and Calibur respond.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka was on Orbit Base when she got the news. With the trip to Jupiter coming up very soon and Rikka having signed on to help, there's a lot of things to arrange before that day comes. Primarily - she and Akane still have a lot of practice to take care of in their new unit.
%And then, warning sirens. An explosion's been sighted on Earth, and there's reports of an Angel sighting. Evangelion Unit-00 is already on the scene.

"Rei... all by herself?" Rikka comments with a frown. She pauses for a moment, considering. "Akane... do you think we're ready?"

An Angel is a lot to take on - but it's hard to ignore. Rikka considers it for a moment. She's not a member of 3G - they can't tell her to go, but they can't tell her not to go. In a situation like this... she wants to help.

...

It takes a little bit of time with everything in chaos, but the shuttle reaches Earth, and from it emerges the Neuronoid Kakuseijin V2. They already have their directions - and it isn't long before they arrive.

"Rei! We're here to help! It's Rikka and Akane, from 3G." Rikka announces, and pauses for a second. That's Powered Zenon... "Everyone, you're here too?"

So they'll get the chance to fight alongside each other again...

With that, though, her attention turns toward the Angel - looking so much like an Evangelion, but wrong, somehow.

"...Is that the one?" Rikka asks, in a sense of disbelief.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam's bags are packed. Tomorrow, he takes a ferry out to Tenchu, and takes Tenchu to the Orbital Ring, then takes one of GGG's transports out to Orbit Base. This is the first time, he's ever left the Earth Sphere, and to say he is nervous is a grave understatement. As he sets a duffel bag down next to his suitcases, his phone rings with an urgent alert. He snatches it off the endtable, and reads.

        Matsushiro's gone dark. An Angel is on the move towards Tokyo-3.

        "Asuka," Liam breathes, his heart dropping into his stomach.

        * * *

        The Neo Helios roars through the sky, tracing a brilliant streak through the sky. G-forces press Liam against his piloting armature. The countryside below is a blur. Lights appear on the board--Eva-00's signature, followed by one that looks, superficially, like Full Powered Gridman. (It's Gridman without Gridman, he realizes, as he catches sight of Powered Zenon.)

        "Anomalous signature confirmed," Liam says, his voice tight with emotion. The Neo Helios brakes sharply, and Liam rides out the unpleasant (to him--to someone else, it might be crushing) deceleration. It hovers in the air, above and in front of Eva-00. "Rei, Pilot 7-020 reporting to assist. What..."

        The enemy crests a hill. The Neo Helios' camera zooms in on it. Liam doesn't finish the sentence. Please let this be coincidence, he thinks, but he knows he's wrong. No word from Matsushiro. "An Eva...?" he whispers, his eyes going wide.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Looking to Rikka nervously as they board Kakuseijin V2, Akane takes a deep breath to steady herself. 'Are they ready,' Rikka asks, and Akane knows there's no real good answer. When it comes to something like this...

"... I think there's only one way to find out if we're ready," she says, gearing up. It's scary -- but they'll face it together. Whatever it is, they can face it together.

The Kakuseijin is in Accept Mode when it arrives; Akane has the controls, for the moment. At the very least, it isn't all bad news when they arrive. Spotting Powered Zenon... it had been numbing and anxiety-inducing when it had deployed against Bujack, but now Akane's happy to see the Neon Genesis Junior High Students.

"It's good to see you guys again," Akane says. "Wish things were going better!"

Then it's back to the Eva unit. "Yep -- I'm pretty sure that's the one..." She opens comms, then, to Rei. "Rei -- how can we support you here?" she asks, though after remembering what talking to Rei was actually like, she adds: "NERV support crew, we'll take requests from you guys on this one too."

KTS: Rikka Takarada has deployed in Kakuseijin V2.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

                        "Damage report!"

The Command Center of Central Dogma is a flurry of chaotic activity and blaring sounds of alarm. Flashing red and streaming data results paint a detached picture of the devastation that Evangelion Unit-03 has left in its wake.

It is much more palpably felt in the absence of Colonel Misato Katsuragi to guide them all.

"Unknown!" announces Makoto Hyuga. "Blast point seems to be the temp cage! Surface buildings have collapsed!"

At the command tower above, Kozo Fuyutsuki's brows furrow. His world is a tumult of uncertain thoughts as he places a hand on the railing, somehow managing to maintain his composure and calm as he announces:

"Dispatch Rescue and Third Unit; get them to Matsushiro before the Federation can scramble their own rescue teams."

"Understood!"

"Sir -- unknown moving object confirmed southwest of blast site on the approach to Tokyo-3," Shigeru Aoba announces, looking back and up towards Fuyutsuki. "Pattern is Orange; unable to determine if object is an Angel!"

Behind tightly pinched lips, Fuyutsuki's teeth grit. For a moment, he wonders: did -they- know this would happen--?

"Battle stations, condition one."

It's a cold, calm voice that cuts through Fuyutsuki's thoughts. The arrival of Gendo Ikari is one of detached perfection, his chair rising upwards into its position at the command tower, lower half of his face covered by the bridge of his gloved hands and eyes hidden by the glint of his glasses like an avatar of stoicism -- as if he hadn't just been scrambling to make it back to Geofront in time.

Fuyutsuki looks back at Gendo, nose wrinkling as if to ask a question he cannot say aloud.

"Ikari?"

Gendo offers nothing but a stony, forward-facing stare as he absorbs the information chaotically racing across the screens.

"All personnel to condition one battle stations," he repeats. "What is the status of the Evangelions?"

"Unit-00 is ready for launch, sir," Shigeru announces. "Unit-01 is undergoing maintenance for the Dummy System but should be prepared soon. Pilot is en route on foot, ETA unknown."

Gendo hunches lower. Silence passes almost interminably. And then:

"Launch Unit-00 and send the call to mobilize available NERV forces. Prepare Unit-01 for launch as soon as the Dummy System is in place. Have it ready when the pilot arrives."

Under that implacable calm, NERV HQ's staff scrambles. The Angel's approach is slow but inevitable. They know it will come. They know where it will come.

The problem has always been a simple matter of stopping them from reaching it.

Simple, but increasingly harder.

And now...

        ... Target sighted...

"Confirming visual data," Maya Ibuki announces uneasily. "Displaying on main... oh... oh no..."

The display shows it clearly. The black shroud of Evangelion Unit-03, sibling unit of the would-be Cursed Evangelion, trudging forward like a puppet's mockery of humanity's first steps.

"... We should have known..." Fuyutsuki murmurs to himself. Gendo's eyes narrow behind tinted glasses.

"Send unit-shutdown signal. Activate emergency ejection system."

Error messages flood as the attempt to remotely eject Unit-03's entry plug is roundly rejected.

"Negative!" says Maya, composing herself anew with the anguished twist of her lips. It's a growing uneasiness echoed in Hyuga, too, as he stares at the developing pattern analysis. "Unit not responding to either shutdown or ejection code signal!"

Shigeru, looking up from his control panel, grimaces in confusion. "Contamination similar to an Angel Core detected around entry plug... What is this..."

Makoto Hyuga's expression pales.

"Pattern analysis complete. ... It's... it's..."

Is this truly an Angel?


LEVEL 2 ALERT! LEVEL 2 ALERT!
                           ANALYSIS COMPLETE

                                                          
                 Pattern Analysis : Blood Type BLUE 12
                      Hypothesized as 12th ANGEL
                                                          


"... Blue..."

To Gendo Ikari, the answer is an obvious one.

"Evangelion Unit-03 is hereby declared a total loss. Designate it as the Twelfth Angel.

        "Rei.

                "Eliminate the target."

KTS: Liam 7-020 has deployed in NRV-00 Neo Helios.
KTS: Liam 7-020 has changed loadout.
KTS: Asuka_Shikinami_Langley has deployed as a Boss for 4 opponents.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

The target is sighted.

Look at it Rei. Look at your target. The Evangelion you were meant to pilot. You know who's supposed to be within within. Perhaps you two barely tolerate each other at work, but is it not because you were always an uncomfortable look in the mirror for the Second Child?

A reminder.

Was she the same for you? A reflection of opposites. Red and blue. Hot and cold. How the two of you look, how the two of you act, you cannot escape the fact that all one has to do is look into the others eyes, and see that some part of the other dwells within them.

Perhaps that is why you were never close. Perhaps that is why you could never be close.

And yet, she did you a kindness. A simple thing, drenched in the crimson of her pride, with Kaworu's freedom the collateral.

Does any of that change the fact that the Evangelion is your target? Is she in there? Could anything be left of her?

Just what are Angels, really...?
Why are you even asking questions like that? They're just things that need to die for humanity to live.

It's at the edge of effective firing range. It does not move for several long moments. It does not even look at Evangelion Unit-00. Then abruptly it flattens on the ground, getting down on all fours. It's maw splitting further against the armor to reveal its teeth up close, as it roars, reverberating throughout the valley, before it charges.

It looks animalistic in its movements, but the way it pounces towards Rei, it's all wrong, it's weight shifts WRONG, seemingly against all the laws of physics and gravity for something of this mass, trailing it's enormous cargo behind it. Twisting and writhing in mid-air, before it lands behind Unit-00, already facing its back.

It places its weight against her, trying to bear her to the ground, even as its teeth try to clamp down savagely on Unit-00's neck. There is no hesitation whatsoever in the Eva, in trying to cripple her by smashing Unit-00's spine through its AT Field. Unit-03's head thrashing back and forth to try and rip it out.

Without trying to release its neck, it's arm swings, as the particle cannon swings through the air to impact the Powered Zenon like an enormous bludgeon. As if it doesn't know how else to utilize such a thing. The cable frays and snaps further on impact, a fragile thing compared to the force it can exert, releasing it.

Still trying to tear out Unit-00's spine, it looks over its prey, right at the Neuronoid, and all of them can see it. The split in the back, the sticky blue mold like substance warping and distorting over sight of the circular end of the Entry Plug.

Direct visual evidence it never ejected during the destruction at Matsushiro. A limb propped over Rei is lifted just enough, as it points towards them. And then just extends, right to the gold portion of its torso, trying to grip, and crush the Neuronoid outright.

The armor on the limbs distort, as metal plating TWISTS like putty, warping and distorting, and there is a spray of something dark, like blood as something within the limbs feels damaged by the act... but it has a very vivid tint of blue. That blue blood splatters against the Neo-Helios in the sky.

A corrosive hiss? But should Liam not have avoided the spray of blood altogether, the right arm of his unit, twitches and spasms against his will, before drawing itself up, then writhing as if it was having a seizure, it tries to bend and twist beyond how its limb should move, to attempt to drive within its own cockpit.

The spatter of blue continues to hiss, as if giving off this acidic feeling, but canny observers might note that the longer this goes on, the less of it there seems to be. For what it's worth, the Angel doesn't even seem to notice this act at all.

It's too focused on trying to tear Unit-00's spine out.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rei Ayanami with Merciless Pounce!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rikka Takarada with ...This Hand is My Hand!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Liam 7-020 with This Hand is Your Hand...!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with Arms-Dealing!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has completed their actions for the round.

KTS: Rei Ayanami's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Rei Ayanami fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Merciless Pounce, taking 2970 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rei Ayanami!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students fails to Parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's Arms-Dealing, taking 3520 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Neon Genesis Junior High Students!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Rikka Takarada, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Rikka Takarada blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's ...This Hand is My Hand, taking 1470 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Akane Shinjo is now subpiloting for Rikka Takarada.
KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rattles Liam 7-020, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Liam 7-020 blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's This Hand is Your Hand..., taking 5170 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley: Will Barrier Activates.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Someone arrives.

Rei turns her head and looks towards the sudden presence of pixellated light as Powered Zenon manifests. Inside of it, the others. Rei looks at them. She feels something strange, resting in the back of her chest. And Rikka and Akane, too. The signal from Eva-00 includes a video pane feed; Rei is looking astonished, and perhaps heartened. Her lips actually quirk when Liam joins them, flying in his wondrous machine.

"... I'll erode the AT Field. Be wary," Rei answers, because Akane asked her. Rei's eyes turn slightly, and while these angles are arbitrary, Akane may have a sense that Rei was gazing upon her then.

Though she may be isolated, in the prototype of the Evangelion platform, and dealing with a bitter disappointment in the depths of her heart, she is not alone.

The Commander instructs. Rei raises up her rifle without words, lining up a shot upon Eva-03's head. Perhaps it can be disabled; an Evangelion without limbs or head has few tactical options, after all. But-- then Eva-03 crouches, and a moment later,

                        LEAPS

There is the shimmering interface of AT Field against AT Field, casting a strange and subtle backlight as Eva-00 is thrown on the ground and dragged dozens of meters. The Eva's arms come upwards to try and hold the creature back even as its maw appears and lunges for the Evangelion's neck. There are soft noises of efforts but no words.

The others make the enemy shift focus. It helps only the slightest bit. Enough to twist and turn, to get one hand free. Rei gets one hand against Eva-03's exposed maw and grips and pushes and a progressive knife pops from the shoulder-pauldrons as nice as you please. A weapon in the other hand. It glows and hums in Rei's hand and --

After a fraction of a second's hesitation she stabs towards Eva-03's shoulder.

Something feels wrong. Even now.

                                i'm scared

Rei's eyes widen slightly at that subtle, soft sound. A *feeling* more than a sound. Her eyes saccade to the side but she dare not turn her attention away from her foe.

KTS: Rei Ayanami targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Progressive Knife Cut!
KTS: Rei Ayanami has completed their actions for the round.
Lucine Azul teleports in.
POT: Lucine Azul is now set observer.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley retreats from the attack!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully avoids Rei Ayanami's Progressive Knife Cut
SCENESYS: Elisa Kafim has posted scene #431, 'The Price of Perfidy', at 19:00 ET on 10/21.

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

"Hey, good to see you, Rikka, Akane! We've gotta stop meeting this way." Vit calls out in that same casual, friendly tone. "What's this new machine, huh? Looks cool!"

"Vit would you focus?!" Borr snarls.

As the Neo Helios soars above them, Powered Zenon spares a moment to glance up at it.

"Liam. Be careful." Calibur murmurs. "This isn't right."

Only moments later, Calibur's intuition is proven truthful -- that Angel isn't... really an Angel. Now that Powered Zenon is closer, the Neon Genesis Junior High Students can see for themselves. That was, at least at one point, an Evangelion. And it's not the double-seater Kaworu and Shinji use, and Rei's machine is over there...

"Asuka." Max rumbles, realization echoing through each Hyper Agent simultaneously. "What has happened to you."

His voice is grim -- it isn't truly a question. It's a mournful acknowledgment of reality.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Borr shouts. "THESE NIGHTMARE MACHINES CAN DO THIS SHIT TOO? WHO THE HELL PROGRAMMED THIS?!"

Calibur hisses in a breath, and Vit begins to say something when Borr cuts him off again.

"No, I don't want to hear it! This is too far! We're getting her out of there and then -- I don't know! Then something else!" Borr's consciousness edges forward, sliding Powered Zenon into a more aggressive stance. "No way in HELL I'm standing by while kids are put through this shit!"

For the moment, it seems, her comrades are of the same mind. None of them object to Borr's control over their shared body, nor how Powered Zenon immediately charges forward toward Asuka's Evangelion. Unfortunately, they're nowhere near fast enough -- and the beastly machine launches itself at Rei, tearing at Eva-00's neck.

Just as the realization of the "Angel"'s identity hit all four Hyper Agents at once, so does the memory of Gridman learning Evangelion pilots feel their machine's pain. Immediately, Powered Zenon's charge is amplified, with Max, Vit, and Calibur pouring their full strength into it alongside Borr.

"REI!" Max roars, as Powered Zenon aims to ram into the corrupted Eva with its shoulder.

An arm swings, crashing against the combined War Deity -- depsite Calibur's attempt to parry it away. All four Hyper Agents cry out in pain and distress, knocked back from the battling machines. They land on their feet, and rush into the fray once again.

"Hang in there!" Vit sounds strained, now. "We've got you, Rei! And -- Asuka, if you can hear us, we've got you too! Everything --"

Vit stops speaking as Powered Zenon attempts to grapple the almost-Angel, trying desperately to lift it away from Eva-00. If successful, they'll toss the monstrous creature away, trying to give Rei room to recover.

"-- is going to be just fine." Calibur finishes Vit's sentence.

KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Powered Throw!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Rei Ayanami
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students rattles Asuka Shikinami Langley, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley parries Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Powered Throw, taking 480 damage!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students repulses Asuka Shikinami Langley, forcing her to disengage.
Guy Shishioh teleports in.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        "I know," Liam says, to Calibur. "Nothing's right."

        It has teeth too, the cyborg thinks, his guts twisting in horror as the target drops to all fours. "ASUKA!" he screams, and a moment later, "REI, LOOK OUT!" The Neo Helios jukes up, jets firing to keep it from getting knocked out of the way by Eva-03's violent pounce. As it falls on Rei's machine, Liam sees its back, and his stomach almost cramps with sudden revulsion. That's the Entry Plug. It's stuck. Is that the Angel's doing?

        "Rikka, Akane--she's still in there! Asuka's still in there!" In a way, the thought is both optimistic--that the Angel hasn't killed her, or worse--and cruel. He still remembers what Lucine told him about Jophiel.

        Something sprays from the Angel. The Neo Helios' vent covers detach, locking together in its magnetosphere to form its shield. The goo goes right through it, and splatters the arm Liam reached out and gestured with. Sympathetic agony stabs through his nervous system as the Mobile Trace System misfires. The cyborg shrieks, his voice raw, as his machine's arm bends in a way it was never meant to. The Neo Helios' distorted limb slams square into its torso, cracking the armor.

        It's spreading. At this rate, it'll--

        Liam's eyes go wide. A bright blade of plasma erupts from its left arm, rises, falls. The Neo Helios' right forearm falls away, and with it, the Angel's biomass. Liam howls again, in rage and pain. A few ragged breaths, before Liam hisses: "It's infectious. Don't let it touch you!" Knife still in hand, the Neo Helios descends onto the possessed Evangelion, trying to hack at the biomass encrusting the Entry Plug. It's a dangerous move, to say the least.

        The alternative is letting her die, after she stepped up to protect Rei, and he thought she was being a glory hound. The guilt is already starting to crush him.

KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Starshard Knife!
KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Valor!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Parry Liam 7-020's Starshard Knife, taking 1425 damage!
KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"Yeah, it's funny..." Rikka comments with a weak laugh to Vit. "It's a long story. But-"

A realisation is reached. The identity of the Angel before them...

"That's... Asuka? Oh, god..." Rikka gasps. ...How? How could this happen? That's... that's horrible. For a moment her grip on the Neuronoid's control's loosen, the Linker Gel responding to her wavering confidence - but then she refocuses. They can't just... let her stay like that.

"...This is going to be rough. I'm... glad you're here with me." Rikka murmurs quietly for Akane alone, before taking a breath.

"Right!" Rikka replies to Akane, and then the Angel, Eva-03, attacks. It's upon them - Rikka trusts Akane to maneuver them out of the most dangerous part of its range as a terrible limb extends, trying to grip and crush them. And then...

"I have control!" Rikka shouts. The Kakuseijin shifts, and the mirror-like shield projects outward. She winces, as the metal of the Neuronoid strains against its grips. They're released, and Rikka exhales.

"Let's try attacking from the side. Can you get us there?" Rikka asks. She trusts Akane to move with Accept Mode's higher maneuverability - and once they're in range, Rikka takes over again and launches out one of its fists!

Until that AT Field goes down, they're mostly just distracting it - but they'll do what they can in the meantime.

KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Chain Punch!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley blocks Rikka Takarada's Chain Punch, taking 1320 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The animalistic Evangelion unit gives Akane pause. What even is an Evangelion? Why is it... this? Why has it become an Angel? ... Can all Evangelion units become Angels...? What horrible thing is slouching toward Tokyo-3, now?

"... Gotcha," Akane answers Rei, when she says she'll try to erode the AT Field. "I'll work that into the tactical forecast."

Akane's eyes widen when Liam announces that Asuka's still in there. ... It's time to settle one of her debts already, huh... "... I'm glad I'm here with you, too," Akane affirms, reflexively tightening her hand in the Linker Gel, as if to give Rikka's own hand a squeeze. Rikka gave her the gift of motion -- and now she needs Akane's help to move. "... I can do that," Akane says, as Rikka keeps both of them safe in the cockpit.

Akane and Rikka fluidly trade control back and forth; even in just a couple days, they've already made real progress with Kakuseijin V2. She skates the machine close enough to launch that fist -- then transfers control back to Rikka, now that they're closer. "I wasn't expecting our first deployment to be this soon," she murmurs, as she starts analyzing the chemical composition of the Evangelion-turned-Angel.

KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Rikka Takarada
KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rikka Takarada with Awe!
KTS: Akane Shinjo has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Akane Shinjo inspires awe, increasing Rikka Takarada's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Rei's instincts are good ones. The Angel's AT-Field is working against Unit-00's own, but it hasn't gotten through. Not yet. It seems a matter of time. If it was Asuka controlling Eva Unit-03, then she'd know its weaknesses, it's vulnerabilities. The cable for example. Sever it and Rei's on borrowed time, but the Angel doesn't pay any attention to that. When it's knife is pulled, the Angel doesn't react either.

Not until...
        ...the last...
                ...possible...
                        ...moment.

The knife contacts it's AT Field, shimmering across it, and as if in primal instinct, the Evangelion releases her and leaps away from its cut. Only to be caught by Powered Zenon mid-leap. It grasps it, and despite it all, the Evangelion turned Angel does not leap away from it. Instead, caught, it's head tilts straight up as if to look at the sky, it's shoulders shifting against it's opponent, it's legs kicking and thrashing against the ground.

And suddenly the tables just, turn.

Two arms erupt from its shoulders, greyish flesh, shimmering with the subtle shimmer of a giant of light. They grip ahold of its opponent, growing and extending with explosive force. They are distorted and warped in proportions, but unmistakably organic. The bent backwards Evangelion Unit-03 suddenly stands straight up, and with a furious shift of its weight, the body the fulcrum, it roars as it tries to drive it straight into Unit-00.

The idea to burn away the biomass is good, indeed the Angel's mass burns away and Liam regains control quite easily, following up as his knife goes for the entry plug. And indeed it looks like it's gonna penetrate the blue mass easy as you please, but the AT Field appears. The knife contacts it, and its momentum stops. It's end twitching and spasming as it tries to get through the light of that Angelic heart, to save a soul within.

The Angel abruptly twists at the waist, it's body following in a hyperextension of joints to move far too long, its arms in a flurry as they lash right at the Neo Helios, trying to knock it right out of the sky like some insect it is swatting out of the sky. Whereas the Neuronoid, freed from its grip...

... begins to punch repeatedly, a blow contacts against its side, and the Eva suddenly sways, in a stumble, as if it were losing its footing with its gangly proportions after that strange maneuver. More blows contact, but this time the AT Field takes it, shimmering every time. The Evangelion suddenly swings with one of it's newly formed arms, trying to grip it again, but it misses.

Or at least, so they think, as it's passing, that strange blue stance is still flowing off like sticky ichor. There's so much of it, that it may be hard to avoid. And if they don't...

... the Neuronoids link might alert them to the fact that there's a source of contamination within. That sizzle and hiss of corrosion within its armor. And then Kakuseijin begins to disobey them. The horror of that loss of control, and agency. As if the part of the Kakuseijin that the blood touched just didn't belong to them anymore. And as they try to resist, they'll see the subtle shimmer of an AT Field... the more and more anyone looks, it will look less like blood and more like mold spores burning away under the light of the sun.

Yet it's rapid degradation won't stop the Neuronoid from being slowly, inexorably tugged towards Evangelion Unit-03's waiting maw, open and dripping with gore.

Is there anything left of Asuka in there, if it'd be so quick to go for the kill for the two of them? Or perhaps... for one of them at least, it'd be fitting vengeance if she were.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rei Ayanami with Angelic Savagery!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rikka Takarada with Mycosis!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Liam 7-020 with Give You A Hand!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Rei Ayanami has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Rikka Takarada
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Rei Ayanami
KTS: Rei Ayanami has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Neon Genesis Junior High Students
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Liam 7-020
KTS: Rei Ayanami has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Liam 7-020
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students fails to Parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat,
taking 5400 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Neon Genesis Junior High Students!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Rikka Takarada, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Rikka Takarada partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Mycosis, taking 2940 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Liam 7-020 blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Give You A Hand, taking 2600 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Liam 7-020!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Rei Ayanami fails to rush.
KTS: Rei Ayanami's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Rei Ayanami partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Angelic Savagery, taking 3515 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rei Ayanami!
KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Rikka Takarada
KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Despite their realization, the Hyper Agents reach out to Rei. Rei looks at them for a moment, just a moment, eyes wide.

Liam makes a discovery.

                                it's awful.
                                the most awful thing.
                                i'm scared.
                                i wish

They reveal that the Second is inside of the Angel. Rei does not think at all that 'it could have been me,' only a burst of sorrow.

                                i wish i was dead!
                                that would be better!

Despite everyone's belief in her -- even though that is buoying her up, is the reason she could bring herself to strike a blow with the progressive knife at all -- the situation is becoming irredeemably complex. The Angel is moving with incredible speed. And it has every potentiality that Eva-00 does.

In a sense, they look like each other, don't they? Even if the somewhat-battered Eva-00, with its curiously chinless head profile and single optical extension, no doubt looks quite dashing compared to the Angel. You could take it for a purely mechanical thing.

Don't worry.

Rei drops the progressive knife. The Evangelion's AT Field expands wordlessly, silently outwards. In the sunlight it is hard to see. Against the Angel it may not do much obtrusively, but somehow --

With everything in ruins, and tragedy at hand --

Rei knows she isn't alone.

I will
        protect you too.

The sniper rifle is grasped and brought upwards. There is no time to aim beyond orienting it towards the enemy. Rei begins to fire with the weapon held in both hands, discharging immense penetrator rounds into, or at least *towards*, the hulking form of the Angel as she runs towards it. The umbilical cable, hastily connected, trails out snakily behind her.

The sniper rifle clicks. It's really more of an enormous CLANG, given the scale of the barrel, but it doesn't quite carry. And that is why the last thing Rei does with the sniper rifle is brace herself against it while leading; aiming to slam the barrel in underneath one of the Angel's several armpits and shove it away. Push it off its stance.

Free Rikka, and Akane alike.

                                        ...

"Spread out!" Rei says. It is the most heated she has sounded in -- possibly ever.

KTS: Rei Ayanami has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Rei Ayanami targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Sniple Rifle Leading Shot!
KTS: Rei Ayanami has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley partially guards Rei Ayanami's Sniple Rifle Leading Shot, taking 2494 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

"Infectious?" Calibur repeats, after Liam. "Right."

If the corrupted Evangelion's blood can corrupt the Neo Helios into turning on Liam, what could it possibly do to Powered Zenon? None of the Hyper Agents want to find out. They've got to keep their distance, or risk losing themselves.

There's a moment of success as Powered Zenon manages to grab the monstrous creature. But even as the combined War Deity moves to toss their opponent away, something changes. Vit makes a noise of horror at the appearance of those additional arms, and Max tries to meet them with his own Herculean strength -- to no avail.

Powered Zenon is grasped and forced back, back, back -- despite the best efforts of the Neon Genesis Junior High Students. Vit's thrusters burn blue, scorching the ground, as each Hyper Agent gives their all in this contest of strength.

"Come on--!" Borr grits out, the armored feet of Powered Zenon leaving deep gouges in the earth as they're shoved.

"We cannot compete with it this way." Max admits.

Calibur's blue gemstone flashes as he speaks. "There was Light, for a moment. Light like Gridman's. Something's not right."

"We can't worry about that now!" Vit cries. "This thing will kill the other kids if we don't stop it! We've got to buy Rei time to get that barrier down. Nothing else matters!"

All the children present are capable pilots, but that doesn't change the fact that they're children. None of them should have to be present at such a nightmarish battle, something the Neon Genesis Junior High Students feel keenly.

Finally, the monstrous machine's attention turns to Akane and Rikka, letting Powered Zenon exhaustedly drop to one knee. Behind them, Rei is doing -- something. Whatever it is, it's important.

"Rei." Max rumbles. "We will attempt to create an opening. Do not hesitate. Your life is pricelessly important. It cannot be weighed against another's."

"Akane! Rikka!" Borr shouts. "Coming in at your 4 o'clock! Move!"

Brandishing axe-Calibur, Powered Zenon gets back to their feet and lunges forward. If they can take out some of those horrible arms... Maybe that'll be enough to make a difference. Liam's working on freeing Asuka. They have to have faith in him.

"POWERED AXE SLASH!" Calibur shouts.

Powered Zenon roars as they bring their axe down on the monstrous creature's newly-sprouted arms. Maybe their attack will glance off the AT field -- but if nothing else, they'll try and get their opponent's attention.

"MONSTER OF CORRUPTION AND HATE!" Max roars, as the axe comes down. "FACE ME! I AM YOUR OPPONENT!"

"Whew." Mutters Borr.

With their challenge set, Powered Zenon races away at Rei's command. Hopefully, the corrupted Evangelion will follow them and leave the children alone to do more precise damage...

KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Powered Axe!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Asuka Shikinami Langley
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley retreats from the attack!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Powered Axe, taking 3999 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Smoke rises from what's left of the Neo Helios' right arm--the cut just above the elbow is clean, at least, and the machine was built to purge and seal a limb's plasma conduits the moment there's risk of a breach. Phantom pain prickles through Liam's right forearm as he stabs the knife down again and again, hacking desperately--

        It's no use. Even with Eva-00 there, he can't get through the AT Field. The Neo Helios' shield whips into place the moment he sees motion out of the corner of his eye. More limbs. It can do that?!

        The Angel's lash slams into the Mobile Fighter's shield, carrying through to slam it into its torso. The Neo Helios hits the ground and rolls, coming up to a knee, and then rising. Steam and burnt grass mark the trail it left in its wake.

        "Understood," Liam grates out. The sudden emotion in Rei's voice is oddly steadying. Liam braces his machine, and opens the main vent. Bright blue-white plasma churns in the Neo Helios' chest, and then pours out into a beam. It doesn't get very far before it loses coherence, but Liam tries to rake it across the compromised Eva's body, to try and burn away that biomass--and if he can, deal with one of those arms, too.

KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Coronal Mass Ejection!
KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Valor!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully Evades Liam 7-020's Coronal Mass Ejection

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Akane's hand tightens in the Linker Gel - and so too, does Rikka's. Is it coincidence, that she does so right after? Or can she feel it, somehow? Rikka trusts Akane - and her trust is met in turn. It's like a dance, Akane had said - and they're quite the dancers.

"...Me either. And... especially not like this." Rikka replies with a shake of her head.

They attack, and it counterattacks - and for a moment it seems like they might have managed to avoid it. And then, warnings flare up around them. The ichor flowing off of Unit-03... mere contact with it...! Liam's warning proves accurate.

"What... is this?" Rikka gasps. Kakuseijin V2 begins to act erratically. It's not... it's not listening to either of them. The armor is damaged, and they're being drawn in. Rikka shakes her head... and grips the controls tighter.

"There has to... there has to be something!" Rikka gasps. But in the end, it's nothing either of them do - it's Rei who comes to the save, a strike from the sniper rifle knocking them loose. That intensity in her voice...

She's never heard her that heated before.

"R-Right! And... thanks, Rei." Rikka replies, then nods as Borr gives them a warning. "Okay!"

She trusts Akane to get them out of there, and while she does, Rikka plans their next move.

"Akane... I think it's time to try 'that'." Rikka says. This is something they can only do while working together - so while Akane does her part, Rikka takes aim.

"Break Synthesize...!" Rikka calls out. The grille on the Kakuseijin V2's torso begins to glow, as particles are drawn in from the surrounding environment. The purple, liquid-filled vials on its back begin to bubble violently. "G-Set!"

Kakuseijin V2's leftmost claw points ahead, adjusting itself into position - and then the channel in the center begins to glow, as the drawn-in particles are processed into raw energy.

"Synapse Attack!" Rikka calls out. The claw launches from Kakuseijin V2 attached to a chain, wreathed in destructive light as she attempts to join Liam in dealing with the encroaching biomass.

KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Attune Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Synapse Attack!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley charges into the attack!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley partially guards Rikka Takarada's Synapse Attack, taking 2655 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Part of the Neuromechanoid stops responding -- and indeed, starts moving straight toward the maw of Eva Unit-03. Akane's hands tighten in the Linker Gel, but it's -- still not responsive. Rei tells them to spread out, but they can't -- they're stuck, and --

... It's the same as what she used to do -- and it turns out that Akane isn't exactly a big fan of this type of turnabout. She opens her mouth to shout -- and Rei manages to get them free.

"... Thanks for the help," Akane says to Rei as well, as she brings the Kakuseijin way, way back, trying to get room to move -- to figure out how to approach. Rikka suggests something, and Akane nods. "Just like in practice... okay. I've got you."

She gets ready as Rikka goes on offense, both to choose the ideal synthesis and to arrest her momentum. As she does, she gives Powered Zenon a wide berth thanks to the friendly warning, noting, "Got it!"

Rikka goes on offense -- and Akane immediately affirms, "I have control!" and brings the pair right back out, trying to once again gain space in Accept Mode.

KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with Dream!
KTS: Akane Shinjo has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Rei's fright wars against her resolve in equal measure. The heat in her voice coming only after the CLANG of the sniper rifle shot. The slam of the shot hits against the Angel's AT Field, but the bullet won't be fully denied. It's lost momentum builds and builds, until a pinpoint hole moves through the Angel, emerging to streak against the restraint armor of its head.

Akane and Rikka stop moving at the moment of impact, the last of that blue spore like substance burning away in the sun. Armor plating peels off the side of it, hanging loosely like a mass of skull, only for them to see beneath it. The greying flesh, stretched over the side of the Eva's head. The side of a violet eye, against a crimson lens. They all see it. To those who didn't know...

... Evangelions aren't built, they're grown. And right now, that organic violet eye is looking not through that lens of its optics. It's looking out the corner of it, as it turns toward Powered Zenon. As Max roars its challenge, the axe-Calibur descends. And the Evangelion turned Angel backpeddles away a moment too late, as another blow strikes against the side of its restraint armor, peeling it off.

As a gout of blood sprays out, blood black, but with that subtle shine of blue. It touches the arm of the Powered Zenon.

The one holding Axe-Calibur. And all of them feel it. That sudden, abrupt, loss, of control. As that arm suddenly swings violently, to try and bury the axe into itself. The Evangelion itself lands away a distance away, still dripping blood on the ground, down on all fours, dripping blood like some wounded predator cat. Both of its sprouted arms dangling limply, like alien limbs on joints which are just WRONG.

It's at that moment that Liam's beam of churning plasma fires. The Angel at that moment, ROARS, before leaping high, the fury of the sun facing a silhouette of the giant against the backdrop of the ever descending sun in the sky. It's beam nearly scores it, but the mass of its body just continues to move as nothing that large ought to.

It turns again in mid-air, driving both of its legs right into the center of the much smaller unit, trying to crush it outright. It lands, trying to drive its full weight into the unit, coming down nearly on all fours again, and right into Rikka's synapse attack.

As the light drives into its AT Field, they'll see it affecting it, burning it's nervous system beneath it's shimmering field, it's mouth howling its ululating call, but it charges straight into that light. It's two hands upon it's back suddenly rising up, as it drives right into the Neuronoid, grasping it with one hand, that it drags on the ground alongside it's charge.

Right towards Unit-00. It's other hand abruptly extends towards Unit-00's head, where it's palm encompasses the whole of its cyclopean face plate. Fingers dig in against it's AT Field, but that's not the true threat there. Where it's fingertips dig in, there is the subtle glow of blue. That's spreading, first into Unit-00's AT Field, and then spreading out.

Spider webbing down its face, it's neck, and those familiar with anatomy - human or otherwise, will see that it's highlighting the vessels, the nerves. While to the others the corrosion was temporary, before burning away, in the flesh of an Evangelion...

It finds far greater purchase. And to one connected to it's nervous system. It burns. Certainly it does. Rei can feel it all across her own face, synchronized as she is.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Rei Ayanami
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Neon Genesis Junior High Students
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with This Hand is Your Hand...!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Liam 7-020 with Merciless Pounce!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rikka Takarada with Give You A Hand!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rei Ayanami with The Twelfth Angel!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has completed their actions for the round.
Teletha Testarossa teleports in.
POT: Teletha Testarossa is now set observer.

KTS: Akane Shinjo shares a dream with Neon Genesis Junior High Students, increasing their SP!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rattles Neon Genesis Junior High Students, making their next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students fails to Evade Asuka Shikinami Langley's This Hand is Your Hand..., taking 5880
damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Rei Ayanami's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Rei Ayanami fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's The Twelfth Angel, taking 4920 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Give You A Hand, taking 3779 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Liam 7-020 blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Merciless Pounce, taking 2400 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Liam 7-020!

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Max tells Rei something that makes her feel another of those pangs in the back of her chest. They're good ones. If Shinji gives her a quiet, warm and comfortable feeling, these things are like hearing the pounding of a drum at a festival. It isn't quite comfortable, but it isn't unpleasant.

If only the situation were better.

Because Rei realizes that Max is intending to flee -- the four of them --

Rei's heart beats faster.

                                if you can't protect them
                                why are you gonna say things
                        like that?

Rikka and Akane thank her. Rei's lips quiver, just a little.

Because you were frightened.

Rei leans forwards in the cockpit as the Kakuseijin v2's Synapse Attack lashes outwards towards the Angel. Once again Rei thinks of the pilot within it. She is sealed inside. Perhaps she's been corrupted already. Perhaps she was crushed in the first instant. That would be a relief, perhaps, for her; but Rei suspects that Asuka, who is quite talented at hatred, would have hated that as well.

And hated double to know what happens now.

And perhaps triple to know that -

... It's all ruined, I suppose.

                        it always is

The feeling is inutterably old, and somehow it is defeated instead of bitter. If there was venom it has been spent; fangs have lost their edge.

The Angel moves. It knows of cruelty. Did it draw that, like ichor, from the Second? Rei does not think so, somehow. The cruelty was there, but it too has been cut by

Ikari.

That sense of sorrow comes back. Light flares as the howling Angel contends against them, the solar intensity of Helios's light rising out as well. It casts strange second shadows but he will die, Rei thinks, if he keeps going much further.

All of them would die, and a minute later - perhaps an hour -

Rei's eyes squeeze shut.

                        what is this?
                        i feel like
                        like you're

I'm sorry, thinks Rei. Stay close.

The Angel is already leaping towards Eva-00. Rei lets go of the sniper rifle. Eva-00's head comes upwards as that hand lurches forwards with blurring speed and encompasses the entire front of Eva-00's vision. Rei stares at the palm for a moment.

                        do you think you can
                protect them from that?

Fingers dig inwards and Rei leans forwards. Fingertips dig inwards... and Eva-00 steps forwards even as, with a shudder, sympathetic veinous swellings begin to erupt down along Rei, coming from the crown of her head down across her back and her front, the skin-tight material of the plug suit presenting no obstacle.

                ah! ah, it's coming!
                can you really

I will try

Eva-00 reaches up with its left hand to grasp the Angel behind its wrist and steps INTO its grasp, reaching outwards with the right without sight. It does not know which to find, with its vision blurred, but with a twist of shoulders that other hand grasps at the bicep of a lower arm. Eva-00 shudders and digs its heels in place even as the long-suffering umbilical cable purges.

A violet light rises to join what Helios radiates. "AT Field, maximum extend," Rei breathes. A thousand thousand tiny grinding points against each other --

"Open it," Rei wheezes. "The armor outside--"

KTS: Rei Ayanami targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with EVA-00 Unarmed Combo!
KTS: Rei Ayanami has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Rei Ayanami's EVA-00 Unarmed Combo, taking 2475 damage!
KTS: Rei Ayanami has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        It's organic. All of it. Any doubts Liam had in the wake of his encounter with Wolfpack evaportate as he sees that massive eye turn to look.

        God in Heaven, Liam thinks, what is NERV doing? Is all that armor, all that defensive plating--the Entry Plug, even--some sort of control and containment system for an artificial Angel? Max is trying to get its attention, but Liam doesn't have to think twice to realize why that's a mistake. "Max, the blood!" Liam cries, as he sees that telltale spray.

        The Neo Helios braces again, its shield floating back into place as Liam digs in his heels. The possessed Eva slams into the Mobile Fighter with a tremendous crunch, bowling it over--but the way Liam positioned, the angle's too shallow. Rather than a clean kill, the bigger machine's weight helps propel the lighter one away. It churns through the turf, and sprays up shredded foliage--but it's not nearly as crushed as it could be. The chest plate is slightly concave, but it gets right back up.

        It goes for Rei. Rei is the only hope any of them have. "No," Liam says. "You're not taking ANYONE ELSE!" "You've already TAKEN TOO MUCH!" And Rei grabs for it. Open it, she says. A thin streamer of plasma erupts from the Neo Helios' remaining palm, and snaps out, lashing like the cutting filament of a heat wire. Liam tries to take off part of the Eva's side armor in one swift stroke.

KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with ASTRA - Prominence!
KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Focus!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley blocks Liam 7-020's ASTRA - Prominence, taking 1540 damage!
KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka nods back to Akane, a small smile crossing her face just briefly. It's good to know they're that in sync when it comes to fighting. But as they work, part of Unit-03's armor peels away... and they can see beneath it, what truly lies beneath.

Rikka had always felt there was something... strange, about the Evangelions. With their lithe form and fluid movements, they're not like any machine she's seen. But this - she didn't expect this.

"They're... alive?" Rikka gasps. They aren't machines. They're organic. It's horrifying. She feels ill to her stomach, a little. "What... what are they? Why? How?"

She doesn't have much time to dwell on that, for as soon as the Synapse Attack has been completed, Unit-03 is upon them. It charges, one of its many limbs grasping them tightly. It doesn't even slow down, it drags them violently along the ground even as it continues toward its real target. The cockpit shakes violently, but the harness keeps them from being thrashed around(though with the possibility for some soreness).

"Are you alright...?" Rikka gasps out, as the Neuronoid is hauled to its feet. But... she sees what's happening.

"Rei!" Rikka calls out, shocked. Open it, Rei says. Rikka grits her teeth.

"Let's try to make an opening for everyone. I'm going to try to restrain it with the claw - as soon as we grab on, gun it." Rikka says. It's the right claw that launches out this time - connected by chain it seeks to grapple onto the Evangelion and then yank it before retracting. With the treads being on the claws, that means balancing on one foot for a second - but Rikka has faith in Akane.

KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Chain Grapple!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Neon Genesis Junior High Students
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Neon Genesis Junior High Students
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully avoids Rikka Takarada's Chain Grapple
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Resupply Spirit Command.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Detonate Spirit Command, reducing the Powered Zenon to 1 HP!

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

"W--wh--" Borr stutters, looking at the decidedly organic reality of the Evangelion before them. "Are they all like that? How--!"

"Borr, stay with us!" Vit shouts -- but it's too late. Borr's horror led to Powered Zenon's harmonious movement stuttering. Blue-black blood sprays across Calibur, and the samurai screams in distress.

"I. I can't." Calibur manages, as he swings toward his comrades. "I can't."

Too swift to be stopped, the axe-tipped sword slams into Powered Zenon's torso, leaving a wide gash behind.

"Calibur, you have to go! Before it spreads!" Max shouts, and an instant later, the blood-soaked axe vanishes into brilliant white light. Miles away, the samurai appears from Oshansoo-san's screen, wheezing on the ground.

"Shit. Shit, shit." With a burst of blue light, Vit sends Powered Zenon leaping away from the remaining blood.

Stumbling, sparking with electric Light, Powered Zenon lands heavily. Pieces of armor chip away from their main body. Armor shattered, disarmed... It's clear, they're on their last legs.

But Asuka's Evangelion launches itself at Rei again.

It doesn't matter if they win.

"REI, GET AWAY FROM IT!" Borr screams, watching Eva-00 step into the grasp of its sister.

"The armor?" Vit chokes out, propelling Powered Zenon forward in staggering bursts. "You got it, Rei, just hang in there for me, okay?"

Desperately, the gemstones embedded in each remaining member of the Neon Genesis Junior High Students flashes. They only have moments remaining in this form, and they're terribly broken. But despite everything...

Light shines from within Powered Zenon's shattered body. It encompasses them in radiant sunlight, one arm raised toward the sky.

"This has to end!" Borr cries, their voice heavy with emotion.

Using the last of his strength, Vit sends Powered Zenon into the air. The combined War Deity brings a fist down against the opposite side of the corrupted Evangelion as Liam targets, electricity arcing between themselves and the ground.

"We're bringing you both home!" Vit raises his voice above the crashing sounds of thunder.

Powered Zenon hits the ground -- their armor cracking and shattering all the more from the jolt of it. Even as they begin to collapse, Max reaches out his armored limbs, brilliant with electricity. With a roar, he grasps the plug sticking out of the monstrous Evangelion's back.

And pulls.

Electricity fires wildly, far, far out of anyone's control. Powered Zenon crumbles away, losing all semblance of their form. Vit falls into light, then Borr, until only Max remains. Even as he begins to turn back into light, Max pulls, and pulls, and pulls.

"For Gridman--" The Hyper Agent manages, fading away to join his comrades.

KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Powered Breaker!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley parries Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Powered Breaker, taking 1200 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Unified Purpose activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Sundered Soul activates, causing Jam L1!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"A... kaiju?" Akane half-stammers, as she stares into that fleshy, violet eye. "Or -- is it...?" She loses track of her analysis; Rikka's able to keep the focus on the 'now,' though, and defend the pair even as they're rattled around in the cockpit. There are some shocks you just can't disappear with Linker Gel -- and Akane lets out a low groan as it stops.

"I'm -- fine," Akane stammers, though the truth is that she's shaken in lots of ways. Something about the Evangelion units, now that she sees them for what they are, is... can she even do this? Can she even accept this? Just what are they -- and why does NERV use such a thing...?

Rikka makes a plan, though, and Akane nods. "Ready," Akane says. ... It's strange to feel what this must have been like -- especially with so many of the same people here, now...

-- For now, what they can do is make an opening. Just as has been done before. Akane's ready to make all the necessary swaps -- though her first priority is to protect the two of them.

As Powered Zenon starts to crumble away and disappear, though -- fear overtakes her, a bit. ... What are they going to do, if even everyone here can't...?

KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rei Ayanami and Rikka Takarada with Awe.
KTS: Akane Shinjo has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Akane Shinjo inspires awe, increasing Rikka Takarada's Morale!
KTS: Akane Shinjo inspires awe, increasing Rei Ayanami's Morale!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Liam 7-020
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Rei Ayanami

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

The Angel has Unit-00 held with a singular hand at this point. It's body rises up, like a predator remembering it's actually bipedal, pulling its mass upwards by the leverage it has on it's fellow Evangelion. As the Evangelion grasps ahold of it with its free arms, Rei would feel that it's arms, still encased within its armor feel, far too thin to be an Eva's arms, far too flat within its armor.

The corrosion is spreading rapidly, but the AT Field is extending rapidly, the points of light clash and collide, grinding against each other. The Angel a limitless source of energy it would seem for their own, but 'limitless' does not mean 'impenetrable'. This is the purpose of the Evangelion, to force its way through the armor of an Angel's heart, to make it bare it, vulnerable to mankind's wisdom and knowledge.

The Angel BELLOWS, it's hideous call. A thing that feels like it cannot, should not exist in this world, but perhaps this world has been too long in mankind's grasp if that feels like it is so. Liam's plasma fills the gap, burning across the Evangelion's restraint armor, as it twists, and bubbles, and the thing's cry becomes seemingly higher pitched.

Rikka's claw lances out, and what its met with is an enormous hand meeting it palm to claw at the point of break, preventing it from grasping something more vital. It is so large, that violet eye glaring balefully at it, as more and more blood leaks out of that arm. When it yanks again, is it truly armor that it grips, or flesh.

There is a gout of blood all the same, spraying out of it, black like an Evangelion's but with that subtle tint of blue.

The Powered Zenon comes down upon its back, brilliantly aglow with electricity, and indeed that blue mold seems to burn away at first, when Bardiel's head turns around nearly a full 180 degrees to look upon them. In that moment, its palm lets go of Unit-00 to focus fully upon the threat. The Evangelion bends backwards upon the fading hyperagent, as it's electrified grasp flows through it, highlighting the head beneath the armor.

As the conjoined forces begin to discorporate, the Evangelion does not hesitate to bite right at the center of Powered Zenon's chest center mass, with a notable crunch, before motes of light erupt out of its maw. The Angel, berserk with pain, suddenly swings wildly. The Neuronoid is swept out of the air, slammed into by it's arms, knocking it straight towards the nearby power station that Unit-00 is connected to. Whereas the Neo-Helios is snatched by another hand, despite being shrouded in plasma.

At first it looks as if it might squeeze it to death, but the more it burns, the more it thinks better of it, as the armor on its hands burn and scald. It abruptly swings its arm up, contorting as it goes, bending in odd angles, before it pitches him away, as hard as it can. If Liam can't self-correct in time, he may be the source of a massive forest fire along a nearby mountainside...

... very quickly.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Rei Ayanami
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with Angelic Savagery!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rikka Takarada with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Angelic Savagery, taking 7020 damage!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has been defeated!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Neon Genesis Junior High Students!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Liam 7-020 with Give You A Hand!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat, taking 5985 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Liam 7-020 partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Give You A Hand, taking 3132 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Liam 7-020!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley continues a Formation attack!
BBSYS: Post 1262, 'Upcoming Unit Decommissions' has been published to Unit/Weapon Drops by Beam Coat.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Liam swears it won't take anyone else. He misses the Second already, Rei thinks. He's panicking. This is hurting him. But if he had not been here, if the Powered Zenon had not come, nor Rikka and Akane, then Rei would have been overborne and ravaged in that first stroke.

She didn't shoot, after all.

Strange blue lights begin to flicker in the panoramic view of the Evangelion's cockpit. They shudder slightly. The lights themselves pulsating. Something is snaking inwards. Rei trembles.

Does it hurt? She can hear its bellow, echoing strangely. Liam scores a truly awful blow, burning away biomass. The Angel must have limits; mighty and singular as they are, they have, thus far, all been killed. It would be a boast to say that this one will go so easily, for --

For consider: What is there behind this? Behind Eva-00? There is Eva-01, if its pilot can be recovered, fast enough. No word of Eva-01 has come yet. Eva-02 is mute without a pilot. A claw lances out and smashes against a hand. Flesh rips. Black fluid spraying into the air. The Powered Zenon moves...

Vit answers her. Borr pleads for something else. Vit insists. Calibur -- is Calibur alright?

She does not know.

The Angel touched this form. Perhaps it is merely a manifestation of light. Perhaps not. He may be dead. The other three strive and strike a mighty blow as they fade away, but Rei thinks of Liam, alone in his machine. Of Akane and Rikka huddled together and not giving up.

                are they going to die?

It's clearer now, a question. Rei can feel the sense of something looking up and does so herself, a crawling wriggle across her vision as she feels things dig deeper. Her body is starting to hurt. The AT Field is unfolded as far as it can go. She can not compel it further.

Two seconds of clarity and agony pass.

No.

Eva-00's grip tightens.

                how do you know?

Eva-00 trembles -- and then pulls upwards. For a fleeting moment, Eva-03's frame is brought just a little into the air, free from the ground, as the distorting Angel thrashes.

Rei turns north, and Eva-00 begins to run.

                what are you doing?

Rei sucks in a painful breath as she feels something shift slightly in her right lung. She remembers, perhaps too late, the moment when she felt something like what she felt when the others came: sitting on a bed in a confiscated hotel, waiting for nothing, and having a visitor.

Courage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Y9wjAgdI8

Eva-00 runs away, carrying the Angel. It thrashes, of course, but the AT Field in its flickering extension restrains it to some extent as well. Rei cannot go far in a relative sense, but a few dozen galloping, sprinting footfalls for an Evangelion are a decent double handful of kilometers. During the run, Rei drives Eva-00's fingers up to rip it partway free of the view, which works quite well, at the expense of a shooting tingling nerve-pinch sensation crawling up her arm.

It hurts, but the horrid thing is that it does not JUST hurt. The blue flickers and streaks grow more intense. Coming loose of anything other than some partially regrown tree farms, planted no doubt against better days in the late 0070, Rei twists and smashes the Angel into the ground. Meters of soil rip and roll away like old cloth as the bones of the nearby mountain are reached, the ground swelling.

Eva-00's left hand reaches outwards. Fumbling. Reaching for the front of the Angel -- smashing a suddenly clenched fist against it several times, each time with a sound like thunder, before finally sensing or seeing or intuiting some crack. Even as the fingers begin to swell and tingle they drive into the material and pull a cracked plate upwards with a huge wet sound.

        this is courage?

Rei drives Eva-00's left foot downwards, stomping on Eva-03's thigh or whatever it might resemble to pin the thing down. She pulls and pulls. The right hand lets go of that arm, which means that the shooting tingles become swiftly worse. The hands -- they wrap around the view of Eva-00, but not quite and completely. The right hand comes down as she grips the plate and pulls with more of those horrid, echoing wet noises. Eva-00 shudders but it drives onwards, with something like maniacal strength. It is starting to get difficult to tell where it ends and the Angel begins from a distance...

But Eva-00 isn't quite in direct line of sight to where they began, now.

Yes.

        they're coming
        i can 'feel' them

Pull, pull -- and there is a CRACK as material bends beyond its strength and Rei looks downwards at the half-revealed pulsating core, venous and wrapped by long thin tendrils. The operational remains. Well done, Rei thinks.

There are 23 seconds of active power remaining.

One of them happens with bleak realization of how she is out of options. The progressive knife is elsewhere. Knocked or dropped; it can't be helped. Rei opens them on the next one.

        the last time you thought about it

        was in 'that place'. they're from it, right?

Something like laughter... and something ELSE like laughter. Rei shifts out of her seat and turns to crawl backwards. Over the comm feed which has held only Rei breathing and making small noises, words come, thick and with effort.

"... I'm sorry. Max. Ikari."

'Why are you even asking questions like that? They're just things that need to die for humanity to live.'

"... everybody," Rei says, as she crawls largely out of the view of the 'dashboard camera' and grasps something that clicks once and makes a steady series of 'bwip-bwip' sounds. She looks forwards, in the lower left corner of the frame, and for a moment, she smiles.

"Thank you." She's pulling on something. "Sayona"

The signal ends.

Eva-00 contorts for a moment, raising itself partly upwards, dragging the Angel partway upright with its trembling hand. The head, rugose with the corruption of the Angel's attack, crests the nearby ridge of the mountain. For a fleeting moment, something in the persistence of vision, it looks like a great white figure is standing there and

The illusion breaks. A frame's length later, Eva-00 comes apart. A frame length's after that, the reason why happens.

The reflex reaction is preceded by a signal of MODE: D from the Drive-alpha system core. Interlaced safety locks breach. The detonation is completely according to all paperwork. A detonation of approximately 7.2 kilotons of explosive force is developed from within Eva-00's frame, propagating outwards.

You can see the shock wash over the trees, and the light, before the shock hits you. It is time enough to land or to rise. Rei moved far enough away that the danger is minimal.

The noise is not. It is memorable; after the immense blow of air pressure, the sound carries through, the superheated air's expansion creating a localized windstorm. When it fades, the tree-plantation is a gray expanse, a shallow crater that has reduced that ridge significantly, soil blown into a darkening column of particles into the air.

It would be a glorious sunset.

Eva-00 -- or at least its upper half, which has stayed somewhat intact -- must be made of some spectacularly stern stuff, because it remains recognizable, fallen upon the ground. The lower components, from about the waist, are nowhere to be found, or have been rendered unrecognizable.

There are no signals.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

BGM Change - Thanatos - Shiro Sagisu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWPcdMp0gUA

Courage.

It is courage to know what the Angel did. It is courage to pick it up and bear that weight anyway. Evangelion Unit-00 runs, and the Angel without its AT Field has trouble finding it's footing. It's feet flail as it tries to ferally twist within its grapple, it's hands pawing and clawing. It's neck turns and gnashes again and again and again.

All things have a survival instinct. Even Angels. It is courage to ignore it.

It bellows, and shrieks. The Angel is trying it's hardest to survive in this moment. Even as Eva-00's fist smashes against it repeatedly. It screams, as all four hands try to latch onto it. Even as it's leg buckles. The hand pulls against its armor. And the thing pulls against Unit-00 with all of its might to escape this horrid fate.

Even if cannot know the wisdom of man, the courage of man, it can still knows enough to FEAR in this moment. Evangelion Unit-00 contorts, and the Angel claws at it, as the energy builds. And builds.

The detonation is fierce, the shock wave a torrid eruption of light. And the Angel is at ground zero for it. An echo of what happened earlier at Matsushiro, though perhaps not on the same scale.

It feels like it should be enough. By all rights it ought to be.

Yet, even as the landscape smoulders, the dark Colossus, rises up against the backdrop of the sun, it is lower in the sky than when this battle began, but a few hours from dusk. It is a melted silhouette of burnt flesh standing on all fours, it's two additional limbs gone, burned away such that not even stumps are left.

And it has the broken upper half of Evangelion Unit-00 in it's teeth. It's mouth dug right into the back of its neck where the entry plug is. It is not looking at any of them.

It is not looking at anything at all, temporarily blind from the flashburns, it knows not where it is, save that its teeth still hold its foe within its grasp. It's mouth abruptly spasms, as Evangelion Unit-00's tortured neck suddenly cracks with a distant sound of bone crunching as its head lolls at an awkward angle. Then like a feral dog, it's entire body swings to one side, and thrashes, as it casts it away.

The upper half of the corpse goes flying, far beyond, a distant crash is heard.

As the creature, down on all fours, limps away, and then, freezes. It is as still as a statue, all melted armor and burnt flesh, but... alive. And dangerous, the telltale shimmer of an ATField tells the tale. NERV would know, after all, it is the OCU military dropping an N2 mine on the Fourth Angel that sold the necessity of Evangelions to the world.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

                        Have you decided on a name?

                        ... Shinji if it's a boy. Rei if it's a girl.

                        Shinji. ... Rei. Hmhm! Shinji... Rei... Rei.
                        Rei... Ayanami.

                        ... No. Not Ayanami. Rei...

                        "Ikari?"

Gendo Ikari's stare affixes on the ruined blast zone where Eva-00 once stood, now only containing what little remains. It has remained so for an interminable time now, a hidden gaze stubbornly affixed to the corner of the viewscreen where the upper half of Unit-00 landed, even as warnings and shouts of panic reach his ears from NERV staff, pilots and allies from the Hyper World alike.

"Cannot confirm status of the First Child! Connection is lost! Unit-00 is... is..."

"Twelfth Angel is still alive! I repeat, still alive! It's retreating--"

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Why...? Why would she--"

He has not budged. The slow tightening of white gloves against one another is practically imperceptible to anyone not looking for it as Fuyutsuki's voice calls him back to reality, and the end result of his order to Rei Ayanami, the First Child, becomes painfully clear.

"Ikari. Without an Evangelion, we can't continue pursuit," Fuyutsuki continues, as the trio of subordinates that create the main throng below him look up his way.

"... And the First Child is..."

Maya looks away, lips trembling. Makoto's hands are clenched tight as he hunches over, staring at the screen in wide-eyed disbelief. Even Shigeru has gone pale, something bordering on incomprehension in his stare.

"... Ikari," Fuyutsuki whispers, "without the First Child, we can't..."

"Enough."

Again, that single word cuts through, but this time it bears an entirely different wait to it than it did the day that fateful decision was made regarding Eva-03. Silence falls across the personnel on the bridge, undercut by resounding alarms and the distant pitter-patter of racing footsteps. Those might be easily overlooked in the face of the light reflecting off orange tinted lenses, hiding the windows to Gendo Ikari's soul, as he stands and transmits across open channels.

"All pilots -- do not pursue. You are to regroup at Geofront immediately. Do not be foolish."

He does not offer condolences, or understanding. He does not offer explanations or answers. The rush of footsteps draws nearer, louder.

"We have other Evangelions."

Just orders, unflappable and unmoved, in the face of the horror that has already unfolded. Not a single breath wasted, unlike the rasping pants just audible in the corridor outside the bridge--

"Expedite installation of the Dummy System. Emergency maintenance will be offered to those units that require it. Pursuit of the Twelfth Angel will resume when Evangelion Unit-01 and the Third Child are ready for deployment."

        Commander Ikari.
        Would you like to have a meal with Shinji?

He turns. And as he does, Shinji rams through the door below, stumbling into the open-plan command center. He nearly falls but catches himself at the last second, drawing everyone's attention. Everyone's but his father's.

                        Rei... Ikari.

Gendo looks towards Fuyutsuki, his expression unreadable. "... Fuyutsuki. Send Retrieval to the wreckage."

Below, Shinji stabilizes himself with hands on his knees, lungs heaving as his wide eyes stare, shaking, up at the wreckage of Unit-00 on the viewscreens. His teeth clench as his expression warps into something wretched and teary. The moment he has the air for it, he howls:

                        Shinji...

"AYANAMIIIIIIII!!"

The sound of his agony covers Gendo's murmur to Fuyutsuki: "Salvage whatever is left."

                        Yes. They're perfect.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

The Kakuseijin V2's claw meets an enormous hand, rather than grappling. A violet eyes stares at it. Rikka stares back, her own eyes open wide. Their motion is stopped. Rikka watches as the rest of the Neon Genesis Junion High Students vanish, one by one - and then, the berserk Angel attacks. They're in no good position to dodge or more.

"Hold on...!" Rikka cries out. One of the Angel's arms slams into the Neuronoid, hurling it violently into the nearby power stations. It crashes into it, falling to the ground to a heap. It's still active, barely... but its pilots are another matter. For a moment Rikka is unresponsive, her hands slipping away from the control sticks immersed in Linker Gel - and then she stirs, dazed by the force of the impact.

"What's going... Rei?" Rikka murmurs, her voice slightly slurred. She sees what's being displayed on the screen - and when she realises what's happening, her eyes opening wide, seizing the control sticks again. "Rei!"

'Thank you.' 'Sayona-'

"Don't...!" Rikka cries out - but it's too late.

There is a glorious sunset - and Rikka goes slack, shaking her head in disbelief.

...But then, as the smoke clears, something appears... Unit-03 is still there. Still alive. Even after all of that, still alive. But, Unit-00...

Horror crosses her face as the remains are thrown aside.

"A-Akane... Akane, I..." Rikka entreats, at a loss for words. She needs her now more than ever.

...They're ordered to retreat. It's for the best. She's in no condition to fight right now.

None of them are.

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

Max opens his eyes on the other side of Oshansoo-san, groaning behind his metallic mask.

"You good?" Vit asks, clapping his hand on the large Hyper Agent's shoulder. "We're all okay. Calibur's beat up, but he'll be alright."

"Let's go. We can't leave the kids." Borr insists, already pulling back their sleeve. "Even if we just evac them--"

A moment later, Calibur sees the distant shockwave. He can only speak half a warning before it hits, knocking all four Neon Genesis Junior High Students to the ground. Vit wraps an arm around Calibur, and Max hangs onto Borr.

"ACCESS FLASH!"

Vit's voice is overly-loud in the silence that follows. In his fighter jet form, the Hyper Agent appears next to his comrades, silently beckoning them with his open cockpit. Max, Calibur, and Borr climb inside. Sky Vitter takes to the air, leaving a shockwave of his own as he accelerates toward the battlefield.

"Not Rei. Not Rei." Borr mutters to themself, clenching their hands into fists. "Not any of them. But not Rei. Not after he trusted them to us."

Calibur hunches forward in his seat, eyes shut. Max, again, is silent, staring out the window.

"There." Max instructs Vit.

"...Guys, I don't think..." Sky Vitter's voice fades.

Vit projects himself to Akane and Rikka, and Liam, speaking through their comms. "Hey, you all good?" A pause. "We're going in to look. It's okay not to, alright? You can stay back. You don't have to see this."

There are no life signs. Vit accepts this before his comrades.

From a safe distance, the Neon Genesis Junior High Students witness the vicious, feral once-Eva tear apart Eva-00's corpse. Borr shrieks as they see the creature with its teeth sunk into Unit-00's neck. Its entry plug.

"GET US IN THERE!" Borr slams a fist on the side of the plane's cockpit. "NOW!"

"Hang on!" Vit circles, staying away from the grisly scene. "Look, this thing -- we couldn't take it together. It's gonna swat me out of the sky if it senses me. We can't, Borr. There's nothing we can do."

Tears falling down their face, Borr punches the wall of Sky Vitter's interior again. "She could be alive in there! We have to risk it!"

Calibur groans, closing his eyes. He will not weigh in on this.

Borr and Vit argue, back and forth, their voices gradually growing louder. As they do, the feral creature tosses Unit-00's body away. It limps away, and then stills. Vit turns from the scene, accompanied by Borr's screaming.

"That is enough." Max rumbles, and both parties go quiet. "We cannot risk waking Asuka's Evangelion. We must tend to the other children."

Borr wails in distress, covering their face. Vit, without a word, flies toward the Neo-Helios, and Akane and Rikka's new machine.

"I'm sorry." Max murmurs, staring back at the wreckage. It's all he can offer before turning his attention to the living.

"Akane, Rikka, Liam. Please stay away from both Rei and Asuka's machines. I believe, for now, we should go along with Commander Ikari's instruction. My comrades and I will find answers. I do not wish the three of you to face reprimand for attempting the same." Max hesitates. "Please rely on us adults in this matter."

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        In the cockpit, Liam watches the Angel's reaction with widened eyes. His pulse echoes in his ears. "Come on, Rei," he urges, as the two giants grapple with each other. Powered Zenon comes down with a singularly powerful strike--

        Light plays across Liam's face as he watches Max, Borr, and Vit vanish, one after another, and for a moment, Liam desperately hopes they've killed it.

        They give their all, and it's not enough. The Neo Helios freezes, and this costs Liam dearly; the Angel grabs it out of the sky and squeezes, and then hurls it. The machine has already endured horrific stress. The shock of being thrown tears free armor plates, and blows open another plasma conduit. Liam screams, curls the fingers of his good hand, and twists his wrist. The ASTRA system--the second reactor providing the Mobile Fighter's plasma--shuts down, immediately. At the same time, he hits the jets. His eyes are closed. The world is a blur of green and blue, and the Mobile Trace is making it feel like it's him coming apart.

        The Neo Helios hits the grass, and skids like a skipping stone. Liam dangles in his restraints as the machine cools down around him. There's a fire outside. He's out of the fight. But--

        "...Rei?" An exterior camera, still intact, focuses on movement--Eva-00, grappling with Eva-03, dragging it away. "REI! WHAT ARE YOU--?!"

        It all happens so fast.

        '...everybody. Thank you. Sayona--'

        The explosion turns the cockpit display into a solid field of white. Liam feels a sinking numbness in his heart, even as his eyes brim with tears. Flattened against the ground, lying in a crater of its own making, the Neo Helios is merely jostled about. The cockpit turns bright red; the main power has finally given out, and the emergency generator's kicked in.

        Liam watches. All that, and it's still alive. All that, and all the Commander says is 'regroup.'

        "Suit critically damaged," comes Liam's reply to Borr, somehow despairing and numb at once. "Immobile. Assistance required. Rei. Asuka. Are they. Please."

        'Please rely on us adults in this matter.'

        "O...okay." His voice is tiny and fragile, but he says the word anyway, and it's sincere. "Help me."

        You couldn't help them in the end, he thinks. Either of them.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane and Rikka's failed attack whips them around, though Akane doesn't get it quite as bad as Rikka -- the advantage of being in the other cockpit. "Rikka! Rikka --" she starts, but when she speaks, there's a moment of relief. She's not allowed to spend much time in that moment, though, as in the next moment -- she glances to Eva-00.

It can't have more than 30 seconds of power left, Akane realizes -- so why is Rei taking a moment to speak to them? She's --

'I'm sorry. Max. Ikari. ... everybody.'

"No --" is all Akane can get out, as she sees that smile.

An explosion pushes the Kakuseijin V2 back again, and when it clears... Akane slumps forward. Her teeth grit in anguish, as she sees what's become of Unit-00, and of the Angel that was Unit-03.

She never really managed to work up the courage to apologize to Rei, even -- and now, even that's beyond her power.

"... Rikka," Akane breathes, trying to stabilize herself. There's -- something she needs to do. Something only she can do. She's more comfortable with Accept Mode, so she's --

"I have control," Akane says, both for herself and to keep the Neon Genesis Junior High Students up to date. She continues, for Max, "... yeah. We're retreating to the Geofront. Depending on how V2 looks, we might be pulling back to G-Island City from there... we can't afford to lose it before the Invisible Burst operation even starts." It feels so -- cold, to say that. To turn her eyes toward the future without even taking the time to mourn what's just happened.

But what else can she do? Rei gave everything to give them the chance to keep moving -- all she can do is... her best, moving forward from that.

"Thanks, everyone," she thinks to say, to Gridman's allies, after a few more seconds.

She glances down to the other cockpit camera -- toward Rikka, trying to find the words... and can't quite manage it, even still. Sometimes there are things too big, too messy, too painful to express.