Neon Genesis Evangelion

Blood Lust
By Aaron Kasmov

	"What was that?" Ritsuko said rhetorically, suddenly, drawing stares from the others in the room.
	"What was what?" Misato asked, turning to her blonde-haired counter-part. "Is something wrong?"
	"I'm not sure. Maybe." Ritsuko punched a few buttons on her console, bringing up a larger image of one of the innumerable readings the techs were gathering. She pressed a few more buttons, and the reading changed. Normally a dull, blue line, for an instant, the reading had become a violent and erratic explosion of red motion. "That's strange." Ritsuko mumbled.
	"What is it?" Misato asked.
	"It's a mental reading." Ritsuko said, thinking to herself.
	"Well, that helps." Misato mumbled under her breath.
	"I heard that." Ritsuko said, without looking away from the reading. She stared for a second more, than hit a blue button. "Rei?"
	"Yes." Came the wispy, ghost of a voice.
	"Rei, is everything alright?" Ritsuko asked.
	"Yes." Rei answered back, her soft voice devoid of any emotion.
	"What were you thinking about a few seconds ago?" Ritsuko asked, pulling up a cardiograph.
	There was a short pause before the young girl answered back. "The moon." Rei answered. The cardiograph jumped.
	"She's lying." Ritsuko said.
	"You needed a cardiograph to tell you that?" Misato said, giving her friend a sidelong glance.
	"Something's wrong with Rei's blood levels. I can't tell what it is. The pressure is subtly changing at erratic intervals." Came one of the male techs in the corner.
	"Hmm." Ritsuko said, drawing a curious look from Misato.
	"What?" Misato asked. She got anxious whenever Ritsuko got like this.
	"Shinji? Asuka? Toji?" Ritsuko asked.
	"Yes." Came the dull young male's voice.
	"'Sup." Came Toji's voice.
	"Ja!" Came Asuka's voice, forgetting her Japanese for a moment.
	"Are you three alright?" Answers were phrased uniquely, but they came out all the same.
	"It's probably nothing." Misato said, lost as to what Ritsuko was trying to do.
	"Alright, you four." Ritsuko said with a sigh. "We're stopping the test. Get dressed and have a good night. We'll see you on Friday." Ritsuko looked the other techs, not having to say a word. They began to stop the test.

	"Hey, Ritsuko?" Misato called, as she followed her out of the room. "What's going on?" Ritsuko had been expecting this.
	"It's really nothing, Captain. I just don't think that we should continue the tests until we can evaluate the data and determine what happened."
	"But it was a small thing. Since when has that ever stopped us from running tests?" Misato pressed. There was more to this. She was sure of it.
	"Captain," Ritsuko said, emphasizing the word just enough to subtly remind Misato of her superior rank. "I try to put the children first in the few times where I can." Ritsuko turned, walking away.
	"Ritsuko, I don't believe you for a second." Misato said to herself. "Something's wrong."

	Shinji turned his head, looking over his shoulder. Two seats back, to his left, Rei sat, holding her stomach. Her blue hair hid her left eye, as usual, but she looked like she was in pain. Shinji wasn't sure why he thought to turn around to her in the middle of class. He didn't remember hearing a sound, but she looked so uncomfortable.
	The rest of class rolled off Shinji's back, his eyes constantly turning back to the silent Rei. At the bell, he turned and headed back to her.
	"Um, hi." Shinji said, his voice wavering around the tiny girl. Rei said nothing; she just turned her attention to him. Her large red eyes looked up at Shinji, his attention captivated by them. "Rei?" He asked, absently. She blinked, unsure of what he was trying to say. "I . . ."
	"Hey!" Toji said, slapping Shinji on the back. "We got to go buddy." Toji turned to Rei, struggling to keep his cool under her probing eyes. "Sorry to steal your boyfriend, Rei, but we got to get to go."
	"We . . . do?" Shinji asked, absently.
	"Yeah." Toji pressed, out of the corner of his mouth. "Remember?" Toji motioned over his shoulder at the boy-flocked Asuka at the front of the classroom.
	"Right." Shinji said, suddenly, his face lighting up a bit. "Right." Shinji turned back to Rei, smiling. "Sorry. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Shinji followed Toji's lead out of the classroom.

	"Ikari!"
	Shinji stopped, turning around with a confused expression on his face. Standing outside the door, panting like she had run across the entire classroom, Rei was leaning against the wooden doorframe. "I . . ." Rei started, but she was panting too heavily.
	Shinji took a few steps towards her, looking confused, and wondrous, at the same time. "Rei?" He asked. As he took the step that brought him within arm's reach, he heard the sound of something liquid falling on the floor. He looked down, seeing a tiny red spot next to Rei's foot. He looked up at her, not understanding what he was seeing. Rei blinked, looking down also.
	Another drop splattered on the white floors of the school. Shinji followed the drop up to Rei's knee. Spreading down from underneath her skirt, a small string of blood was just reaching her socks. She looked up at Shinji, as he looked to her. Unable to keep his gaze, she turned away, fighting to look calm.
Shinji noticed the other students walking by, staring. Pointing. Some were even laughing. Shinji grabbed Rei's limp hand, leading her quickly down the hallway, finding an unlocked closet.
	Toji leaned against the doorframe of the classroom, chewing on a toothpick. "You could have helped, you know." Toji said, arrantly. Asuka just tossed her hair at the comment, continuing to chat idly with the gathered group of boys.

	"What's wrong?" Shinji asked, as he shut the door behind them. Inside the large closet, the dim light hid Rei very well. She sat on a turned over bucket, drawing her knees up under her chin. Shinji had never seen her like this. He wasn't sure what was wrong, but it was affecting her seriously.
"I woke up this morning and my bed was covered in blood." Rei said, her eyes turned away from Shinji. Even though she was curled up, hiding, her voice was still hollow and distant.
	"Did you get hurt?" Shinji asked.
	"No. There was no wound." Rei answered. "I was bleeding from . . ." She didn't finish. Shinji wasn't sure what she meant, but he knew not to press her. "I don't know what's wrong with me. It started yesterday, as I was leaving school." Rei curled up even tighter. "Shinji . . ." She said, softly.

	"It would seem that Rei Ayanami has started her period." Fuyutsuki said, looking over the readings with Ritsuko. "How bizarre."
	"Yes." Ritsuko commented, pulling out the original reading that had caught her attention. "We didn't think that she'd be able to."
	"We didn't think that she'd be able to even mature sexually." Fuyutsuki said. "The fact that she even hit puberty was remarkable." Fuyutsuki put the clipboard down, his eyes turning to the mysterious man behind the desk. "The question is, how does this change things?"
	"It doesn't." Came Gendo Ikari's harsh voice from the other side of his private desk, far away from the eyes and ears of the rest of NERV. "The fact that Rei is experiencing this changes nothing. We will continue as we always have."
	"Well, it means you won't be having your midnight 'meetings' anymore, huh Gendo?" Ritsuko said so, so lowly that only Fuyutsuki heard. He tried to show no sign of what he had heard, but the look on Gendo's face was unreadable. He might have heard it.

	"You don't know what it is?" Toji said, looking surprised. Rei shifted uncomfortably, still looking away from the two boys that were sharing the cramped closet with her. "It's your period. It's when you body is, I don't know, kind of cleaning itself. I think it has to do with pregnancy." Toji racked his brain over the idea, but couldn't come to a conclusion.
	"Pregnancy." Rei said, her eyes frosting over at the idea. "Childbirth." She said, very slowly. Shinji was captivated by the way Rei said that. The image of Rei, holding a tiny baby, a smiling birth, made him feel warm inside. Then, the image of Rei, the tiny girl that she was, with a bulging stomach entered his head. The idea just seemed wrong.
	"What should I do?" Rei asked, still not looking at the two boys.
	"I . . . don't know." Toji said, scratching his head. "I got no idea what you do with this type of thing."
	"Could Asuka help?" Shinji asked, half-heartedly. Toji gave him a harsh look. "What about Misato?"

	"Rei, it's very natural."
	Shinji could hear Misato's voice through the thin walls of the apartment. He could hear everything they were talking about. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't listen to his music to drown out the one-sided dialogue. The whole conversation had intrigued him. Not so much the content, but the images it conjured up. And not those of the subject. Of Rei. Rei, as a mother. Somehow, Shinji could see that. She was such a pale, wisp of a girl, but he could see her as a mother.
	'Hmm." Shinji thought aloud. "She should have met my mother. She would have liked her."

	"The tests are conclusive." Ritsuko was saying. "Rei is really having her period. She's completely functional." Ritsuko was looking a clipboard with almost no interest, much the way she would look at an anomaly in a computer program. "Who would have thunk it?"
	"Well, don't you think it's pretty, I don't know, spectacular?" Fuyutsuki asked. Ritsuko just shook her head. "Okay, then."

	"Angel attack! Repeat, we have an angel sighted over the ocean!" Came the booming voice over the intercom. "All EVA pilots please report to your units."

	"Well, well, Shinji." Asuka said, giving him a sidelong glance while the two rode the elevator down to the changing rooms. "What happened with the First Child? I heard the little robot 'sprung a leak'."
	"That's really not very nice, you know." Shinji said, his voice wavering as he did.
	"Oh, I'm sorry." Asuka said, in the most humiliating voice she could muster. "I'll leave you and that little tin-cup alone." Shinji just bit down on his anger, closing his eyes.
	"By the way," Asuka said, sliding in close to Shinji. "Why are you fawning over her?" Asuka's voice got very seductive, very low. "After all," Asuka took her hand, slowly sliding it up Shinji's leg, almost to where his thighs met. "I'm more 'knowledgeable' in that area."
	The doors slid open. Toji and Rei, already suited up, were staring at the two. Asuka smiled at Toji, winked at Rei, and blew a kiss to Shinji. "See ya later." She walked into the girl's changing room. Shinji, who hadn't moved an inch since Asuka had moved so close, dropped his bag, his expression that of a deer in headlights.

	"Shinji." Came Rei's voice from behind him in the cargo elevator up to the EVAs. Shinji looked over his shoulder, seeing Rei, her cheeks taking on the slightest tint. "Shinji, thank you." She said, like it took effort. Shinji turned around to Rei, trying to smile. "Be careful. Out there."
	"Sure." Shinji said, feeling awkward. "You too, huh?" He asked. Rei said nothing, as the doors to the elevator opened.

	"What have we got?" Misato called, standing in the front of Central Dogma. The position she occupied was fast coming to be known as the 'Bark Station'.
	"The angel seems to be sliding across the city. It doesn't have any mass that we can detect, but it is three dimensional."
	"Meaning, we can kill it." Misato said, feeling unusually aggressive today. "Deploy EVAs!"

	"Unit 1, you and Unit 2 go straight at it. Unit 0 and Unit 3 will give you cover fire as needed." Misato's voice seemed on-target, giving each pilot a bit more of their needed confidence. "Unit 0, we're sending you another rifle, similar to the one you and Shinji used to fight the fifth angel. Understood?" The collective affirmatives sped through the channels as the four EVAs deployed.

	"Well, Shinji. Looks like you get to follow me again? You're so lucky." The red giant barreled down the street, keeping low to stay out of sight.
	"You know, I'm the one Misato called first." Shinji said, as the purple behemoth skidded up behind Asuka. "And we're suppose to be a team, not independents."
	"Well, that's just a formality." Asuka said, smiling to Shinji on the view screen.
	"Could you two get on with it?" Toji said, his image appearing on both their screens. "I'm getting bored here."
	The red and purple giants broke apart from one another, running down parallel streets, heading for where the angel was suppose to be. "You should be able to see it in just a second." Misato's voice said over the intercom. As the two giants came over the hill, between the buildings, they could see the angel all too clearly.
	"Mein Gott." Asuka whispered, her voice gone. Shinji couldn't even find the self-awareness to say anything.
	In the very center of the city, lodging itself in-between everything, was the greatest abomination that any human had laid eyes on. Like a twisted monstrosity from a fevered dream, the angel had hundreds of eyes, scattered across its hideous, black body. Mouths, of all shapes and sizes were placed randomly about the beast, their white teeth shining like sick pearls in the night. Shinji thought he was going to throw up.

	"It's not registering as a regular angel. It might be something else." Came the male tech's voice.
	"Like what, an alien?" Misato asked, rhetorically.
	"Given our usual days around here, that would be a nice change." Ritsuko said from her desk. Misato smiled at the joke, but she focused on the task at hand.

	"Um, Misato?" Came Shinji's voice as he stared at the monster. "Exactly what am I suppose to do?"
	"Baka!" Came Asuka's voice so loud that it felt like it would crack his skull. "Idiot! You attack it!"
	"Well, attack what?" Shinji asked, meekly. Asuka was about to shout back her answer, but it registered that she didn't know either. "Shut up! Just attack!" Asuka's red EVA went flying towards the block mountain, pulling her vibro-knife.
	"She couldn't even wait for some guns?" Shinji asked, meekly.
	The red Eva leapt into action, slicing the thin blade at the nearest appendage of the black beast. The blade slid through the appendage, not even leaving a scar, but also meeting with no resistance. "Huh?" Asuka shouted.

	"Captain!" Came the tech's voice. "The target! Part of it's solidified."

	A black tentacle reached up, wrapping itself around the red EVAs leg, lifting it high into the air. With a mad swing, the red EVA was sent flying into one of the taller buildings. EVA 1 charged the monster, but the same black tentacle simply knocked him aside like a rag doll.

	"EVA 0 and 3, attack. Give Shinji and Asuka space to retreat!" Shouted Misato.

	A tiny blue line of energy zipped through the air, hitting the tentacle dead on. The purple EVA scrambled to it's feet, grabbing Asuka's EVA. "Come on, Asuka. We've got to go." Shinji yelled through the intercom.
	"No!" Asuka screamed. "We can take it. I just got careless." Asuka broke free of Shinji's hold, reaching one of the reserve armory buildings. The metal plating slid open, revealing an arsenal of gigantically proportional guns. Asuka reached inside, pulling out a huge rifle. "Let's go!" She screamed, dashing back for the monster.
	"Well, she's excited." Toji mumbled over the intercom to Shinji. "Shinji, grab a pair of pistols and give the brat cover. Rei and I will try to move to a better position."
	"Uh, okay." Shinji mumbled, grabbing two of the pistols in the building. Letting the guns cock, he charged after Asuka.
	Asuka jumped over a building, rolling as she landed. She came up in a crouch, firing narrowly over the low buildings in the area. The shots whizzed through the air like short beams of light, passing straight through the gigantic black beasts. "Vas?" Asuka shouted. "What is that thing?"

	"It's not an angel." Came Ritsuko's voice from the corner of Central Dogma. "Its entire structure is different. Whatever it is, we've never faced anything like it before."
	"Great." Misato cursed, under her breath. "Do the Mardukes have any advice?"
	"Yeah." Came an unfamiliar male voice. Misato looked up, as did the rest of the techs in Central Dogma, seeing four men leveling guns at them. "Bend over, put your head between your knees, and kiss your ass good-bye."

	Shinji dove to the right, firing shots from both pistols at the black beast. The shots, like Asuka's simply passed through it, with no harm. "How do we hurt this thing?" Shinji nearly screamed.
	"Hey, you!" Asuka screamed at Toji, as she was changing clips in her rifle. "Are you and 'Wonder Child' ever going to do anything?"
	"Like what, you German . . ." Toji started to shout back.
	"Like use that pea-shooter that Misato gave you." Asuka screamed back. "Rei, are you even listening?" Asuka screamed.
	"Yes."
	"Well, as the highest ranking EVA pilot, I'm ordering you to do your job and fire that gun." Asuka said, her condescending voice burning Toji and Shinji.
	"I can't." Rei said. "In order to fire, I need to . . ."
	"Get out of the way." Asuka said, knocking Rei's blue EVA away from the laser. Rei's Unit 0 rolled over two buildings, stopping against a third. "I'll show you how to fire a laser!" Asuka lay down, grabbing the laser's handle, taking aim right at the monster's core.
	"NO!" Screamed Rei, her voice shrieking through the intercoms.
	"Asuka, don't!" Screamed Toji. "Shinji's still . . ."
	Asuka pulled the trigger.

	Bullets ripped through the air, pinning Misato down next to one of the techs. Misato bend around the metal desk, firing three arrant shots from her pistol before the machine gun fire returned. She ducked back behind the desk, giving the tech a wink.
	"Who are those guys?" asked the tech, gripping her clipboard close to her.
	"Oh, they're probably just my fan club here, wondering why I haven't up-dated my website." Misato fired off two more shots. In front of her, the two male techs had unloaded the emergency gun supply and were starting to return fire. "I think they're some one from the Japanese government, but who knows."
	"They're not wearing a uniform that I've ever seen." The tech said, trying to hold back tears. Meanwhile, high above, Dr Ikari was still seated at his desk, not moving.
	"Fuyutsuki." The gray man said, his voice the same volume it would have been if there wasn't gunfire. "I want you to turn on the automatic defense system."
	"Are you mad?" Fuyutsuki yelled back. "That'll kill everyone in here."
	"Only if they're moving. Now do it!" Gendo ordered. Fuyutsuki gave Gendo a harsh look, which seemed to have no effect on the man, then pressed a yellow button on the side of Gendo's desk. There was a loud rush of air, then the blaring of klaxons. For four seconds there was machine gun fire. The silence.

	Shinji was hit dead on with the laser beam, light exploding from his location. "NOOOO!!!" Screamed Rei. The blue EVA turned to the still-laying red Eva, blood on its mind. The blue EVA grabbed the red one by the nape of its neck, lifting it high into the air. With a speed that no one had imagined that Rei had, her Eva spun around, planting its foot into Asuka's chest. The red EVA was sent flying.
	"I'll kill you!" Screamed Rei as she ran to where Asuka's EVA had landed. She dropped onto the EVA's chest with both knees, her fists raining down on the EVA's armored body. She grabbed the rear plate on the head, tearing at the armor. Her blue EVA reared its head up, like a beast in an infernal scream. With a sudden burst of movement, Rei tore Asuka's faceplate off.
	"Rei!" Screamed Toji, as his black EVA grabbed her left arm. Rei whirled around, grabbing his neck. Lifting him into the air, Rei threw Toji back at the monster, screaming the whole time.
	With Rei's back turned, Asuka stood, drawing her vibro-kinfe. As Rei turned back to Asuka, the red EVA slid the blade horizontally across EVA Unit 0's stomach. Blood poured from the EVA as Rei dropped to her knees. She looked down, seeing blood spread from the apex of her legs. Her real blood. She looked up at Asuka, her face contorted in rage. She didn't see the red EVA. She didn't see a gigantic mech, she saw the bratty self-proclaiming bitch that had killed Shinji!
	"DIE!" Screamed Rei, as she charged at Asuka. Asuka grabbed the blue EVA's head, sending it crashing into a nearby building. The blue EVA was up in a heartbeat, her attention turned back to the red EVA. Asuka beckoned for Rei to return, which Rei did gladly.

	"Report." Came Gendo's voice, still seated at the command chair of Central Dogma.
	"We've got wounded." Called Misato, from down below. Her voice had the tinniest hint of hysteria in it, but she was remaining calm.
	"I don't care." He said, angrily. "The EVAs."
	"EVA Unit 1 is not responding." Came Ritsuko's voice, sounding painful. "Unit 3 is motionless. I think the pilot's knocked out. Unit 2 and Unit 0 are . . . are . . . having a wrestling match?"

	Rei sent Asuka flying into a building. As Asuka landed against he tall skyscraper, nearly knocking the white building over, Rei clotheslined her, knocking her over the building. Asuka landed hard, almost immediately taking three hard kicks to the unprotected face by Rei.
	"You bitch!" Screamed Asuka, holding her face. The registered feedback from her EVA was telling her that her face had been ripped off and her skull was cracking. Neither was true, but Asuka felt it nonetheless.
	Asuka threw a fast kick at Rei, managing to get her leg caught by the blue EVA. The blue EVA pushed forward, throwing Asuka's balance. She managed to keep from falling over, but Rei planted a hard punch to the EVA's unprotected face, sending pieces of matter flying.

	"Whoa." Toji mumbled, shaking his head. "What the hell hit me?" Toji looked up from his monitor, checking the immediate area. The black shape was starting to move slowly towards the two girls fighting. "Shit." Toji cursed, still checking around. "Yo! Shinji, you there?" Toji called.
	
	Shinji opened his eyes, seeing the warm sky high above. He sat up, his hands feeling the warm grass of the summer field. A gentle breeze flew up, sending the dandelions tossing in the wind as the trees that surrounded him bent happily at the summer day. Shinji stood slowly, looking around at the beautiful heaven he had entered.

	"EVA 1 is active!" Shouted the tech, blood staining her jacket. 
	"Its readings are still off line. No word from the pilot." Came the other tech.
	"EVA 3." Misato called. "Toji, go check on Shinji."
	"Right." Toji answered back.
	"Shouldn't we break-up the cat fight?" Fuyutsuki asked, almost rhetorically.
	Misato raced over to the four gunmen sitting in the pool of blood. They were wearing black uniforms, their only distinguishing marking being that of a silver triangle with a smaller red triangle in the center. "What the . . ." Misato whispered. "They can't be." She said. "They were dissolved before first Second Impact."
	Unbeknownst to Misato, Gendo was watching from atop his heightened desk.

	Shinji was walking dreamily down the spring path, heading towards the sounds of laughter. As he crested the hill, her saw the sources of the laughter. Rei and Asuka were sitting on a striped blanket, food spread out beneath an umbrella. Asuka was wearing her favorite yellow sundress, just as Rei was wearing her school uniform. Shinji smiled at the warm moment as he walked over to join them.

	The purple EVA plowed into the center of the fight between the red and blue EVA, forcing them apart. Rei was sent stumbling back a few steps, but Asuka was sent flying against a building. The purple EVA turned back to the blue EVA, helping it stand. The blue EVA was lifted up like a doll, and placed delicately on it's own feet.
	Asuka rammed into the purple EVA's back, sending it smashing against Rei. The two giants collapsed against the building, crumpling on top of one another. The blue EVA was sent over the side of the building, falling down onto the open ground below.

	Shinji raced down the field, narrowly ducking under Asuka's quick arm. Asuka was laughing at him, trying to catch him, so he would be 'it'. Shinji dodged her again, changing direction to get away from her. Rei was laughing at the game from where she was sitting on top of the hill, her beautiful smile making Shinji's heart race. He stopped running near Rei, looking up at her. She smiled at him, giving him a harmless wink.

	"Asuka! Toji! Shinji!" Screamed Ritsuko. "The monster's got Rei!"

	 With a black tentacle wrapped around her leg, Rei was being drug back to the monster. Inside the cockpit, the entire system was going crazy.
"All systems are down!" screamed the tech. "We can't get a clear reading. It looks like she's unconscious, but . . .' The tech could say no more.

	A black hand grabbed the blue EVA's arm, trying to pull it free of the black monster. As Toji's EVA pulled, the black monster turned it's attention to Toji, whipping one of it's tentacles at the boy. The black tentacle hit Toji straight on, sending him flying.
	Asuka fired a few shots from her gun at the monster, but the rounds still just passed through. 	"How am I suppose to save Wonder Girl if I can't hurt it?" Asuka asked, checking the gun.
	"You're going to have to get close to it, Asuka." Misato answered back over the intercom.
	"Fat chance." Asuka mumbled to herself, staring at Rei's EVA on the ground.
	The blue EVA was now up to it's waist in the monster, almost like it was being devoured by the beast. An explosion of sound inside woke Rei up. The umbilical cable had been severed. On the corner of her cockpit, a five-minute clock was counting down.

	"The cable's been cut. Four minutes forty five seconds and counting!" Screamed the female tech. "What are we going to do?"

	Shinji stared at Rei, his smile beginning to fade. He took a few steps up the hill and she too stopped smile. She turned to him, her breath visibly speeding up. Shinji's feet slowly carried him to the top of the hill. He lowered himself to his knees, staring at Rei's flushed face. She tried to smile, but she was so out of breath that she couldn't manage it. Shinji turned his head slowly, lowering his lips to Rei's. Rei's closed her eyes, raising her head up to Shinji.

	"SHINJI!" Screamed Rei. "Please, help me!"

	A purple hand grabbed EVA 0's hand, holding her against the pull of the black beast. EVA 1 pulled on Rei, gaining just a tiny bit of ground against the monster. A little more effort and Rei was free down to her knees.
	A black tentacle reared up, wrapping itself around Shinji's neck. It completely released its hold on Rei as it drug the purple EVA into itself. EVA Unit 1 was lifted into the air as it was absorbed into the black monster.

	"Unit 1!" Screamed Misato. "Respond!"
	"No good." Said the male tech. "All communication's lost." He looked up at the screen as it went to static. "He's gone."

	"Where am I?" Shinji asked, to the darkness.
	"I have come far for you." Came a sinister voice. "You and I, together, will ascend humanity."
	"Who are you?" Shinji asked. "Are you an angel?" Laughter.
	"Oh, no." I am so much more than those pathetic weaklings. "I am perfection in carnate."
	"What do you mean?"
	"It doesn't matter." Soon, you and this machine will serve me." More laughter. "It might be an old line, but resistance is futile."
	"Who are you?"

	"What do you mean, you came here to track that monster?" Misato shouted at the only surviving gunman. "What is it?"
	"It's something we've been fighting ever since we were established back in the 1980's." The man said, loosing his resolve to argue. He was bleeding from several wounds and Misato refused him medical attention until she got her answers. "It's a monster born of a single gene. A single cell."
	"What is it?" She demanded lowly.
	"It's a monster called . . ."

	Shinji was in the same field he had been dreaming about, only now, there were no leafy trees or waves of wind-kissed grass. Now, it was only a barren and twisted place. The dirt was kicked up in the poisonous and radioactive wind, while the hot and humid sun baked down from behind irradiated skies.
	"Where am I?" Shinji asked. He looked around nervously, trying to find some source of hope.
	I am with you
	"Huh?" Shinji said, turning around madly. "Where'd that voice come from? Who's there?"
	It's me
	"Who are you? Are you that monster?" He Shinji said, nearly in tears with fear. Shinji kept spinning around, trying to see the source of his fear, the source of the voice. Everything was so strange to him.
	A pair of warm arms wrapped around Shinji's head, pulling him close to the chest of a woman. Shinji didn't resist, his heart calming immediately. "Shinji, I'm here. I'll try and take care of you."
	"Are you my EVA?" Shinji asked, almost laughing at the idea. His tears were flowing freely from his eyes, flowing onto the bare skin of the woman who had embraced him.
	"In a sense." The woman said. Her voice was so soft and gentle. Shinji's eyes closed, but the tears kept coming.

	"Heh heh heh." The monster said, smiling angrily. "Foolish spirit. You can not save that boy, or yourself." The monster laughed now, heartily. "I will devour both of you. You will become my first servants in such a long time.
	"It's so sad." The woman said, without Shinji stirring. "I feel so sorry for you." She said, looking to the sky, her short brown hair getting swept by the wind.
	"WHAT!" The monster shouted, it's roar shaking the foundation of the very world, but Shinji still didn't open his eyes.
	"You have absorbed and taken in so many thousands of millions of things, yet, you have never known any of them. You've always tried to absorb from them, never feeling them near you. It's so sad. Even if you absorb them, you're still alone. I feel so very sorry for you."
	The monster screamed, angered beyond any anger it had known in the past. The monster shouted and swore, yelling at the woman, telling her all the vile and horrible things that she and the boy would feel and experience and how there was nothing she could do to stop them, but the woman didn't listen. She just calmly stroked Shinji's hair, singing softly to him an old lullaby that he had always loved.

	A blue hand grabbed the monster's head, pulling it away from the monster. Inside the blue EVA, Rei's eyes were filled with anger. Her face had contorted in hatred. She grabbed the monsters head with the other hand now, pressing against the bulb. The black monstrosity began to quiver, then it exploded like an over-ripe melon. The black liquid covered Rei's EVA, but she just began to slam her blue fists down onto the black shape, hitting anywhere that she could. The whole time, Rei screamed, her voice tearing through the intercom, freezing all those who could hear her. She yelled and swore, damning the monster that had dared to hurt Shinji.
	As Rei banged away, the black shape began to liquefy, it's mass spreading unevenly through out the streets of the city. The blackness began to fade, as the dark matter simply turned to the clear water that had made it up. With a great splash, the water exploded out, flooding the streets. In the center of where the monster had been, the unconscious purple EVA lay.
	Rei rushed over, tears streaking down her face as she picked up the giant mech. "Shinji!" Rei called, bordering on hysterical. "Shinji!"
	"Rei?" Came a weak voice from the other side of the intercom. "Rei? Is that you?" Shinji said, his voice betraying his exhaustion.

	"It would seem that Shinji's AT field kicked in just in the nick of time." Ritsuko was saying, as Misato poured her a cup or coffee. "Thanks. Aside from some minor structural damage, the EVA seems unharmed."
	"Yeah, but what about Shinji?" Misato asked. "He doesn't remember anything after the shot from Asuka."
	"That's to be expected." Ritsuko said, grimacing at the coffee. "After all, even if the AT field did protect him, it still was a heck of a trauma, to see that blast coming that close."
	"I suppose." Misato said, her mind wondering.
	"By the way," Ritsuko pressed. "What's going to happen to Rei and Asuka?"
	"Ohh." Misato said, grimacing. "That's . . . well . . ."

	Asuka and Rei both stood before Gendo, their hands clasped behind their backs in three sets of handcuffs. Behind Gendo, Fuyutsuki watched, trying to look indifferent. "Not only did you completely ignore numerous direct orders from your superiors, not only did you ignore the presence of an enemy in Tokyo-3, not only did you attack one another, you did so in your Evangelions!" This was the first time Asuka had ever heard Gendo so angry. It took everything she had not to try and run away.
	"NERV is here to defend against the angels, not to get into school yard brawls." Gendo stared at the two girls for a long time before standing. He walked around to the front of his desk, only a foot away from the two girls. He stared down at the two girls, his anger welling-up.
	A fast motion by his hand and Asuka was sent to the floor. Her face was swelling up where he had slapped her. Gendo turned to Rei, his hand drawn back. Rei didn't even flinch. As Gendo's hand flew, the image of Yui, his long-dead wife flashed into his face. It didn't stop him. Rei was sent to the floor also. Gendo turned around, walking out of the office. "If either of you EVER pull something like this again, in or out of your EVAs, I will have you executed." With that, Gendo was gone.

	"So, he's just going to give them a verbal reprimand?" Ritsuko asked, looking surprised. "I would have imagined a lot worse from Dr Ikari."
	"Yeah, well, maybe he just wants to scare them a bit." Misato asked.

	Asuka had her face turned away from Rei as the two of them rode down the elevator, to change out of their plug suits. She was trying, in vain, to keep her tears in. Rei, meanwhile, simply stood at the door, watching the numbers tick away.
	"I can't believe he hit me." Asuka mumbled, between sniffing back her tears.
	"I can." Rei said, her voice distant once again.
	"I mean . . ." Asuka tried to say, but her voice trailed off, her tears forcing themselves out. "I can't believe . . ." She dropped onto the floor, trying to lean against the wall for support. She couldn't hold back the tears; she could only let them out.
	Rei stood at the door, ignoring Asuka. Yet, as Asuka's tears flowed, Rei reached up to her cheek with her hand. She could feel the bruise where Gendo had hit her. Rei rubbed the wound, her mind racing. That was the first time he had ever hit her out of disappointment.
	Rei was surprised when a single tear rolled down her cheek, bumping into her hand.

	"So, did you ever figure out who those guys where that started shooting at us?" Ritsuko asked. "I mean, Dr Fuyutsuki suppose to be interrogating them, but . . ."
	Misato looked around the empty break room, checking the door twice. She leaned in close to Ritsuko, causing her friend to do the same. "You promise not to tell?" Misato said, seriously. Ritsuko nodded. "Now, I might be wrong, but from what that guy told me, I think they're from the Universal Multipurpose Agency." Ritsuko stared at Misato very earnestly. If anyone else had told her that, she would have laughed in their face.
	"UMA?" Ritsuko said, confirming the name with Misato. Misato nodded. "Well, well." Ritsuko said, taking a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "It would seem that NERV's predecessor maybe back in the game."

	"Rei?" Asuka said, as she stood up next to the pale, blue-haired girl. "What are we going to do?" Rei gave Asuka a sidelong look, not understanding. "I mean, we can't tell Shinji or Captain Katsuragi. What are we going to do?" Asuka nearly stared crying again, but was able to force the tears away. Rei just looked at Asuka for a long time, still not even turning her head from the elevator door. "I'm just . . ."
Rei turned to Asuka, drawing a scared look from the redhead. Asuka looked at Rei like she, too, would hit her, but Rei just gave Asuka cold look.
	"We're going to stick together." Rei said, blinking at Asuka. Rei reached out, taking Asuka's hand in her own. Asuka held onto Rei's hand, almost laughing. Without a word, Asuka surged forward, embracing Rei. The two girls hugged, taking comfort in one another, then broke apart. Even as the doors to the elevator opened, their hands were still linked.