Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The year was 1952. Robert EO Speedwagon was being driven to a meeting in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan that he had been invited to. With him was his old friend Jonathan Joestar, and Jonathan's grandson Joseph Joestar.

"This whole thing seems fishy, Uncle Speedwagon," Joseph said, "Who even is this Lorenz Keel? And this organization he calls SEELE. They certainly came in out of the blue."

Speedwagon stroked his chin.

"I'll admit I have some reservations about all this, but Mister Keel said he was bringing in the best and brightest from across the world for the purpose of creating a society for the protection of the human race."

"I somehow doubt that what he sees as protection is the same as what we see as protection," Jonathan noted.

Speedwagon nodded to his old friend.

"Which is why I intend to use this meeting to gauge Keel's true intentions."

They pulled up to a small restaurant and Speedwagon got out to enter the door.

Inside was a young German man with blonde hair, as well as three other people.

"Welcome, Mister Speedwagon," the German said, "I am Lorenz Keel. I hope you will forgive the lackluster welcome, but it is necessary for secrecy."

"I got the gist of it from the letter," Speedwagon said, "But surely whatever this great undertaking is that you have in mind, the people deserve to know about it."

He did a good job hiding his disgust at the sight of Lorenz. Growing up in London's Ogre Street, he had developed a keen sense for those with ill intentions, and Lorenz reeked of it, even worse than Dio. Dio at least had the excuse of an odious father who did nothing to curb his wicked nature. Speedwagon suspected Lorenz had no such excuse.

"This matter is on a scale similar to the Pillar Men you found in Rome," Lorenz explained, "I am sure you are aware we recently requisitioned your friend Jonathan Joestar to help locate the Dead Sea Scrolls."

"Ah, yes," Speedwagon said, "Perhaps the most important find of his archaeological career, after discovering the scabbard of Excalibur of course. But what could religious documents thousands of years old have to do with warriors from another species who were tens of thousands of years old?"

"Well, there's no direct connection between the two," Lorenz admitted, "But the scrolls being religious text is merely a story we fed to the public. In reality, they speak of the origins of human creation. Tell me... Have you ever wondered why humans and Pillar Men split off along different evolutionary paths from the apes?"

Speedwagon had to admit, the thought had occurred to him. Wamuu, having been born only twelve thousand years ago, give or take a decade, could offer no insight. Kars and maybe Esidisi might have been able to, but Esidisi was dead, and Kars was floating in suspended animation through the depths of space. Lorenz smiled as he caught on to Speedwagon's apparent interest.

"The scrolls tell everything. How two beings from beyond the stars arrived here, and through currently unknown means directed the course of evolution. One was meant to be here, the other was here by accident. We're still working on the translation, but I believe that with these documents we can successfully unite the entire human race in as few as twenty years!"

Speedwagon raised an eyebrow.

"And just how do you intend to pull that off?"

"All will be explained in time," Lorenz said.

He offered Speedwagon a contract to sign. Speedwagon looked it over and already something seemed off. One of the signers of the contract was Enya Geil, and judging from the penmanship she had also signed on behalf of Dio Brando. The contract was also religious in nature, a charter list of members of a new organization called SEELE, with Lorenz being leader until the moment of his death. There was also another thing that caught his attention, that SEELE would be working towards something called Instrumentality. Now Speedwagon was no psychic, but he could tell this SEELE was only working for a facade of peace, when in reality all they wanted was power.

"I'm sorry gentlemen," Speedwagon said, "But I believe I'm going to have to refuse on moral grounds. There's too much of an evil stink about this place."

Lorenz was taken aback.

"You can't be serious... You've lived through two World Wars! You've seen the worst of humanity! Surely you must realize that Instrumentality is the only way to end it all!"

"Emphasis on 'end'," Speedwagon shot back, "And yes I've seen the worst of humanity, even long before World War I. In fact, growing up on Ogre Street I've seen the worst society can throw at a person. But I've seen the best of humanity as well. Compassion, honor, virtue, nobility, friendship, love, and a strength of will you clearly underestimate."

"But humanity is at an evolutionary dead-end!," Lorenz pointed out, "Something terrible is coming! And we need the power gained from your wife's arrow to face it!"

Speedwagon narrowed his eyes.

"To be honest, that arrow isn't what you think it is. Yes, it allowed Twilight to gain powers. But they are powers she always had inside her. The arrow merely allowed them to awaken. It didn't work on me when I scratched myself. And my son and granddaughter, not to mention Miss Jackie Applaine, all had these powers from birth without the arrow's influence. Humanity is still evolving, if not their body then definitely their spirit!"

He tipped his hat to the group.

"Good day, gentlemen. I have other important matters to attend to."

And with that, he left.

"Well that didn't go so well," an American man said, "Guess we'll have to look elsewhere for our British representative."

"You'd think Speedwagon would have been more accommodating," said a Frenchmen, "Perhaps we pegged him wrong."

"Should we have him eliminated?," a Russian man chimed in, "He has knowledge of us and what we are planning."

"Not just yet," Lorenz said, "To kill him now would only draw unwanted attention. We'll wait a few weeks, then slip him something that will induce a heart attack. No one will suspect us for a natural death."

As it turned out, Lorenz might have been better off killing Speedwagon immediately. By hesitating, Lorenz gave Speedwagon enough time to tell his whole Foundation about SEELE and that they were planning something terrible for humanity. This fact was not forgotten, even when other more immediate threats took center stage. Even after Mario DeBorne, DIO Brando, Yoshikage Kira, Diavolo Doppio, Enrico Pucci, Barbro Vaiself, and Honami Sato, the Speedwagon Foundation remembered that Lorenz Keel was still a lingering threat.

In the year 2000, a mysterious object struck Antarctica like a meteorite. The object exploded soon after, taking the entire mountain it had impacted with it, to the astonishment of a research team nearby. It would have taken much more, but a young boy named Rusty Dashell, affectionately known as Shining Armor to his friends and family, was able to hold it back when his Stand chose then to awaken. It created an impenetrable energy shield, large enough to contain the blast. However, radioactive fallout still leaked through. Fortunately, Shining and his friend Misato Katsuragi were placed in containment before they could absorb too much of the radiation, but the rest of the team was killed.

Since that day Shining called his Stand Radioactive, to remind himself of his only weakness, that he needed to know about something in order to block it. He hadn't know the object would emit radiation when it exploded, so he couldn't block it.

It was in 2004 that Lorenz tried to make his move, only for events he hadn't accounted for to interfere. He was able to trick Yui Ikari, a scientist for Speedwagon, into testing the EVA unit that was to be the vanguard against the coming threat. As expected, it had assimilated her, sending her husband Gendo into depression. Lorenz had expected to use this to tie Gendo to him, using his vain hopes of getting Yui back with his own plans for Third Impact. But at the crucial moment where Gendo was to send his son Shinji away in a misguided attempt to avoid being a bad father, he was stopped by the alien Nu Mikitakazo Nshi.

He pointed out he would become the very thing he was hoping to avoid by simply sending his son off without explanation to some apathetic teacher and never really visiting him. Gendo delayed his decision as a result and came to realize that he was making excuses for himself, trying to justify the detachment. If he went through with his plan, he would no longer be the man Yui had fallen in love with. So he decided to do something else. He chose to send Shinji to his cousin Josuke Higashikata in Morioh. Yui was Tomoko's sister.

Yui would often ask why Tomoko kept pining for Joseph Joestar, who was clearly far older than her and happily married, when there were plenty more eligible bachelors in her hometown. Tomoko would respond that most of them were douchebag assholes.

And so it was that Gendo personally traveled with Shinji to Morioh.

"Now don't you worry, son," Gendo said, "I'll be sure to visit every other week, and every holiday. And rest assured, I'll be working to find some way of getting your mother back. Okay?"

Shinji was saddened by what happened to his mother, but he nodded. They soon arrived at the Higashikata household, where Gendo rang the doorbell.

"Coming," came Tomoko's voice.

She opened the door.

"Oh, Gendo. Been a long time. Where's Yui?"

Gendo frowned.

"Can we talk inside?"

At the table, Tomoko listened to the whole story.

"It's hard to believe," Tomoko admitted, "But my son can heal severe injuries and repair broken furniture with just a thought, while his wife is a walking Looney Tune, so I can give you the benefit of the doubt."

As if on cue, Josuke and his wife Diane, also known as Pinkie Pie, opened the door.

"Yo, Mom, we're back from the honeymoon," Josuke said, "We wanted to check in on you when we..."

He spotted Tomoko's guests.

"Uncle Gendo? What's the occasion?"

"You'll want to sit down for this, Josuke," Tomoko said, "It's about your Aunt Yui..."

When they heard the whole story, Pinkie's jaw literally dropped Tex Avery style, which actually got Shinji laughing.

"So long story short," Tomoko said, "You'll be talking care of Shinji. Consider it practice for parenting. And Gendo said he'll be dropping in every two weeks."

"We'll hold you to that," Pinkie Pie, "In fact, you have to Pinkie Promise your son here and now."

Gendo gave a warm smile.

"Very well."

Gendo was true to his promise. Meanwhile, under Josuke's teachings, Shinji felt himself become braver and stronger, as he learned to fight and stand up for himself. He got so skilled, that in 2010 Josuke decided to have Shinji branded with the same mark as the Joestar family, the familiar star. Shinji even noted that the kanji in his name, rather than the normal writing for "Shinji", were a repeating "Jo" and "Jo".

"There's one last detail," Josuke said.

He brought out his Stand, Crazy Diamond, while Pinkie summoned her Stand, Smile. Shinji narrowed his eyes.

"What are those ghosts following you?"

"He can see them a little," Pinkie noted, "Looks like Giorno was right."

Josuke smiled and nodded, then got out a stone arrow.

"This is one of seven arrows with a special power," he explained, "The Speedwagon Foundation has six of them. For certain people, they can bring out incredible power lying dormant."

Pinkie opened her blouse enough to show the scar she got from when she was shot with the arrow.

"I was able to survive because of my potential. Though you don't actually need to be shot. A simple scratch will suffice."

Shinji nodded and held out his finger, letting Josuke scratch it with the tip of the arrow. Shinji felt power slowly grow within him, before it exploded in the form of eight white bird wings erupting from his back. They soon pulled away to reveal a mysterious female figure with no definition on its breasts or crotch, and a solemn look on its face, its eyes closed. Electrical energy danced across its palms. He came to call this new Stand Cruel Angel's Thesis. He soon learned that his Stand could control electrical energy and power machines beyond their normal capacity.

This caught Gendo's attention, so he suggested Shinji start training with the EVA, a giant biological organism fitted with mechanical armor, to see how his Stand could improve his control over it.

As it happened, Cruel Angel's Thesis wound up turning what should have been a restraining bolt for the organic titan into powered armor, giving the EVA all the strength it could ever want. To everyone's surprise, after several sessions of training, Shinji emerged with his mother in tow, something that surprised even him. This shifted work on the EVAs drastically, now that it was known that changing the armor's purpose could improve the disposition of the creatures. This was something SEELE did not know was possible. In fact, they still didn't know.

Speedwagon decided to continue improving the EVAs by using corporate sponsorship, gaining more and more money for NERV, the organization being founded to deal with the threat spoke of. This meant they could easily ignore SEELE's offers of financial support, since they were getting all they needed. After all, if Speedwagon said something was important, people listened.

Lorenz was not happy that things weren't going his way. Even worse, it turned out his calculations involving the arrival were off by a year, so now even governments were ignoring him.

"This is unacceptable," he said to his fellow members of the inner circle.

They had indeed found a more willing British representative.

"We still have our resources," said agent pointed out, "If we work on subtly sabotaging NERVs resources, we can force them to join our cause."

The others agreed the situation was salvageable.

"Very well," Lorenz said, "But we'll need new agents. It seems someone working for Speedwagon has found Tabris, and convinced him to join their organization. There's also the matter of the Joestar clan. They always seem to have a habit of butting in where they're not wanted. Not even the theft of the Joestar Collection seems to be deterring them."

"My company has already gathered sixteen willing subjects," the Russian agent noted, "We have been studying Stand power for sometime, and we believe we can bring out that potential in just about anyone. I know what Speedwagon said sixty years ago, but we all know the human spirit cannot change so easily. The powers I have given these agents should be sufficient."

"And I have located each of the main Joestar family members," the French agent noted, "I have sent anonymous letters to each of them, warning of a dangerous threat. Perhaps your agents can overwhelm them."

Lorenz smiled. Things were looking up.

Turns out it wasn't as easy as expected. While SEELE made the smart decision to lure in each Joestar individually and have their agents attack as one, only Joseph, arguably the weakest of the group, was captured. That said, SEELE had lured the Joestars to an artificial island constructed to house the remains of the object that created Second Impact. And right now the island was in lockdown in preparation for the coming threat. Unfortunately, SEELE didn't account for several major Speedwagon agents being there. This included Shining and his wife, Cadence Dashell.

"The remains of the object are sending out a signal," Cadence noted.

The year was now 2016, and after so many years the remains of the object were finally starting to stir. And it wasn't only one. The mysterious titan sealed under the island was also sending out signals. Shining narrowed his eyes.

"Adam and Lilith are awake. Inform NERV. It's finally time to get the team together. Have we found any leads on Joseph Joestar's location?"

"Almost," Cadence said, "We know someone who's seen the inner workings of SEELE and would have an idea on where he might be."

Shining nodded.

"Five young people, trained to fight using the most advanced weapons ever created. And a member of the Joestar clan to lead them. Well, he doesn't have the Joestar blood. But I've seen his eyes. They held the same sense of justice I saw in George's eyes when he went to deal with Barbro. Shinji definitely has the heart of a true JoJo."

Cadence smiled.

"Though I do find one thing weird. Why did Toei insist on having the armor designs be based on their latest Super Sentai?"

Shining raised an eyebrow at his wife in confusion.

Chapter Text

Inside the main NERV headquarters, Cadence was looking over some new data when Gendo arrived.

"I think we have some good news," she said, "We might have located Joseph Joestar."

"That's good but we can deal with that after the immediate crisis," Gendo replied, "According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Third Angel is scheduled to arrive later today. I've already made arrangements for our EVA pilots to be brought in."

He sighed.

"Hopefully all those years of training will pay off."

He was extremely glad they were corporately funded. It meant no competition for government money. And the fact that this island was in neutral waters meant no butting heads with the stubborn leaders of the JSDF.

Shinji was sitting on the roof of Josuke's house when he felt the presence of an electronic object flying in his direction. A small drone flew right next to him and projected a hologram of his father.

'Shinji. I'm sorry for not picking you up in person, but there are serious matters at Zero Point that require my immediate attention. To be brief, the Angels are due to arrive soon. We already have one of the other pilots here ready to fight it, but in the meantime we're bringing in all five of you. You'll be meeting someone who will bring you to NERV headquarters. Her file and photo have been enclosed.'

The hologram cut out, and the drone opened to reveal a photo inside. Shinji frowned at the picture of the woman, whom the file named as Misato Katsuragi. She was leaning over while standing in such a way that revealed ample cleavage.

'Good grief... I hope she's more professional in person.'

He hopped off the roof to the ground below.

"So you're going then?," Josuke asked, standing just outside the door.

"Someone has to deal with these Angels," Shinji pointed out, "And once they're dealt with... SEELE's next."

"If you encounter any of their agents," Josuke said, "Let 'em know I still owe them for snatching my old man."

Shinji smiled as he and Josuke shared a fist bump, then he closed his eyes.

"Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

His Stand emerged and he flew off for the island of Zero Point.

Meanwhile from the waters at the edge of Zero Point, a huge humanoid creature with a bird-like face in-between its shoulders and exposed ribs rose up from the south. Its appearance triggered several alarms.

"Angel confirmed in the southern region!," reported Maya Ibuki, one of the three bridge crew members monitoring all Angel activity.

Makoto Hyuga was also there.

"Evacuation confirmed. Path is clear for combat zone."

"EVA Unit-02 ready for launch," reported Shigeru Aoba.

Near the launch point for the giant EVA, Doctor Naoko Akagi was watching her two daughters, Ritsuko and Rei. Rei was actually a half-sister to Ritsuko. Naoko's first husband died in an accident, and she went on a trip to get over it. It was during this trip that she met Wamuu, and the two wound up in a relationship. As it happened, despite technically being two different species, there were enough biological similarities between humans and Gigan that they could interbreed, and Rei was born shortly after the relationship started. It wasn't long before Rei's half-Gigan physiology displayed itself.

Her cellular decay was not as slow as a natural Gigan, but it was still slower than a human, to the point where she could conceivably live for centuries. She still had a human sleep cycle and consumed food in the same manner as a human, but her strength and senses were identical to a Gigan. In addition, under her father's teaching, she eventually developed her own Mode, Lightning in her case. She could manipulate her own cellular structure as easily as any Gigan, and was able to control her nervous system to turn it into a powerful electrical weapon. Her mixed heritage also had the odd side-effect of turning her hair blue.

And of course, she could exist in sunlight without burning up. Ritsuko sighed as she looked as Rei's long hair.

"You jealous?," Rei snarked, "Maybe you should consider quitting the hair dye. And smoking."

Naoko laughed as Ritsuko reluctantly snuffed out her current cigarette. Rei was decked out in the special plug suit designed to increase control within the EVA, which she stepped inside.

"You sure you can deal with him?," Ritsuko asked.

"In a few moments," Rei replied, "You'll either know or won't care."

Up in the main center, Gendo was watching the countdown.

"Looks like it's the moment of truth," said his old friend Kozo Fuyutsuki.

"And I find myself more apprehensive than I thought I'd be," Gendo admitted.

Fuyutsuki smiled, knowing the reason. Yui was just below them, working with Naoko and Ritsuko on the calculations for the launch.

Shinji had landed on Zero Point and spotted the giant Angel known as Sachiel.

"Normally there would be military response right about now," he mused, "Not that conventional weapons could get through the AT Field."

The AT Field, or Absolute Terror Field, was a metaphysical barrier that kept all living beings as separate egos. Angels possessed AT Fields strong enough to physically manifest, primarily as a form of defense. Only other metaphysical powers could break through it, such as Stands, Hamon, and especially another AT Field. Shinji pointed his finger at the Angel, his Stand manifesting.

"Bang..."

The electrical shot easily reached Sachiel, and pierced through the AT Field. The giant twisted around in confusion, wondering where the damage came from. He couldn't sense anything, but something had definitely managed to poke a hole through his AT Field.

"No time to waste on bug bites. I already sense my father somewhere in the depths of this island. And I sense her as well... I wonder which of them sent the signal. Either way, if Lilith is contained by the Lilim, perhaps I can do my father a favor and slay her. He always did regret his actions with her."

Suddenly, there was a sound of klaxons going off in the distance. Through his connection to the water, Sachiel felt something shoot out into the bay behind him, moving very fast. As it reached the shore, it leapt out of the water. Sachiel was shocked. The appearance was similar to his father Adam, but dressed in shining blue armor that was styled like a shark. Unseen by Sachiel, Rei sat within the cockpit, her Lightning Mode active to supercharge the armor worn by Unit-02. The modified armor had proven incompatible with her old Unit-00, which was essentially a prototype. Unit-02 was much more responsive.

This was proven when she was able to direct Unit-02 to slash through Sachiel's AT Field with the fin blades on its arms.

"A rather animalistic version of father," Sachiel noted, "But I have to commend the Lilim on perfecting the technology that gave him life to begin with. Still, I cannot let anything get between me and Father."

He moved to strike at the EVA, only to have his wrist bitten into by Unit-02's razor teeth.

"No swallowing," Rei said to the EVA, "Remember our goal is to retrieve the Angel's core."

As if understanding, Unit-02 proceeded to grab the arm it had bitten into, wrenching at it so that it had Sachiel in an arm bar. Sachiel manifested one of his lances and made to attack, only for Unit-02 to duck and bring its leg right up between Sachiel's legs. Sachiel had a feeling that if he had real eyes, they'd be bugging out right now. Shinji couldn't help but wince, holding his own crotch.

"Yeah, I can't believe she went there," came a female voice as a car pulled up near him.

He recognized the face as Misato.

"Misato, right? Glad you wore something more sensible."

Misato smirked.

"Come on, you can't tell me you didn't enjoy it."

"I was raised by a cousin who taught me the importance of respecting women," Shinji pointed out, "I'd rather fantasize over girls my own age."

Misato blinked, but shrugged it off.

"Well, we need to get going. Looks like Rei has the Angel well in hand."

"She's another of the pilots, right?," Shinji asked as he got in the car.

"Yep," Misato replied, "Although she's the first pilot we've discovered, she's officially the Second Child since she was the second to be acclimated to the new EVA system. Though her style is a little unconventional. I mean, does that Angel even have the right anatomy for that attack?"

"It's still a bundle of nerves," Shinji pointed out, "That's where the pain really comes from."

They both winced as Unit-02 used its arm blade to stab into Sachiel's knee.

"Well, it does have kneecaps," Misato noted, "Scratch that. One kneecap and thousands of tiny floating bone fragments."

Unit-02 then grabbed Sachiel, a seconds later there was a massive earthquake when Rei suplexed the Angel. Misato was thrown off and wound up crashing.

"Oh man! I'm still making payments on this!"

She got out to look at the damage.

"Well, the engine still works, but it looks like the battery is dead."

"I got it," Shinji said with a smirk, "Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

Misato gasped as the engine roared to life.

"Just like Shining..."

She got back in the car and drove off. Meanwhile, Rei had managed to pin Sachiel long enough to dig into his chest and pull out the round core that was his source of life. Once she had it, Rei noticed something was happening with the body. Quickly she placed the core down and grabbed the body, throwing it into the air, where it exploded in midair.

"Core retrieved," Rei reported, "Remains of Sachiel have self-destructed. Ready to return to base."

'Good timing,' came Gendo's voice, 'My son has just been picked up. We have an important assignment. You're aware that we've located Joseph Joestar. Well, we have a plan to retrieve him.'

At Zero Point, only NERV HQ was not under SEELE control. The rest of the island was a large criminal hideout, the only support SEELE could get since Speedwagon was monopolizing every other avenue.

"It's almost sad," Shinji said, "They try to set themselves up as some sort of ancient conspiracy, when in reality they are way over their heads."

Shinji was wearing a dark red jacket over his shirt and jeans. Rei had changed into a blue tube top and jeans cut up to the crotch. Her outfit was designed to expose as much skin as possible to facilitate her Mode.

"So we're supposed to grab a carrier to reach the sky citadel above the island," she noted.

Said citadel was floating right above them. Shinji placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It looks like some local thugs are around the chemical plant where the carriers are."

Sure enough, a bunch of goons in masks and hoodies, some with bare torsos and obvious cybernetic limbs, were standing in the way. Rei smirked.

"They don't look so tough. First to fifty buys lunch?"

Shinji smirked.

"You're on!"

They immediately leapt at the group, Rei's arms covered in her nerves as electricity crackled along them. The first thug Shinji punched out exploded like a water balloon filled with blue toothpaste.

"Jeez, has SEELE been dipping into bio-engineering? These things look human but they're anything but."

A sudden sonic scream tore through the field, destroying several more thugs.

"These are Killseekers," came Cadence's voice as she approached, "SEELE's vain attempts at replicating Stand power without the original virus. They tried to reverse-engineer it, and this was as far as they got."

A rather giant Executioner leapt down in front of her, carrying a chunk of concrete on a pipe like it was a war hammer. Cadence didn't bat an eye.

"Deathharmonic!"

She gave a powerful shout that erupted from her mouth like a beam of energy, cutting off the Executioner's head. Meanwhile Rei and Shinji were cutting down a few Pyro Killseekers armed with flamethrowers and Molotovs, as well as a flying platform equipped with more flamethrowers.

After the area was cleared, Rei asked, "So who got to fifty first?"

"In a moment it won't matter!," came a gruff voice.

What looked like a humanoid mech styled like a bull and wielding a jet pack on its back leapt down.

"So you're the ones picked out to battle the Angels," the mech said, "Well my bosses have a set of pilots of their own lined up. The only problem is they have nothing to pilot. So me and some others were custom-tooled with a new power to... Encourage some dropouts."

He reached behind himself, and the jet pack detached to become a jet-powered hammer.

"The name's Big Bull! One of sixteen Stand users designed by SEELE to rip you apart! And with my Stand Jet Hammer, you're gonna get nailed!"

Shinji chuckled.

"You can't be a real Stand user. Can you even see the figure behind me?"

Big Bull tilted his head in confusion.

"What's supposed be behind you?"

"His Stand of course," Cadence noted, "As a Stand user myself I can see it. But you can't, even though you supposedly have a Stand of your own. That Jet Hammer of yours certainly has the right energy, but it's purely artificial, since you're not glowing with the same energy."

Big Bull growled in anger.

"I'll show you energy! Jet Hammer!"

He whirled around as his Jet Hammer fired off, the three heroes dodging out of the way. Rei charged up her nerves until they were at maximum juice.

"Ionic Storm!"

She clapped her hands together, created a shockwave that sent lightning surging across the air, impacting on Big Bull and shorting out his mechanical body. Barely managing to not shut down, he slammed the ground with his fist.

"Ah! Bullshit... Bullshit! This power wasn't supposed to be so vulnerable! I need to get back for a tune up, but I will be back!"

And with that, he raced off, using his jet pack and some wheels on his feet.

"At least we have him off our backs," Shinji noted, "And look. We found the carrier."

Sure enough, not far from where Big Bull had run off to, there was a large flying carrier.

"Perfect," Cadence said, "I'll contact NERV and we can head for the sky citadel. We'll get Joseph back yet."

Chapter Text

Gendo and Fuyutsuki were playing their usual Shogi game.

"The old men at SEELE have finally made their move," Fuyutsuki noted, "But it would appear their artificial Stand users are no match for the real deal."

"We can't underestimate them," Gendo reminded his old friend, "Lorenz Keel is a cunning man, and he has a way of worming into places advantageous to him. All he needs is information on how the EVAs are created, and he can manufacture his own. It'll be even worse if he can find the data on the Dummy Plugs we abandoned after developing the current system."

He made his next move on the board.

"Of course all of his planning will be for naught if the Angels find Adam and instigate Third Impact. Sachiel has been placed in containment, but is not willing to speak with anything less than a Stand user, believing any being without metaphysical powers to be a corrupt spawn of Lilith. Once Adam is able to fully regenerate, perhaps he can undo this corruption Sachiel speaks of."

"In any event," Fuyutsuki said, "We're having Tabris brought in. Perhaps the Angels will be willing to speak with one of their own. Tabris is a son of Adam as well, after all."

Gendo smiled.

"Of course, our real trump card is Shinji. His Stand opened a door to all new possibilities. Without this revelation, we'd have never discovered the current system for developing the EVAs. It doesn't hurt that I was able to get Yui back much faster than if I had fallen to my darker instincts."

Fuyutsuki chuckled.

"I can't help but compare Shinji to yourself as a young man. Strong-willed, confident, and confrontational. He did not hesitate against the Killseekers, even though they looked almost human. But he also has Yui's sense of justice."

"A sense of justice that was only amplified by his time with Josuke," Gendo noted, "Though we do not share the same blood, there's no denying our family's connection to the Joestar clan. You might not have noticed, but Shinji has a tattoo identical to the Joestar clan's star-shaped birthmark. It was given to him by Josuke, marking him as an honored member of the family, much in the same way as Josuke's brother-in-law Sadao Kujo. Speaking of which, we should wrap up our game. Shinji and Rei should be done getting patched up, and I'll need to debrief them soon."

"I'm glad you didn't lose any limbs during the melee," Ritsuko said to her half-sister, "Wamuu mentioned how his former master Esidisi once lost an arm and simply grabbed the arm off a corpse to replace it. But those Killseekers might not be suitable to your taste."

Rei still ate like a normal human, but she could use her whole cellular structure to digest organic matter in a pinch.

"They likely would have tasted like rotten meat," Rei noted, "Besides, I don't like the idea of eating sentient beings. Even if I did, the Killseekers dissolve upon death, leaving nothing to consume."

She and Shinji soon met up outside the hospital wing and headed for Gendo's office.

"What's up, Pop?," Shinji asked.

"Excellent work procuring the carrier ship," Gendo said, "We're assembling a strike force to board it as we speak, but we're waiting until the next Angel attack so we have some time to spare. Joseph's not going anywhere in the meantime. Ritsuko, did you get anything from the remains of the Killseekers?"

Ritsuko was also in the room.

"Residue collected from what little was left of the Killseekers confirms our suspicions. SEELE was attempting to reverse-engineer the Stand virus and modify it in such a way that it could create powers in anyone infected. The results are, needless to say, mixed."

"Big Bull seemed to be different from the Killseekers," Shinji noted.

"He likely had Stand potential to begin with," Gendo theorized, "Allowing him to survive a greater infusion of the modified virus. Still, the artificial Stand he was granted didn't seem much more effective than a highly-advanced piece of tech. What really concerns me is that Big Bull mentioned SEELE having pilots of their own. Clearly, they intend to fight the Angels on their own terms."

"They have already attempted infiltration to get used to the EVAs," came a voice from nowhere.

"Who is that?," Shinji asked.

The mug on Gendo's desk shifted form to reveal Nu.

"Forgive the incognito," he said, "I've taken to using my Stand to hide in various locations around NERV to keep tabs on all personnel and anyone visiting."

"Nu has the Stand Earth Wind and Fire," Shinji explained to Rei, "It allows him to shift his molecular form into simple objects."

Rei nodded in understanding.

"Nu is also one of the Zeiger race, correct?"

"Indeed," Nu replied, "It was my people who helped perfect the process of creating EVAs, as we have mastered similar technology back on our home planet. Both Adam and Lilith were created by higher beings who hoped to elevate other species to their level to have companionship among the cosmos. But this is the first I have heard of two such sentinels being sent to the same planet."

"According to Sachiel, that was a mistake," Cadence explained, "Lilith was meant to create a species suitable to work with the virus that was on a collision course with Earth as an experiment. But she apparently had a glitch that made her sociopathic, and instead tried to style herself as a god. In order to correct this mistake, Adam was sent to retrieve her so that she could be repaired. Sachiel doesn't know the details, but he does know the evolution of the Gigans and the creation of him and his brothers was the result of the incident."

"Isn't Sachiel supposed to be the youngest of the Angels?," Shinji asked, "Maybe the older ones will know more."

"We'll have to retrieve their cores to be able to ask," Gendo pointed out, "To that effect, we have an additional three pilots that are being prepped to arrive. In the meantime, do you have any questions regarding the contract you received?"

"Just one," Shinji asked, "It mentioned I'd be getting a 'standard salary' for this job. What does that mean, exactly?"

Gendo smiled. Of course his son would ask that question.

"The standard salary for pilots is 640,000 yen per month, all tax free of course. Additional hazard pay and compensation will added for each mission, be they dealing with SEELE or the Angels."

He adjusted his glasses.

"That said, three fourths of the regular salary and all extra pay will be going into a savings account."

"That's still 160,000 yen in pocket," Shinji noted, "Most kids my age don't even see that much money. Also, what about living arrangements?"

"I've arranged to have you board with Misato for the duration of this operation," Gendo replied, "Your mother and I are too busy here at NERV, but rest assured we'll be checking on you regularly. Incidentally, Rei is living in the same apartment block with her sister."

The thing about Misato was, she could be easily cowed by a superior woman. A woman like Cadence, who knew in advance that Shinji would be living with Misato, and thus made sure to get the Major to shape up at home in the same manner as she did while working. The only thing she wasn't able to do was teach Misato how to cook, though she did at least get her to do better than just instant food. Still, Shinji had to admit Cadence did a good job. The only thing out of place was the erect-crested penguin waddling around the living room.

"Who's that?," he asked.

"That's Pen Pen," Misato explained, "He's a Stand using penguin we found in Antarctica."

"Isn't that species native to New Zealand?," Shinji asked.

"Normally, yes," Misato admitted, "But Pen Pen is comfortable in any environment thanks to his Stand Winter Wonderland, which lets him maintain his internal temperature no matter where he is."

Shinji wasn't surprised a penguin could be a Stand user, since Josuke had told him a story about how he, Pinkie, and Jotaro tracked down a Stand using rat. And how Jotaro's wife had battled a Stand using orangutan, plus the fact that one of the Stardust Crusaders was a Stand using terrier.

As it turned out, there was a high school on the island, which Shinji, Rei, and eventually the other pilots would be attending. However, something was happening as the duo walked there. The entire area was infested with Killseekers, all targeting a couple of boys Shinji's age.

"Why the hell are they harassing students?," Shinji asked.

"All the students on the island have Stand potential," Rei explained, "Thus are perfect for studying the Stand virus. SEELE is likely trying to capture a couple for experimentation to improve their artificial Stand users."

She unleashed her Lightning Mode.

"But that will not be happening!"

Shinji cracked his knuckles.

"You're damn right it's not! Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

They quickly dispatched the first group of Killseekers.

"Whoa!," one of the boys said.

"Thanks for the help," the other one said, "My name's Toji Suzuhara. This is Kensuke Aida."

Kensuke adjusted his glasses.

"Hey, you're new here right?"

Shinji nodded.

"Shinji Ikari. I just flew in recently."

"On what?," Toji asked, "All air traffic is restricted over the island."

Just then, a new group of enemies, this time robotic drones, flew in on jet packs.

"Tell them that!," Rei called out.

One aimed right for Shinji, but never got the chance to get off a shot, as Shinji already used his Stand to completely shut down the drone.

"They're pure machine," Shinji noted, "Easy prey for my Cruel Angel's Thesis."

Kensuke watched in awe as Shinji and Rei tore through both drones and automated choppers. Once the melee was over, Rei looked at one of the drones' head units.

"It has SEELE's insignia on it," she noted.

"Things like this happen often?," Shinji asked.

"This is the first time," Toji noted, "Usually we never even see trouble getting to and from school. I wonder why things have changed."

"Do you remember the Angel attack that was announced?," Rei asked.

The boys nodded.

"That's what changed," Rei explained, "SEELE has plans to bring humanity under their rule in a facade of peace. But NERV is working with the Speedwagon Foundation, as NERV is in charge of the weapons needed to prevent the Angels from destroying the world, and SEELE is cut off. So they're trying to cut into NERV's resources, force them to leave Speedwagon and join SEELE."

Kensuke's eyes sparkled.

"Then you guys are the pilots we've been hearing about!? We were able to see how that giant was taken out."

Toji sighed.

"My sister got too close to the action. Luckily I was able to get her out of there before she got hurt. But she was way too excited to see the fight. She even wanted the autograph of the pilot who saved the city."

Rei couldn't help but blush.

"Well... If she really wants one..."

Shinji chuckled.

"Anyway, we should get to class first. We've already wasted enough time with the fight and standing around talking."

The four of them hurried off. Nearby, a drone camera was watching them leave. One with SEELE's logo.

"So much for grabbing a few students," Lorenz said.

"Why do we need to bother?," the Russian agent asked, "We already have what we need with the engineered virus."

"Not necessarily," the American agent pointed out, "Big Bull proved inferior to the Second Child. Our manufactured Stands are clearly not as strong as natural ones, so we need more information on Stand power to improve them."

"What about Joseph Joestar?," the British agent asked, "Surely we could study him."

"His Stand is already active," Lorenz pointed out, "What we need is a sample of the virus in its dormant state."

"But those pilots will be getting in the way," the French agent noted, "And with the loss of one of our carriers we can only assume NERV has located Joseph and is planning to extricate him."

Lorenz rubbed his chin as the visor he wore narrowed. He had needed to replace much of his body to stay alive as long as possible, and now he needed Instrumentality to escape his failing shell.

"Contact the Baron and Mathilda. Have them patrol the sky citadel. Knowing Gendo, he'll make his move after the next Angel attack."

Chapter Text

The rest of the trip to school was uneventful. Most of the students greeted Rei upon sight. It seemed she was actually pretty popular.

"So, Rei," one girl said, "Is this your new boyfriend?"

"Actually he's just a friend and co-worker," Rei clarified, "Shinji, this is Hikari Horaki, the class rep. Hikari, this is Shinji Ikari."

Hikari offered a polite bow.

"It's nice to meet you. Anyway, Rei, you were surprisingly late coming into school."

"We got accosted by some local punks," Rei said, not mentioning the Killseekers or Drones, "Nothing I couldn't handle. And Shinji's a talented fighter in his own right. We did have to bail out Toji and Kensuke, though."

Shinji noticed that Hikari became more concerned at the sound of Toji's name.

"Will Toji be okay?"

Rei smirked.

"This is Toji we're talking about. It's interesting that you became concerned about the jock of the duo rather than the otaku."

Hikari turned beet red, confirming Shinji's suspicions that Hikari might have a crush on Toji. He and Rei found their seats.

"You didn't tell her about the real dangers?," Shinji asked.

"She gets concerned enough with the regular dangers on the streets," Rei pointed out, "If she knew the sort of dangerous beings we really fight, she would flip out. She's under enough pressure due to being class rep as it is."

The call came in later that day, an immediate Code Orange. The city was put on high alert.

"Looks like this will be my first EVA battle," Shinji noted.

'Unit-01 is already en route,' Cadence said over the phone, 'We've plotted out an intercept course for docking.'

"Got it," Shinji said before hanging up, "Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

He immediately took to the air and flew above the city, soon finding the bright red armor of Unit-01, stylized to look like an eagle and just as flight-capable. Shinji had already changed into the special plug suit before reaching the roof, and now he entered the open cockpit of Unit-01. After Cruel Angel's Thesis plugged itself into the armor systems, Shinji braced himself for what he felt was the worst part, the LCL. Whatever that stuff was, it tasted too much like blood and smelled just as bad. Luckily it was heavily oxygenated so breathing in it was possible even without gills. The substance was meant to be designed to allow free connection to the EVA.

The cockpit also oriented itself so Shinji was upright even though Unit-01 was horizontal while flying. The gyroscope system added to the cockpit insured smooth combat controls. Shinji grimaced when he saw the Fourth Angel, Shamshel.

"Doctor Akagi wasn't kidding when she said it resembled a dildo," he muttered.

'Either that or an eel with catfish whiskers,' came Misato's voice over the com-link, 'Either way, the scrolls mention her tendrils are electrified, so be careful.'

"No need to worry," Shinji said, "If she thinks her current can overpower mine, she'll soon have a nasty surprise."

Shamshel was making her way to where she felt her father's presence.

"Sachiel failed, but I can still feel his core. The Lilim were wise to spare him. For that mercy, I shall only crack their fortress open to retrieve Father."

She then turned her head at the presence of Unit-01.

"An eagle this time. The last construct of Father used a shark. Are the Lilim starting to grow apart from Lilith? If so, that is good news. But I still cannot stop in my goals. Father will be free."

She lashed out with her tendrils, which Unit-01 caught.

"Light 'em up!," Shinji called out.

Shamshel screamed in pain as the electrical current surged through her tendrils into her body.

"This is no mere Lilim! His power is identical to the Makers!"

She whipped one of tendrils and managed to wrap it around Unit-01's arm, shocking it right back. Shinji winced at the pain. Having electric powers made him more resistant than most humans, but not completely immune. He then noticed something on a nearby hill. It was Toji and Kensuke, and it looked like they were filming.

"What are those idiots up to? Major, we have civvies in the area! Send Rei to pick them up for evac!"

'Roger that,' Misato replied, 'Keep the Angel away from the hill until Rei arrives.'

"Easy enough," Shinji said.

He charged Cruel Angel's Thesis to its maximum power before directing Unit-01 to plow its fist just under Shamshel's head. As he continued to push the Angel back, he spotted Unit-02 as it literally swam through the ground using its blades and jet boosters, quickly reaching where Toji and Kensuke were.

"Oh, man!," Kensuke said, "We get to see one up close!"

The cockpit opened to reveal Rei.

"You realize Hikari is gonna kill you when she finds out..."

Toji groaned, and Kensuke looked sheepish.

"Better get in," Rei said, "Shinji needs space to finish the fight."

Shinji overheard Kensuke's groans as the LCL wrecked his camera.

'Serves him right. Now to deal with Shamshel.'

Unit-01 bared its talon-like claws and dug into the Angel, easily pulling out its core.

"Now to deal with the rest of the body!," Shinji said as placed the core aside, "Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

Electricity surged through Unit-01 and it began pounding the empty shell of the Angel.

"DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME!"

He gave one last uppercut, sending the Angel's corpse into the air, before blasting it with a final surge of electrical energy. He then picked up the core.

"Core retrieved, Angel vanquished."

'Excellent,' came Gendo's voice, 'Return to base. We're ready for our operation in rescuing Joseph Joestar.'

Once on the sky citadel, Shining and Cadence came out first.

"We'll plow the road for you," Shining said, "You guys make your way to the prison compound. That's where they'll be keeping Joseph."

"Got it," Shinji replied.

Shining started glowing with energy.

"Radioactive!"

A large energy shield wrapped around him and Cadence and they headed off, Cadence blasting drones with her Deathharmonic.

"They must have some real chemistry," Rei noted, "To be able to keep up with each other. And their Stands complement each other."

Shinji nodded.

"Some Stands just work well together. Like how Josuke's Crazy Diamond can be complimented either by Okuyasu's The Hand, Pinkie's Smile, Koichi's Echoes, or even Rohan's Heaven's Door. Though Josuke normally doesn't like that last one. Anyway, let's hurry to that prison."

Finding the prison in the giant citadel wasn't easy, but luckily it was so big several maps existed, eventually leading the duo to where they needed to be. However, before they could start searching cells, someone landed right in front of them, wearing a large golden jacket.

"Well, well," the black man said, "What's going on there, Kawasaki?"

"There's bound to be some irony in a black man being racist," Shinji noted.

"Shit, the Baron don't judge," the man said, "I just like cracking jokes. If they don't make you laugh, I ain't doing my job."

"Baron, huh?," Rei said.

She quickly blocked a strike from behind her, coming from a curvaceous woman wielding a spiked kanabo that looked segmented.

"Shit," the Baron said, "Nice try there, baby. But it looks like our blue haired girl is too on the ball."

"You sure are respectful to girls for an obvious pimp," Shinji noted.

"Shit, the Baron don't fuck with girls that young!," Baron pointed out, "And I ain't just some pimp! I'm your favorite pimp's pimp, the Blacker Baron! And this here honey is my main girl Mathilda."

Shinji scoffed.

"Looks like we'll have to deal with these two, Rei. I'll take the pimp, you take his ho."

"No problem," Rei replied, activating her Lightning Mode.

Mathilda pulled back before turning her club into a whip.

"Iron Maiden!"

Her whole body seemed to rev up, letting Rei know Mathilda was a cyborg not unlike Big Bull. Rei simply dodged the sudden rushdown before nailing the ho in the back of her head, electricity sparkling across her spine. Nearby Shinji was having his Stand deal with the Baron's punches.

"Shit. Looks like I'm fire and you're lightning. A regular Pokemon Black and White. But you'll never overcome my Super Sexy Fists of Fire!"

Shinji had a blank look on his face.

"That is the longest Stand name I've heard since Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. And yours isn't even a real Stand."

"Oh-ho no you didn't!," the Baron called out indignantly, his blazing gloves unfolding into large birds, "I don't normally pimp slap teens, but you've just earned a special exception!"

Shinji grinned.

"Please. You can't even see what I'm using to block your attacks with. Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

The statuesque Stand appeared and easily deflected the Baron's burning attacks, the electrical currents centering around his eyes.

"Interesting," Shinji noted, "So your eyes are cybernetic."

"Makes it easier to keep track of the paper," Baron admitted.

He then felt himself get slapped.

"The fuck!?"

"What's good for the bitch is good for the bastard," Shinji said with a smirk.

Baron had to laugh.

"The mouth on kids these days. Alright, homeboy, let's go!"

He launched a series of punches on Shinji, who easily retaliated, eventually overwhelming the Baron.

"DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME!"

Nearby, Rei had created a surge of electricity that caused most of Mathilda's cybernetics to shut down. The Baron landed not far from her.

"Shit, Baby, you okay?"

Mathilda groaned.

"I don't think we're winning this one," Baron noted, "Let's get out of here before you wind up worse."

He pounded the ground to create a flaming shockwave, causing the two pilots to cover their eyes. When they opened them again, the two were gone.

"Ran away just like Big Bull," Shinji said.

"We can deal with them another time," Rei noted, "Right now we need to find Joseph Joestar."

Shinji nodded.

"He'll be somewhere in the higher security areas, so let's start there."

It didn't take long to find the old man.

"Well now," Joseph said, "What kept you guys? I had enough time to focus on my Hamon meditation."

Shinji used his Stand to force open the cell door. Joseph cracked his neck as he stood up.

"You kids get back to the carrier. I need to shake some rust off."

He leapt down to ground level.

Chapter Text

Alarms began blaring around the sky citadel as Joseph smashed his way through numerous Drones.

"What is this, amateur hour? I could get a better fight from that Loser Nukesaku."

He then heard a giant buzzing noise. Turning in that direction, he saw what looked like a giant mechanical bee hovering in midair.

'Mister Joestar,' came a voice with a Russian accent, 'I'll have to ask that you return to your cell. There is still much we need to learn regarding the virus that gave you your powers.'

"I've already told you all you need to know," Joseph retorted, "You're just too stubborn to accept it. Or have you forgotten the riot act Uncle Speedwagon read you more than sixty years ago?"

'I think it is you who is out of touch with reality,' the Russian agent said, 'But you will soon understand our point of view.'

The robotic queen bee zoomed in stinger first. Joseph chuckled.

"You ever been stung by a bee? Turns out they can only do it once. Hermit Purple!"

His thorny Stand lashed out and grabbed the stinger, Joseph using it to pull himself towards the bee and leap over onto it. He then smashed his prosthetic arm into the bee.

"Metal Silver Overdrive!"

Hamon flowed through his arm into the bee, causing damage to its circuitry. He leapt into the air and got out a new pair of clackers.

"I haven't used this trick in years."

He grinned at the sparking bee.

"Your next line is, 'The others have mechs more powerful than mine!'"

'The others have mechs more powerful than mine!,' the Russian agent called out, gasping when he realized he had parroted Joseph.

Joseph laughed at his trick.

"Looks like the old boy's back! And you're a hundred years too early to be beating me. Clacker Volley!"

The clackers, coated in vegetable oil, crackled with Hamon as they slammed into the robotic queen, smashing right through it and sending it crashing to the ground. Joseph leapt out of the way as the queen exploded from the damage.

"Now to find a way out of here..."

Joseph soon found the rest of his rescue team.

"Over here, Mister Joestar!," Cadence called out.

She, Shining, Shinji, and Rei has commandeered one of the hover platforms, and Shinji had cranked it up well past its normal speed. The group zoomed off, running over various Drones and Killseekers that tried to get close enough to pull them off. The biggest problem was the giant Mutants and executioners that moved in, but Shining had an answer for that.

"Radioactive!"

The first Executioner felt its hammer bounce off Shining's shield.

"Honey," he said, "We need some ballistics."

"On it," Cadence said, getting to the front of the platform, "Deathharmonic!"

Several Mutants were obliterated from the sonic blast that erupted from Cadence's mouth. Eventually, they found themselves back at the carrier.

"They didn't destroy it," Rei noted, "They must be counting on whatever is next to take us out here and now."

The group turned to see a squadron of flying units zoom into the hanger.

"Those must be the new Gargoyles," Joseph noted, "Transforming autonomous platforms designed as anti-personnel war machines."

Shinji spotted an automated turret nearby.

"Let's take care of as many as possible before they start landing. Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

His Stand electrified the turret, causing its IFF to get reprogrammed and start aiming for the Gargoyles, taking out quite a number of them before two landed nearby the group.

"Better two than two dozen," Rei noted.

She activated her Lightning Mode and leapt at the first one, easily slammed it on its back. Joseph chuckled.

"Wamuu's little girl, huh?"

Shinji took on the second Gargoyle as Joseph rolled his shoulder.

"I'm really starting to feel my age here."

Soon enough, the duo had the two Gargoyles destroyed, letting the group leave on the carrier. Lorenz saw the whole thing from his monitor.

"So NERV decides to strike us at our most important site. This time it was just to rescue Mister Joestar. But who knows what they got a peek at during that time? Before long they will want to return to finish the job. Until then, we'll have to finish our current projects and have them moved. It doesn't matter that they made the first strike. We will make the one that counts."

Kaworu Nagisa, also known by his birth name of Tabris, was brought into NERV HQ by Naoko.

"We already have Unit-05 transferred into the center," she noted.

"That's good timing," Kaworu said, "The third of my brothers and sisters is due to arrive soon. Speaking of which, I'd like with speak to the two you have already retrieved."

"Not a problem," Naoko replied.

Soon enough, Kaworu was taken down to where the cores of Sachiel and Shamshel were housed.

"Brother Tabris," came Sachiel's voice from one of the cores, "So you chose to take the form of one of the Lilim."

"Crafted from various facial and body features, of course," Kaworu admitted, "SEELE is the one who gave me the body, but they had their own reasons for doing so."

"As far as Lilim go, SEELE are closest to Lilith's way of thinking," Shamshel noted, "Speaking of which, they do realize the attacks do not end with us, yes?"

"Oh, they have long predicted your attempts to release our father," Kaworu said, "In fact, they have great knowledge regarding our kind. But you must have noticed it, yes? Many Lilim have evolved beyond her design, becoming true humans."

"I did notice as such from the pilot of the EVA that defeated me," Shamshel admitted, "He had a power that reminded me of Father's stories of his Makers."

"I hope the Lilim have the means to counter Ramiel," Sachiel said, "He will be a different challenge compared to our own abilities."

"Strange as it may be," Kaworu replied, "I actually intend to join in battle against him. Trying to free Father is a noble goal, but you may wind up freeing Lilith instead. And the Lilim know this. They know the history between the two of them."

"This explains much of their actions," Sachiel realized, "But our other siblings are unaware. Still, be careful with Ramiel. His defenses are such that it may not be possible to remove his core safely."

Kaworu nodded grimly. He hated that he might have to kill one of his siblings, but that might very well become necessary.

Chapter Text

Eventually, the alert came in with the appearance of the Fifth Angel.

"Give me a visual," Gendo called out.

The monitor showed a large octahedron with a visible core right in its center.

"So this is Ramiel," Gendo noted, "The Dead Sea Scrolls made note of his superior defenses. Prepare drone artillery. Let's see just what sort of automated defenses we're dealing with."

"Copy that," Maya said.

Within minutes, a boat pulling a large balloon shaped like Unit-01 in its flying mode approached Ramiel. No sooner did it get within a certain range did a massive particle beam erupt from within the Angel and disintegrate the balloon. Shortly after, a mortar cannon on a rail car moved into position outside the range noted and fired. As expected, the shell hit the AT Field and bounced off harmlessly. What was really surprising is that immediately afterward, Ramiel fired another particle beam to vaporize the mortar.

"Interesting...," Fuyutsuki noted.

"So the scrolls weren't lying about its defensive capabilities," Yui said.

"Ramiel has already seen two of our siblings fall easily," Kaworu said as he entered the office, "His appearance is to show that he and the others are done playing by our rules."

Gendo smirked.

"Well, two can play by theirs. I want all available data gathered by the testing distributed to our entire team. Very few Earthly weapons can pierce through an AT Field, but I know of one that was developed for just such an emergency."

Just then, a rumbling could be heard.

"What was that?"

"Commander!," Hyuga called out, "We've just discovered that the Angel has extended a drill and is starting to pierce through the armor layers of the GeoFront!"

"It's how Ramiel intends to break into where Father is believed to be," Kaworu realized, "Rather than storm a heavily fortified base, he plans to take the direct route."

Outside, Ramiel was busy shifting his drill to pierce into NERVE.

"This will be a slow process. The Lilim have fortified their base well. I estimate it will take around ten hours to fully penetrate into the lower reaches where Father is. What concerns me is the weak attacks that the Lilim sent against me first. It felt like they were testing my defenses. They couldn't possibly find any sort of weakness, could they? Or perhaps a work-around? No matter. When they finally do make their move, I will make sure to deal with them."

He then paused in his thoughts.

"I feel the presence of Tabris... This has an ominous air to it."

The giant rifle that seemed made for mechs was brought into the GeoFront.

"That's what we're using to fight the Angel!?," Shinji asked.

"A positron rifle," Yui clarified, "Designed by the Japanese military specifically to pierce through an AT Field. You'll likely get two shots and you'll need to let it charge between shots. You'll be spotting outside the Angel's range, Rei will provide defense with the duralumin shield developed by the Togami Foundation, and Kaworu Nagisa will be taking the shot in Unit-05."

Kaworu walked up to Shinji.

"Hello, I don't think we've really met."

Shinji nodded.

"You must be Kaworu then."

Kaworu nodded.

"Yep, the Fifth Child as it were. Unit-05 is the one using the tiger theme."

Nearby was said EVA, adorned in white armor.

"I also heard you're one of the Angels," Shinji noted, "Why fight for us instead of trying to release Adam, the First Angel?"

"Father will be able to free himself before long," Kaworu explained, "And then he can set things right. Humans, what my siblings call Lilim, have earned their right to inherit this planet after thousands of years of development. Anyway, all bases seem covered for this battle. The only problem left is the power supply for the rifle."

"That's the simple part," Misato said as she approached, "Shinji won't just be spotting. He'll be using his Stand to charge the rifle faster."

"It'll take at least 180 gigawatts to to pierce through the AT Field, Shinji," Yui clarified, "Meaning you'll have to push your Stand farther than you ever have. Think you can pull it off?"

Shinji smirked.

"In a few hours, you'll either know or won't care."

"There's only one place we can fire from that's safe from Ramiel," Kaworu noted.

He noted a map of the island they were on. It was perfectly circular, with five areas surrounding a sixth. Kaworu pointed to a mountain in the grassier part.

"We'll be firing from here. It's close to Ramiel without being in his range. Though once he detects us firing he will fire back. That's where the shield comes in."

"Everyone get ready!," Gendo called out, "Operation Flying Fortress is set to commence in three hours!"

Units 02 and 05 emerged from the launch panel closest to the mountain, while Unit-01 used a launch panel further away so it could take off without being intercepted.

"This is Unit-01. I'm in the air and have visual on Ramiel. So Dad, how are we gonna get the core this time?"

'That we haven't figured out yet,' Gendo admitted, 'It's entirely possible that we won't be able to, and that we'll be forced to kill this Angel. You do realize that, right Kaworu?'

"I've already resigned myself to it," Kaworu said sadly, the positron rifle in hand.

Rei had finished setting up the duralumin shield. The positron rifle started charging up as Shinji discharged his Stand's power into it.

"We might not get it with the first shot," Kaworu noted, "We're close enough that Ramiel will detect the power increase."

Sure enough, just as Kaworu was ready to fire, Ramiel fired off a beam of his own. Kaworu fired at the same time, causing the two beams to meet halfway before winding around each other. Ramiel's beam impacted just below the EVAs at the base of the mountain, causing the ground to shake but otherwise doing no damage. Kaworu's beam was more effective, impacting on Ramiel's drill and breaking it off, causing the Angel to go spiraling towards the nearby lake.

"Damn! Without the drill I can't get to Father! I'll have to leave it to the next sibling, but in the meantime I'll deal with these machines to make it easier for them. The third one has shown its face now, looking much like a tiger."

Just then, several fighter jets came in from nowhere, blasting more positron beams to attack, easily piercing Ramiel's outer shell.

"Where did those fighters come from!?," Rei asked, "We never asked for backup on this operation!"

'The fighters have the symbol for SEELE!,' came Misato's voice over the comm, 'They must be trying to take this win from us!'

Kaworu quickly had Unit-05 leap onto Ramiel's shattered body before the fighters could make a second run and pulled out the core, moving out of the way as they blasted the empty shell.

'Shinji, get after those fighters!,' Gendo called out, 'It looks like they're going to the sky citadel! We'll arrange transport for Rei and Kaworu to join you!'

"On it," Shinji said, directing Unit-01 to fly after the fighters.

'These Angels are only trying to rescue their father from what they perceive to be his kidnappers. I won't let them be massacred so senselessly.'

The area that the fighters wound up landing in seemed infested with giant Parasites.

"Great...," Shinji said, "Parasites in this area can only mean one thing..."

Rei and Kaworu soon arrived.

"Ugh...," Kaworu said, "Were these created by SEELE's Stand virus experiments?"

"A byproduct," Rei clarified, "The real experiment..."

A sudden roar could be heard from a nearby water tank.

"Is right in there."

A giant squid-like creature known as a Kraken emerged, electricity surging through its body.

"So its voltage versus voltage," Kaworu noted, electrical energy crackling across his fingers.

His electric power came from precise control of his AT Field.

"Might as well clean the area out."

The easy part was smashing through the Parasites, but the Kraken itself was tough, with a hard shell over its head that hid an electric node. Luckily, it was vulnerable to overcharge. Three of the monster's tentacles attacked, lashing out and smashing up the ground. Kaworu created an electric blade with his AT Field and sliced through one of the tentacles, Rei smashing through a second with her own power. Shinji charged up to deal with the last one.

"Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

With a massive discharge, Shinji was able to cut through the last tentacle. The Kraken prepared a charge to retaliate, only for its eyes to go wide as something slammed through its shell and into its brain. The trio looked in shock as a young woman burst through its brain, the turned to face the Kraken.

"Hungry For Another One!"

The woman grabbed the remnants of the tentacle and, to the group's shock, began shoving it into her mouth. Within seconds she had consumed the entire Kraken, giving a final burp.

"Ugh... Worst calamari ever."

"Um... Who are you?," Shinji asked.

"Banica Conchita," the woman replied, "I was in town hoping to get to know the local cuisine when I saw the fight against the Angel. Seeing one of the rumored EVAs flying to this fortress I thought it might be important, so I followed on a Cessna I bought a few weeks ago."

"Ah, you would one of the people brought into the future by the ritual of the Original Sin," Kaworu realized.

"Yeah, and now that I'm free from that bitch Honami I wanted to see the world," Banica said, "Anyway, I think I'll lay off the food for a bit. Not only was that Kraken nasty to eat, it really filled me up. Good and bad, I suppose. Anyway, see you later."

And with that, she walked off.

"Well, anyway," Shinji said, "We have some breathing room before the next Angel."

"Let's not rest on our laurels," Kaworu said, "It's only going to get harder from here. And who knows what SEELE will be planning in the meantime."

"So much for our plans to make it look like NERVE murdered the Fifth Angel," SEELE-02, the French agent, said.

SEELE-03 was American, SEELE-04 Russian, and SEELE-05 British. Lorenz, of course, was SEELE-01.

"And so much for our plan to deny NERV the power supply needed to power the positron rifle," Lorenz noted, "The Angels can sense each other through their cores. If they realize one of their siblings is dead, they will take more drastic action against the ones who killed them, or think killed them. All part of our plans to make NERV join forces with us. But we underestimated the strength of the First Child, and the Fifth Child rescued his brother's core before it could be finished off."

"We still have everything we need to start our Third Impact and begin Instrumentality," SEELE-03 noted, "We only need NERV on our side because they are the only ones capable of stopping us. How are our plans proceeding?"

"All is as scheduled," Lorenz assured his allies, "While some of our plans are indeed failing, it is nothing more than setbacks. Our real plan will commence once the last of the Angels has been dealt with. I have already made contact with Lilith. Soon, very soon, we will have our ascendance into godhood."

He grinned as he said this, knowing that the less his enemies knew of his plans, the easier it would be to pull them off.

Chapter Text

Back in Japan, a crowd was gathering for a demonstration of a new device. The presenter was addressing the crowd that had gathered.

"The Speedwagon Foundation has taken to developing several mobile battle platforms for the purpose of combating the threat of the Angels. Now some of you might be wondering how we intend to break through the AT Field that Angels are able to project. The thing is... We don't. This project is strictly to aid the EVAs by performing hit and run tactics designed to draw attention away from them and giving them an opening to attack. It can also prove useful in retrieving the cores once an Angel has been defeated."

He motioned to the giant curtain.

"And with that in mind, allow me to introduce... The Jet Alone!"

The curtain fell, revealing a humanoid mech that looked like it was designed after old-school Super Sentai mecha.

"The machine is equipped with a Strong AI developed by Doctor Mirai Idabashi. One could almost call him Keebo Idabashi's giant younger brother."

The crowd gave a good-natured laugh.

"In addition, Jet Alone can perform other functions not Angel related, such as attacking enemy bases. Its outer coating is made from duralumin, meaning it could easily survive an attack from any Angel seen thus far, though future modifications are intended to take future Angels into account."

Before he could keep speaking, another Speedwagon agent got his attention and started whispering in his ear. The presenter nodded in understanding.

"It would appear Jet Alone is required for an impromptu field test. Rest assured we'll be having drone surveillance on it at all times, so you can get a good look at its capabilities."

He pressed a button on a controller he had, and Jet Alone sprung to life. It paused, clearly downloading something, then activated a set of rockets in its feet and took off, heading for the island in earnest.

While this was happening, Shinji had discovered something interesting about Toji. Not only was he more intelligent than his jock persona suggested, he also had a crush on Hikari. It had been strictly by accident, with Kensuke teasing Toji about how he was always looking at Hikari and Toji spilling his heart out about his feelings for her. So Shinji went out on a limb and more or less got Toji to just up and talk to Hikari. It been nerve-wracking, but Toji was able to successfully ask Hikari out on a date. Rei was convinced to tag along, but she didn't want to feel like a third wheel. Imagine the entire class's shock when she up and asked Kaworu to go out with her, him especially.

As Toji and Hikari were getting into their own conversation, Kaworu talked with Rei.

"So, why ask me out? I mean, I think a lot of people would have pegged you as wanting Shinji more, since you've been with him longer."

Rei just shrugged.

"Well, to be honest, he seems a little too wild for me. You have to remember I was raised by a doctor and a warrior shaman. And Dad mentioned Shinji reminds him very much of Joseph Joestar. Which is no surprise since Shinji was practically raised by Joseph's son Josuke. I'm more surprised you agreed."

"Well," Kaworu said, "Most of it was the idea of getting more human interaction. It'll be some time before the next of my siblings makes their move, so it's good to get it in while we have the downtime. It doesn't hurt that you and I can connect on an emotional and intellectual level."

He smiled.

"And you're very attractive."

Rei blushed as she smiled.

"Thanks. I owe a lot of that to my Gigan genetics. Most of Dad's race can be compared to supermodels of both genders. I must admit, the physical form you were given is also quite attractive."

Now it was Kaworu's turn to blush. The budding couple's fun was interrupted by a sudden call.

'Hate to break up the date,' came Cadence's voice, 'But we just caught wind of a secret lab on the outskirts of the island that belongs to SEELE. Speedwagon had just sent their new pet project to help us crack into it. Shinji's already on his way there.'

"We should probably head there too," Rei noted, "But do you think Toji and Hikari will be okay?"

Kaworu looked at the other couple as they laughed over a table hockey game.

"I think they'll be fine. But for now, I have a few grievances against SEELE that need to be settled."

Jet Alone landed right outside the pyramid-shaped building. Several drone fighters came out, but fell quickly to the Jet Alone's ballistic munitions. During the fight, Jet Alone struck off the top of the pyramid, revealing a chute that lead down into the lab underneath it, which the five heroes took advantage of. Cadence and Shining took a look around.

"What could they be making in here that's so important?," Cadence wondered.

Rei gasped and pointed to in one direction.

"That!"

The group looked and realized what was going on. Along the wall were several tanks containing the still-growing forms of several new EVAs.

"A crude version of the technology of the Makers," Kaworu noted, "As if they're trying to reverse-engineer it. Those infiltrators Nu mentioned weren't just trying to get used to the EVAs, they were trying to learn how to build one."

"It may be crude," came another male voice, putting the group on guard, "But it's effective."

A young man sporting what appeared to be a cybernetic bodysuit came out from behind one of the tanks.

"And the more these are studied, the better they become."

"Don't tell me you and the others we encountered are supposed to be the pilots," Shinji said, "Without the enhancements we provide to our EVAs, they require a human soul just to have the power to match the Angels."

"A few sacrifices for the sake of billions," the man pointed out.

Kaworu scoffed.

"I've seen SEELE's plans. They plan on sacrificing more than a few. So who are you supposed to be?"

"Name's Leo," the man replied, "It'll be the last name you ever hear. Positron Blade!"

The cybernetics in his arms reconfigured to reveal glowing energy blades in his arms. He made a spinning leap right at Kaworu, who put up his guard. Instead of the expected slicing, Leo found himself stopped by a familiar hexagonal field that seemed to conform to Kaworu's body, crackling with electricity. Kaworu grinned.

"Did you forget I'm an Angel too? I have my own AT Field, bolstered by an electrical power fostered by my time training with the Speedwagon Foundation."

Leo quickly leapt away before adopted a muay thai stance.

"An electric Stand, an electric mode, and now an electric AT Field. Electricity seems to be a running theme with your group."

"The armor on our EVAs was originally designed as a limiter to control their power," Rei explained, "But by reversing the flow of electricity, it can be changed into a powered armor suit, giving the EVA more power with a pilot than it ever had on its own."

The three pilots each took a fighting stance.

"Of course," Shinji said, "It only works because we have such a strong bond with our EVAs. We don't even have to worry about testing for Synchro ratings. It's ultimately a more efficient system, and no one gets sacrificed."

Leo scoffed before moving to attack, only get blocked by Kaworu and punched in the gut by Cruel Angel's Thesis. Leo backed off before dodging out of the way of Cadence's Stand, which she was able to maintain for a while before having to breath. Leo moved in to attack her, only to get blocked when Shining stepped in.

"Radioactive!"

Leo felt his Positron Blade hit a solid sphere, stunning him from the block. Cadence grinned.

"Deathharmonic!"

She gave a mighty scream, blasting Leo right in the face, sending him flying for a loop and slamming into one of the tanks. Luckily for him, the glass was reinforced. However, his cybernetics were starting to spark from the damage.

"Not good... I didn't imagine they'd be so strong. SEELE needs to be warned about this."

He called in a passing fighter and hopped on it, speeding away.

"Still trying to get away," Rei noted, "So what do we do about this place?"

"I can't imagine this is the only area where SEELE is developing these things," Cadence noted, "But at the same time, taking out this lab will surely cripple their efforts."

The headed outside, signaling to Jet Alone to finish destroying the lab.

Lorenz was not happy to hear about the lab being destroyed.

'We still have Site B in the jungles, but Site A was an important staging area to unveil our new products when the time came. We'll have to lock Site B down, and hard. But more important is how strong the pilots are. And that woman... Cadence. Her power seems weak at first, but in reality it is just simplistic. And if Leo is any indication it packs a punch. Clearly more study into the Stand virus is needed. There's clearly something we're missing. Regardless, we still have the appropriate number of EVAs for our plans. But it looks like we'll need to do our own research into the Dummy Plug system.'

Chapter Text

Lorenz sat in his office watching a timer, a countdown until the next Angel attack. He turned around at his desk and was joined by the holograms of his fellow inner circle.

"Gentlemen, as you are no doubt aware the Sixth Angel is due to arrive within a few hours. And according to the Dead Sea Scrolls, it will make its attack by sea."

"That's not good," SEELE-02 noted, "Thanks to Speedwagon, our only true influence is the island. Making a move in international waters will have the governments of the world after our heads."

"I assume you mention this because NERV is making a grand scale operation, yes?," SEELE-04 asked.

Lorenz nodded.

"Our agents have reported them transporting pilots, personal, and the three EVA Units via helicopter. Their intent is obvious, intercept the Angel before it can reach the waterways of the island to seek out Adam. In addition, I've gotten wind that the German government has signed off on allowing the Third Child to join the fight."

He hit a button on his console, revealing the four EVAs, the new one having lion-themed armor in yellow.

"Personally I can think we can let this one go," SEELE-05 suggested, "Focusing on our pride is only going to cause us to lose. And we need the Angels defeated anyway so they can't initiate Third Impact before we can."

Lorenz nodded.

"Agreed. We risk too much trying to intervene, and nothing at all if we just stand back and let this one play out. In the meantime, give our Stand users some rest. They're going to need it for the operations ahead."

The others nodded.

"Once the fight returns to the island we'll resume our plan," Lorenz declared, "Everyone be ready to act."

Each of the giant carrier choppers had a crate slung underneath it, each carrying one of the EVA Units. In a fourth helicopter was Shinji, Rei, Kaworu, Yui, Naoko, and Cadence. Misato was in another chopper with Shining, Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke. Shinji had wanted his new friends to experience what they were about to see.

"So why bring the EVAs with us to meet the Third Child?," Shinji asked, "You even had us grab our plug suits."

"The Sixth Angel is due to attack soon," Yui explained, "It'll be coming in from the water, and we want to be in a position where we can intercept it."

"We're coming up on the UN Pacific Fleet," came the pilot's voice, "We'll be landing on the Over the Rainbow."

"So what is the Third Child like?," Rei asked.

"Her name is Asuka," Naoko replied, "And she's been trained in Hamon and fighting arts by the Zeppeli family. She's a real prodigy, having successfully completed the Hell Climb Pillar at only fourteen years old. Even Joseph and Caesar were around eighteen when they took the test together. Her Hamon powers are how she can power up Unit-03, since under the armor it's a very living creature."

The choppers landed, and Shinji noted that the Jet Alone had already been moved out onto the aircraft carrier. Meeting them was a young woman with bright red hair. Yui smiled.

"Hey, Kyoko! Everyone, this is me and Naoko's friend and colleague, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu."

"Hey there," Kyoko replied, "Thanks for coming over. My daughter's been eager to meet you guys."

"So your daughter is Asuka then?," Kaworu asked.

Kyoko nodded, as a younger girl around the pilots age with red hair and wearing a sundress approached.

"Glad to meet you," she said with a pilot bow, "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu."

The other chopper landed, with the rest of the group disembarking, just in time for a huge gust of wind to blow over the carrier. Asuka quickly clamped down on her dress to keep her panties from showing.

"Seriously, Asuka," Kyoko said, "I warned you not to wear that dress. These aircraft carriers are like wind tunnels."

"I wanted to make a good first impression," Asuka pointed out.

She then looked around.

"I thought only the other three pilots were going to be here. Did they also bring the Fourth Child?"

"No," Misato clarified, "She's still receiving a few final tune-ups before arriving."

Asuka chuckled.

"You make her sound like some kind of robot."

Misato gave a knowing grin, which Asuka missed.

"Anyway," Misato said, "Allow me to introduce First Child Shinji Ikari, Second Child Rei Akagi, and Fifth Child Kaworu Nagisa."

"Oh, by the way, Misato," Kyoko said, "I should tell you that Kaji is also with us."

Misato blanched.

"Who's Kaji?," Toji asked.

"Ryoji Kaji, Misato's ex-boyfriend," Shining explained, "She's still raw about it, even though she's the one who left him."

"HEY!," Misato called out, "I had every reason to!"

"Oh, yeah?," Shining retorted, "What reasons?"

Misato just stayed silent.

"Was Misato perhaps more into Shining, but realized he had married before her breakup?," Rei wondered.

"She never expressed any attraction to Shining," Cadence replied, "As far as I know they've only ever been friends."

After Misato signed off jurisdiction of Unit-03, the group moved to the mess hall. Sure enough, Misato saw her former flame sitting there with a big grin on his face.

"Yo. It's been a while Misato. Really missed you."

Misato looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel. The others wisely chose to take a completely different table.

"So I saw the fights you guys had so far," Asuka said, "Shinji, I gotta admit you did pretty good during your first battle. Not to mention I had no idea that an EVA could fly."

Shinji smirked.

"Well, don't forget it's because of my Stand that the current system for the EVAs even exists."

He then turned serious.

"But really, I'm doing this because people will be in danger if the Angels are allowed to run wild. What about you? Why are you doing this?"

"Hamon is connected to the source of all life energy," Asuka explained, "My training has gotten to the point where I can feel a person's emotions just through reading that energy."

She closed her eyes.

"So many people on that island are in fear, both because of the Angels, and because they have to live under SEELE's thumb. I pilot to break through that fear, and help the people remember what it feels like to know hope."

Just then, klaxon horns could be heard from outside.

"Verdammt," Asuka muttered in German, "The Sixth Angel is already here."

"Gaghiel," Kaworu realized, "He's the only one of my siblings that can traverse the water easily."

The four pilots hurried to the locker rooms to change.

Gaghiel had already spotted the carrier containing the EVAs, but paid it no mind.

"As long as I keep to the waters, I should be able to slip by undetected. My other siblings were too obvious in their attempts, and were confronted and defeated. All I need is one stream linking me to Father's location, and I can easily slip inside."

Just then, he felt something scrap against his skin. It was Unit-02, swimming through the water with all the grace and ferocity of the shark its armor was modeled after.

"Impossible!," Gaghiel called out, "How did they spot me!? Not even their sonar should have been able to detect me!"

He didn't realize NERV had devices specifically designed to track Angels. Gaghiel swam after the EVA, knocking into the Over the Rainbow in the process.

This caused the ship to rock a little, causing Kaji to fall over, Misato falling right on top of him. Misato expected Kaji's hands to be somewhere inappropriate, but instead he had just grabbed her shoulders to stop her from falling to hard. She sighed.

"Thanks..."

Outside, Rei had Unit-02 leap out of the water, causing Gaghiel to follow her, jaws wide open, only to get stopped by Unit-03, which was radiating energy that seemed to paralyze Gaghiel.

"Ugh... This power... It's fusing into my very being... Locking my nerves in place..."

Inside her cockpit, Asuka was grunting.

"Someone find the core and grab it, I can't hold him forever!"

"It should right inside his mouth," Kaworu replied.

Sure enough, Asuka could see the bright red core right inside the gaping maw. She transmitted the location, and Jet Alone sprang into action. With Asuka's Hamon freezing Gaghiel in place, he couldn't put up his AT Field, leaving Jet Alone free to grab the core and start pulling. Units 01 and 05 leapt in to give assistance, finally pulling the core out and leaping out of the shell's mouth just as Asuka lost control and released her Hamon, causing Gaghiel's body to sink into the depths before exploding.

Back on the island things got more hairy, as a group of Drones, including some designed after ninjas, made an attack. Leading them was a young Chinese woman.

"Greetings. I am Rin Rin. And I must insist you leave your important artifacts here."

She swirled around to reveal a bladed fan that seemed to spew fire.

"Or me and my Yanlong will see you burned to cinders."

"That's direct," Asuka noted, "But unfortunately we can't acquiesce. We kinda need this gear to save the world."

Rin Rin chuckled.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

She rushed at Asuka, but got shocked when she found herself parried and knocked into the nearby wall. The other pilots were already dealing with the Drones. Some embers still clung to Asuka's arms, but she wasn't concerned. Channeling her breathing, she charged right at Rin Rin.

"Scarlet Overdrive!"

The embers were fed into a raging fire, and luckily for Asuka, Rin Rin wasn't as fireproof. She quickly dove into a nearby lake to douse herself, only for Asuka to leap in after her. The lake began to crackle with Hamon, before Asuka leapt out, having caught Rin Rin under her chin using her forearms.

"Next time," Asuka said, "Leave the Stand shenanigans to those with actual talent. Turquoise Blue Overdrive!"

The Hamon flooded the water still clinging to Rin Rin, shocking her into unconsciousness. Asuka grabbed her by the waist as she landed. Nearby, she saw Shinji spinning a Drone's head on his finger.

"Gotta admit, you're kind of a showoff. But it was pretty hot watching you fight."

Asuka smirked.

"You're not so bad yourself. Maybe I'll get the chance to teach you a few moves."

Shinji grinned.

"Or maybe I'll teach you some."

Nearby, Kaji was helping Misato to shore.

"Well, that escalated quickly."

"It's time like this I'm reminded you can actually be a gentleman," Misato muttered.

Chapter Text

"The capture of one of the artificial Stand users is a great boon to us," Fuyutsuki said, "Now if we can capture the ones that escaped earlier, we can start to put a dent in SEELE's forces."

"Unfortunately we can't be on constant patrol for them," Rei pointed out.

Fuyutsuki nodded.

"Not to worry. We've already made arrangements to have outside sources deal with the issue."

Nearby, Kaji sighed, having been forced to shave and dress in appropriate attire. Fuyutsuki did allow him to go without a tie, but that was the extent of it. He had taken the time to have a good, long talk with Misato about a lot of things. It wasn't enough to restart their relationship, but at least now she wouldn't walk around the headquarters mad at him all the time.

"Now then," Fuyutsuki said, "We need to discuss Asuka's living conditions."

"Yeah, I gotta ask something about that," Asuka said, "Why is Shinji living with someone other than his parents?"

"Director Ikari and his wife Doctor Ikari are constantly working here at NERV," Fuyutsuki explained, "The living conditions with Misato are temporary until the paperwork to have him live in a full-time dorm on his own are complete."

He nodded to Asuka.

"As for you, since you spent some time being monitored by Misato, you'll be living with her as well. Unfortunately, Doctor Soryu is also busy fulfilling her duties. Rest assured this was taken into account. You should be having your own dorm, with a roommate, in as little as a week."

Asuka shrugged.

"Cool, I guess. I mean, I could do worse for roommates then my own teammates."

She gave a chuckle.

"I don't suppose co-eds are on the table."

Fuyutsuki sighed.

"Teenagers... I'll see what can be arranged."

Misato could easily tell Asuka's thought process. She was starting to develop a crush on the First Child.

The next day at school, the four pilots were hanging out on the roof.

"Say, Rei," Asuka said, "I noticed that your facial profile is similar to Doctor Ikari."

"There are some similarities," Rei admitted, "Though my jawline is sharper, and my eye color is identical to my father."

Asuka raised an eyebrow.

"How do Gigans even reproduce? I mean, we're talking about a species with total control over their entire cellular structure."

"To be honest, the way they reproduce is no different from humans," Rei explained, "Mom pointed that out. Of course, given the average Gigan life span extends into the tens of thousands of years, they don't reproduce often."

"So now you're living with us," Shinji noted as he and Asuka started moving boxes into the smaller room.

Shinji had earned the larger room because of all the work he did around the place. Once they were finished, Asuka headed off to take a bath.

"So," Misato said, "What do you think of her?"

"Well, she's lively," Shinji admitted, "And very attractive. She's competitive without being egotistical. I think I really like her."

"I'm told her mom was pulled from the experiment into improving the EVAs' efficiency," Misato said, "After the incident where your mom got absorbed into the Unit-01, the NERV branch in Germany tried tweaking the systems."

"And Doctor Soryu was the first to test it?," Shinji asked.

Misato nodded.

"But Joseph Joestar was there that day, and discovered someone had tampered with the machines. The EVA would have left Kyoko's body alone all right... By ripping the soul right out of it."

Shinji cringed. He couldn't bear to imagine how Asuka would have wound up if something like that happened. He then looked around.

"Say... Where did Pen Pen go?"

Misato looked back at him.

"Oh, he's in the... Uh-oh..."

Before she could get up, Asuka gave an ear-piercing scream. Shinji quickly covered his eyes as Asuka ran out of the bathroom buck naked, though he did catch enough of a glimpse to confirm she was a natural red-head.

"WAS ZUR HOLLE IST DAS!?," Asuka shrieked in her native German, pointing at Pen Pen coming out of the bathroom.

"That's Pen Pen, my pet penguin," Misato explained, "By the way, I didn't know you and Shinji were far enough along for you to start showing off to him."

Asuka looked down and realized she wasn't covered. She a quick shriek before grabbing the nearest towel.

"I am so sorry...," she said, her face bright red.

She hurried back into the bath as Pen Pen left.

"You know," Shinji said to him, "There are better ways of being a wingman."

Pen Pen made something like a smirk with his eyes.

"I'm surprised you didn't slap me for the free show," Shinji noted as Asuka headed for her room.

"Mom always says it's not polite to slap people for exposure when it's your own fault. Or an accident."

She bent back in such a way that her ample chest stuck out in just the right way.

"Don't get me wrong, you're likely as horny as the next teenage boy, but I doubt you're the sort of pervert who gets his jollies off trying to sneak a peek any chance you get."

"You are making it really hard to keep control right now," Shinji admitted.

Asuka chuckled.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Shinji Ikari. I only let the absolute best get near me."

She stuck her hand out.

"This is the unbreakable wall of Jericho."

And with that she closed the door. But as she turned around, she heard the door bang open, Shinji having used his Stand to knock it open.

"I've read the Bible, Asuka, and I know Jericho fell. So let me ask, were you secretly giving me an invite?"

As if in response, Asuka grabbed him and locked lips.

"Just get in here, First Child."

And with that, she dragged Shinji into her room.

Meanwhile, in a nearby bar, several of the Artificial Stand users were hanging around with some drinks. Mostly it was just Big Bull and Baron, Mathilda being behind the bar cleaning up some glasses.

"You ever see that stereotype in movies where the bartender is just always cleaning glasses?," Baron asked, "By the way, where's Leo?"

"He's back in the training center," Big Bull replied, "Said he needed to improve himself after his defeat earlier."

"Shit, we all lost to those punk-ass kids," Baron reminded him, "Ain't no reason to be ashamed."

Just then, the door opened, and a green-haired young woman entered the bar. She sat down a few seats from Baron and ordered a drink.

"So who are you supposed to be?," Baron asked, "This spot was meant to be reserved for just us."

"Name's Nemesis Sudo," the woman replied, "I was sent here to apprehend a few... Dangerous individuals."

After being released from Honami's control, mastering her Stand, and being reunited with her boyfriend, Nemesis had taken up a job as a bounty hunter, tracking down dangerous criminals and turning over any information on their whereabouts to the police, sometimes even bringing them in personally. Big Bull snorted.

"Say, aren't you that new bounty hunter on the block? I don't know who you're looking for, but you'd better move on before you get nailed!"

"Too late," Nemesis said, "Me and my boyfriend were doing it earlier before I came here."

Big Bull dropped his pointing finger while Baron and Mathilda just laughed.

"You definitely got a sense of humor, girl!," Baron said as he tried to put a hand on Nemesis's shoulder, only to feel it get grabbed by something unseen.

"I should probably mention," she said as she turned to them, "You guys are the criminals I'm seeking. One Step Closer!"

Her extra arms, one of which was already active, emerged, the lower right one slamming Big Bull in the knee. Mathilda hopped over the bar to attack with her Iron Maiden, only for Nemesis to block with two of her arms. She then proceeded to push them all off.

"You're pretty good, girl," Baron admitted, "But it's still three on one."

Nemesis smirked.

"In that case... I'll just have to go a little further beyond."

She titled her head down.

"One Step Closer... Reanimation!"

In an instant, her whole body seemed to burn red hot as she leaned back with a guttural scream, her eye patch bursting off, revealing her blind eye healing itself. She then began to spin in place, creating a tornado that sucked the trio of cyborgs in.

"Ah hell nah!," Baron called out as he tried to keep his hat on while getting sucked into the tornado.

The massive winds knocked the trio into the nearby walls hard enough to knock each of them out. Nemesis took a few deep breathes, returning to normal after a while. With another deep breath, she picked up her eye patch and put it back on.

"It's too bad my eye can only see again in that state."

She got out her phone and dialed a number.

"Hey. I got three of them, couldn't find the fourth. Can I get a pick up? Cool."

Chapter Text

To say that things were going bittersweet was rather appropriate given the circumstances. Earlier that day the Seventh Angel, identified as Israfel, had made his appearance known. Naturally the group had gone out to deal with the situation, but while Kaworu had warned them of Israfel's ability to split in two, they weren't prepared for how coordinated the two halves were. Luckily, a new EVA dropped in, quite literally, just as Israfel was merging together to finish the job. The new EVA, Unit-04, wearing green armor resembling an elephant, hadn't been able to defeat the Angel, but the impact had been comparable to an N2 mine, meaning the Angel wasn't moving anytime soon.

The downside was Israfel had erected an AT Field so strong nothing could get through it, not even a second N2 mine. Shinji looked at the five EVAs standing side-by-side and noticed something.

"Hey, Dad, why do our EVAs resemble the Dobutsu Sentai Zyuohger?"

Gendo chuckled. Of course his son would recognize that.

"Some of our sponsorship money comes from Toei, and they wanted to use the EVAs to advertise their newest Super Sentai."

Shinji shrugged and joined the other pilots in greeting their newest member, Aigis Idabashi, the Fourth Child.

"So you're another robot created by Mirai Idabashi?," Kaworu asked.

"Yes," Aigis replied, "I'm actually Keebo's younger sister. And much like each of you, I can manipulate electrical energy. In my case I do so by overclocking my internal hardware."

"Well, it certainly stopped the Angel," Asuka noted, "Temporarily at least. Long enough to find out how the hell we're gonna beat it. Seriously, I was joking about the robot thing... More importantly, how we're going to retrieve his core."

"Not to worry," Rei said, "Big Sis is working on something. Hopefully we'll have news before the end of the day."

Misato blinked as she looked at the USB drive, and then at Kaji.

"You came up with this?"

Kaji shrugged.

"Hey, I know how hard it can be on you when you get in a bad mood. I thought this might be a good way to brighten your day."

Misato checked out the info on the USB. She started smiling at what she saw.

"Kaji... This is brilliant! Using the Angel's own tactics against him, and how we can grab the core!"

She surprised Kaji by smooching his lips, albeit briefly.

"Don't get used to that," Misato assured him, "But consider your foot in the door. Just be careful not to make me slam it."

Kaji chuckled.

"Fair enough."

"So here's what we know," Misato said as she addressed the pilots, "Israfel's core is actually made of two components. To fully remove it, it must be pulled out of his body while he is whole, but before the two halves of the core are merged. This means a quick, synchronized strike is key. Therefore, this operation will be three-fold. Team One, being Shinji and Asuka, will perform the synchronized strike. Team Two, consisting of just Aigis, will distract the Angel as he's pulling together. While that is happening, Team Three, Rei and Kaworu, will go to remove the cores. You'll have exactly five seconds from the time he merges to grab the cores. Any longer and the cores will merge and be too heavy to remove. Any questions?"

"How will we be training for the synchronized strike?," Asuka asked.

"That's the catch," Misato said, "To pull this off, you both need to be perfectly in sync with everything you do. And you'll need to live in the same room for until the Angel recovers from Aigis's attack, which will be in exactly one week. In addition, you'll be practicing a battle routine set to a sixty-second piece of music. Remember, we'll likely only get one try with this plan, so we need to make it count."

The pilots all nodded, and headed off for their individual training.

While Shinji and Asuka were busy with their sync training, the other three pilots busied themselves with a small errand for NERV. They had to bring a few energy cells to transport tubes connected to the GeoFront, which were needed to power Aigis's recharge station. Unlike her brother Keebo, who was self-sufficient thanks to his Stand Machinehead, Aigis had to rely on a daily recharge station, and the energy draw was substantial. So swiping energy cells from SEELE's supply was a great way to provide the level of energy needed for the station. As they were finishing up, something came up on Aigis's sensors, and she quickly dodged something that was slicing through the air.

"So," came a male voice from nowhere, "You were able to detect my presence."

An electrical field surged, revealing a young man in a cybernetic outfit, the design being clearly based around a ninja.

"As if we don't have enough to deal with," Kaworu noted.

"I am Zero," the man said, "And you are stealing precious energy my masters need for their plans. But if you were to join us, we would be happy to share."

"I am afraid that cannot be arranged," Aigis said, "Our mission is to save the world, and your masters are seeking to destroy it, only to remake it the way they want. A place only for them, where everyone serves them. That is not the way the world is meant to work."

Zero said nothing else, but grabbed the twin swords on his back, clearly the artificial Stand he was granted.

"Onimaru & Jyuzumaru! Prepare to strike down this mockery of life!"

He drew his swords, but Aigis leapt over the attempted attack and activated her overdrive system, her arms changing into revolver cannons. The girl proved to be a walking arsenal, her guns firing too fast for even the high-frequency blades Zero was carrying to counter. After a bit, he managed to get up.

"You fight well for a mere robot, but soon you will-- Guh!"

His entire system had been shorted out by a sneak attack from Rei using her lightning mode.

"We have no time to be playing around with false Stand users," she said, "We should get back and keep practicing our roles. And maybe check in on our new couple."

It was no secret that Shinji and Asuka had fallen for each other hard due to their similar personalities, making the synch training go all the smoother.

"So now we have another artificial Stand user for the brig," Cadence noted, "SEELE's really pushing for us to join their cause. The problem is they would deliberately hamper us so when the time came for them to make their move, they'd be able to scapegoat us and we couldn't do anything to stop them."

She was overseeing the training of the other three pilots. Rei and Kaworu were practicing timing their attack for when Aigis provided the distraction, while Aigis practiced timing her attack to when the music stopped. For added security, Jet Alone would be flying in just before her to make sure Israfel's eyes were off the pilots. Tomorrow was when the battle would begin, and the pilots were in great shape.

"Everything took into account the Angel evolving to deal with a similar strike to last time," Shining noted, "Let's hope we can make our one chance count."

Cadence nodded.

"I'd really like to make this world one were we can start raising a family together."

Shining smiled before hugging and kissing his wife.

"I really envy you two," Kaji said as he came up to them, "I hope I can patch things up with Misato soon enough."

"You do realize all her anger towards you is to cover up the fact that she's the one who left you," Shining noted.

Kaji nodded.

"Yeah. It still stings."

Israfel finally finished repairing his body and merged himself together.

"That had to be the longest six days of my life," he said in stereo, befitting his ability to split apart.

Of course, while he had two voices, he only had one mind.

"It doesn't look like the Lilim are making any further attacks. They likely figured out how long it would take me to heal. No matter, I might as well take advantage of this opening."

He got distracted by the sight of Ramiel's shell, still being broken down days after his core was removed.

"I still feel Ramiel's presence not far from Father. Hopefully I can free my siblings as well."

Just then, twin hatches opened in the ground, revealing Units 01 and 03, arms crossed in an X in front of their faces.

'Ready Operation Tempo,' Cadence said over the comm.

"Copy that!," Shinji and Asuka said simultaneously.

Israfel scoffed before splitting in two, only to hear music the second he did so. Suddenly, the two EVAs struck as one, causing sever pain as they easily broke through Israfel's AT Field.

"Damn! They're playing things my way! Need to hurry and merge together, disrupt their battle strategy!"

However, the second he did so, he found himself under fire from both Jet Alone and Unit-04 strafing the area. Before he could react, Units 02 and 05 dropped behind him and grabbed the two cores. Quicker than he could think, Israfel felt both his cores getting pulled from his body simultaneously, the two EVAs jumping away as the shell exploded. Shinji and Asuka found themselves in the middle of a crater, though their EVAs were unaffected by the blast.

"Well," Asuka said as she got out of her EVA, "That happened."

Shinji also exited.

"Looks like we pulled it off. And it looks like we have some privacy."

Cadence giggled as she took that as a sign to turn off the monitors.

"Young love... Man, I miss those days."

"I hear ya," Yui said, "I remember still remember Gendo's corny singing trying to get my attention."

Chapter Text

Lorenz observed recordings of the previous fights on several monitors. He grumbled to himself.

"Our Stand users can't stand up to normal fighters, much less the Stand users NERV has. Why? What is it about these Stand users that makes them stronger? They say our Stand users are artificial, but they should be the same."

'I wouldn't worry about it too much,' came a voice over his comm network, 'Once I get the chance to fight them, they will not stand a chance. After all, I was able to unleash a greater power from my Stand.'

"It had better be strong enough," Lorenz said, "We invested quite a lot of money in obtaining these powers for you. The crafting process alone cost tens of thousands in labor fees."

He was aware that he was being monitored, but dismissed it. They would never unveil his true plan. Not until it was too late.

As it happened, it was Kaji who was listening in, having used his government contacts to hide a bug in Lorenz's office.

'Crotchety old fool,' Kaji thought to himself, 'Still deluding himself in thinking mankind has hit an evolutionary dead-end. But if the events in Fuyuki twenty-two years ago are anything to go by, mankind has only begun to evolve.'

Rei was observing her body in the mirror. Due to her half-human genetics, she would still age normally for a few more years, but eventually her aging would slow to a crawl. It wouldn't be as slow as her father, but it wouldn't be long before she left her friends behind as they aged. Well, except for Kaworu, who could age at the same rate she did. Additionally, the Gigan side of her genetics meant she did not grow hair except for on her head and in her crotch area. Since most girls her age tended to have it removed, she saw it as no big loss. She then examined her face closely.

"Hey, Mom!," she called out.

Naoko poked her head in the door.

"What is it Rei?"

"The other day Asuka couldn't help but notice how similar my face is to Doctor Ikari," Rei noted, "There are some subtle differences, and with my hair so long it's difficult to tell. However... I'm curious as to why."

Naoko chuckled. That was something she inherited from Wamuu, her ability to notice the small details.

"To be honest, while I was pregnant with you I needed a blood transfusion," Naoko explained, "Yui was the only viable donor. Because of your Gigan genetics, you absorbed part of that genetic code, causing your face to become similar to hers."

It was true. Rei had developed the Gigan trait of absorbing genetic material and molding it to her benefit before she even left the womb. Yui would often joke about how Rei had two mothers, Naoko and herself, which caused the women no end of amusement.

'Now I get the joke,' Rei thought, giggling to herself.

Naoko smiled. It was upsetting that Rei would remain so young looking even when she herself was as old as a grandmother, but at the same time she wasn't bothered by it. That was just how Rei's body worked, and there was no changing it even if she wanted to.

Later the group was busy in the gym. Even Aigis needed to work out, since her body was designed to be modular, and thus could grow stronger with effort on her part. Asuka found herself gazing at Shinji as he did his weight reps. The guy looked like a stick, but the muscles underneath resembled tightly bound steel cord. It was clear his time training in Morioh did him good.

"Care to snap out of it?," Rei asked as she got in close to Asuka.

"Oh, sorry," Asuka said, "Just eating a bit of eye candy."

Rei rolled her eyes.

"Save it for the bedroom, assuming you've even gotten that far."

Asuka blushed. While she and Shinji hadn't gotten that far the night of their first kiss, they had wound up sleeping in the same bed. And then Asuka had a dream about walking into class naked, though fortunately only Shinji was there to see her. The following morning after she woke up, things had been messy to say the least.

"Anyway, our field trip to Okinawa is coming up."

"I don't think we'll get the chance to go," Kaworu said, "After all, we have to remain on active duty. Especially since the Eighth Angel is due to arrive in the middle of the trip."

Asuka slumped.

"Darn... We're supposed to be saving the world, the least we can get is a break once in a while."

"We could always arrange a trip to Okinawa once the situation is resolved," Kaworu suggested, "Y'know, just the five of us."

"Six," Aigis chimed, "I insist on bringing my own date so that I'm not a fifth wheel among two couples."

Just then, a general alert went off.

"What's going on?," Rei asked.

'One of the artificial Stand users is leading a raid on the high school,' Cadence said over the comm, 'Me and Shining are already on it, and we're bringing help.'

Cadence was soon met by Fluttershy, Sunset, Rarity, Rainbow, and Trixie. They saw a cyborg man with red lines along his body leading a group of Killseekers, including Cryo Killseekers, larger Executioners, and Armed Vehicles, cars with spiked bumpers and gatling guns on their roof.

"So who are you?," Cadence asked.

"Just call me Max," the man said.

The women dashed forward, each activating their powers.

"Music in the Trees!"

"Art of the Dress!"

"Tricks Up My Sleeve!"

Max narrowed his eyes as several of his vehicles were grabbed with tree branches and suspended in midair, making them useless. Several Killseekers got impaled on sharp crystals, while others got locked up in colorful boxes that quickly got impaled.

"I'll Fly!"

"Tighten Up!"

Max then found himself clocked across the head by what felt like a giant wing before something planted its foot hard into his gut. The Executioners moved to attack, only to get blasted by supersonic waves.

"Deathharmonic!"

Max then saw he was also getting locked in a box that was folding up around him.

"Oh no you don't," he said, "Positron Blade & Tesla Blitz!"

Several drones detached from his shoulders and charged up the blades on his arms allowing him to slice the box in two.

"Ooh, you caught me," came Trixie's voice.

It seemed like she had been split across her waist, but to Max's shock her upper half leapt off her lower half and grew legs, while her lower half grew a new torso. In actuality, this was one of Trixie's favorite magic tricks. She had actually dodged the positron blade easily, having seen where it would come from thanks to Max's movements being rendered predictable thanks to the confines of the box. She then used Tricks Up My Sleeve to bring in one of her many trained body doubles, each of whom had hypnotized themselves to act exactly like Trixie, though they still thought of themselves as different people. They were just that good at acting.

While Max was distracted, Cadence was able to slip behind him.

"Deathharmonic!"

Max got blindsided by the sound wave blast, but turned around to make his own electric attack. It never got through.

"I'll Fly!"

Rainbow swooped in and used her flight field to negate the electrical attack. Max took a step back.

"It's said that imposing your will is a matter of strength. And it looks like I don't enough at this point."

He pounded the ground, creating a electric field that blinded the girls and gave him time to escape.

"Do you think he was SEELE's heavy hitter?," Fluttershy asked, "I've heard rumors that one of the artificial Stand users developed a secondary mode."

"He would have unleashed it on us if he had it," Cadence noted, "Besides, either way we were able to drive him off and prevent him from accomplishing his raid."

"A second raid?," Lorenz asked into the comm.

He was in a meeting with the rest of his inner circle.

'It was believed that we could try to find additional information about the Stand virus,' the voice on the other line explained, 'The Stands we have been given are proving inferior, in spite of their exceptional abilities.'

"This is a serious embarrassment," SEELE-04 noted, "Now NERV will be on alert for further incursions. Not to mention the parents of those students are growing concerned. They have enough clout to convince the government to pull their children from that school. And if they do, there goes our chance of any study."

'Apologies,' the voice said, 'We'll make sure not to make such mistakes in the future.'

The communication ended.

"What little influence we have is waning with each loss," Lorenz admitted, "We ultimately hold the final ace. But it means nothing if we cannot fully implement our plans."

"We do have agents hidden among NERV," SEELE-05 noted, "Perhaps we should instruct them to perform a subtle jailbreak."

Lorenz considered it.

"It would be easier to perform further operations if we had all hands on deck. Can they get it done without drawing attention?"

SEELE-05 nodded.

"I have some ideas on how to affect this."

The group nodded in agreement.

"Very well," Lorenz agreed, "We simply cannot let NERV stay on top forever..."

Chapter Text

"Where am I?," Sandalphon asked as he extended his senses.

It seemed he had landed in the middle of a volcano at the edge of the island.

"Well this stinks... Guess I screwed up again. Still, I should count myself lucky I managed to land in an environment I am suited towards. This will give me time to develop. Then I can burrow under the ground to where the Lilim are keeping Father, taking the magma with me."

His senses then picked up a few devices near him.

"I should have expected the Lilim to notice my entrance. And I am still not ready to face them. Still, if they wish to attack me, they will find it very difficult."

"We couldn't have planned this distraction better ourselves," SEELE-03 said with a smug grin, "Now NERV will be busy dealing with the Eighth Angel while we can muster the forces necessary to retrieve our imprisoned agents."

"We only get one shot at this," Lorenz pointed out, "And if it fails, we stand to lose yet another agent."

He activated the communicator.

"Max, is everything set?"

'We have our infiltration force ready to attack at any moment,' Max replied.

"Good," Lorenz said, "We'll give you the signal once the Eighth Angel is dealt with."

"That's Sandalphon?," Shinji asked, looking at the scan from the volcano, "He looks like an embryo."

"This is him in his development phase," Kaworu explained, "By now he's focusing energy to affect a serious growth spurt. Of course, it's pure luck that we caught him while he was still developing. He always was a klutz."

"How do we proceed?," Maya asked.

"Going into that volcano to retrieve the Angel while it's still developing is a suicide mission," Gendo noted, "Even with our advanced armor the pilots could only withstand ten minutes at maximum. And for all we know the Angel would wait until it was contained to activate his growth spurt."

"So the what's the plan?," Rei asked.

"Luckily the JSDF still has a few N2 mines they're willing to grant us," Shining said, "We'll drop one into the volcano on the far side near the ocean, triggering a safe eruption that will both empty the magma chamber, depriving Sandalphon of his means to break into the GeoFront, and expose him to the outside air."

"He's more used to high temperature, high pressure environments," Kaworu noted, "Once exposed to a normal atmosphere he'll be vulnerable. But once he's exposed, we need to act quick to retrieve the core before the body expands to the point of explosion."

"No sign of the Lilim," Sandalphon said, "No matter. If they won't come to me, I'll go to them."

He had already gathered the necessary amount of energy, and immediately grew to his fully-developed form. However, at that moment, a massive explosion went off. Thanks to his AT Field he wasn't affected, but he wound up being carried outside the volcano by the sudden shift in the magma current.

"CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!"

He found himself starting to expand as he was exposed to a lower pressure than he was used to. Even worse, he saw Unit-01 flying in.

"So this is why the Lilim weren't trying to come to me," Sandalphon realized, "Thanks a lot, Tabris. Now I look like an even bigger doofus..."

Shinji stopped just inches from Sandalphon.

"This should be enough. Now to crack open this lobster. Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

Shinji's Stand went at full power as Unit-01's arms moved faster than anyone would have thought possible.

"DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME!"

A few good punches and Shinji had broken through the outer layer of the Angel, enough to grab the core and retreat as the rest of the body expanded until it burst like an overripe melon.

A general alert in NERV headquarters went out just as Shinji retrieved the core.

"We got Killseekers in full force infiltrating the GeoFront!," Shigeru called out, "They're heading for the prison cells!"

"Damn!," Gendo said, "They're trying to release the artificial Stand users we had contained!"

The four pilots still at NERV hurried to where the group of Killseekers was gathered. These included some Mutant Plants and Poison Killseekers, as well as a Cybrid Joe for good measure.

"They really want their buddies back," Asuka noted.

"There must be at least a hundred of them," Aigis noted, "They intend to overwhelm with numbers."

"One hundred hardly seems like a lot," Kaworu said with a smirk.

The group activated their various powers and started blasting at the group, coating the walls with blue blood as they took out mutant after mutant.

Meanwhile, one member of the infiltration group, named Sasha, had slipped by the pilots as they handled the Killseekers. However, she had to stop and dodge when a sonic blast erupted from just outside the prison cells. Cadence walked up to to the icy woman.

"Trying to get inside? I can offer you a trip if you like. Catch is... It's one way."

"No thanks," Sasha replied, "I prefer to make my own travel plans. And I much prefer traveling with friends. Snow Spikes!"

The nanotech inside her body activated, creating a frosty construct that she fired at Cadence.

"Deathharmonic!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs, blasting the construct to the snowflakes.

"I've seen colder winters in Miami," Cadence snarked, "Why not look up old Rudy? I'm sure he could teach you a thing or two about cryokinesis."

She and Sasha started trading blows. Cadence may have had a rather limited Stand, but she made up for it with martial prowess, having mastered karate at a young age. Sasha, despite being a master of systema, had a hard time dealing with a fighting style that didn't even use weapons, not to mention the occasional sub-sonic burst whenever Cadence was face-to-face with her frosty adversary. A few good strikes to Sasha's midsection, followed by a sonic scream right in her ear, and Cadence soon knocked out the Russian blonde. She then contacted the others.

"We have one more for the cells."

"Why would SEELE risk a jailbreak of this magnitude?," Fuyutsuki asked.

He and Gendo were engaged in another shogi game.

"You know Lorenz," Gendo said, "He hates to lose in anything, even if he already has the tools to win. He probably doesn't even need these artificial Stand users. He just wants them to make things easier to keep under control. No, his plan is something else altogether."

"So it's simply that he desires more power," Fuyutsuki noted, "Even though he'll have all he could want should his plans succeed."

Gendo finished with a winning move.

"But so long as we remove that power base, we can win."

Chapter Text

Asuka could barely keep from laughing. The class had gotten back from Okinawa, and it turned out their trip had wound up taking place during a rainstorm, ruining the trip.

"Hikari's really taking it bad," Kensuke noted, "She had an entire itinerary planned out and it got messed up because of weather."

"Wish I had known," Shinji said, "I know of a powerful Stand user that can manipulate weather."

"Not like it's been a picnic for us back here," Asuka noted, "First we had another Angel to deal with, and then our headquarters got attacked. Someone trying to free a bunch of prisoners we have locked up."

"It's a good thing the weekend is up," Toji noted, "That'll give me time to help Hikari calm down."

"You guys are real lucky, you know?," Kensuke said to the pilots, "I've always wanted to try piloting one of those EVAs."

"It's not as easy as it looks," Asuka pointed out, "Those titans aren't mechs. They're more like... Giant cyborgs. Living beings infused with cybernetic armor. And they desire power, so controlling them is a matter of synchronization. Luckily, we're able to use our powers to channel electrical energy into the armor, giving them a power boost. It's enough to placate them."

Toji blanched.

"Those things are alive!? What on earth do they eat!?"

"They don't really need to eat," Shinji noted, "They were genetically crafted using the First Angel, Adam, as a template. Over time they've become calmer, to the point where both EVA and Pilot become like partners. Lately I've been able to get Unit-01 to respond to the slightest thought."

"Which is good," Kaworu chimed in, "Soon enough we'll be up against the toughest of my siblings. As plan after plan fails, they'll start to get more desperate."

Kensuke looked at Kaworu.

"Hold on... Kaworu, are you also one of these Angels?"

Kaworu nodded.

"Kaworu Nagisa is just the name I chose when taking on a human form. My real name is Tabris, the Angel of Free Will. It's because of my status that I ultimately chose to go against my nature and aid humanity. Although, eventually Adam will recover from what happened to him. And then... Lilith will pay for her actions."

"Who's Lilith?," Toji asked.

"The Second Angel," Rei explained, "Found and captured by Stand users who were investigating Second Impact. And she'd dearly love to be free to unleash her wrath upon the world."

Zero arrived in Lorenz's office.

"The chamber is on viewer mode for your convenience," Lorenz said, and the other four members of SEELE's inner circle appeared.

"Good to see you were able to escape capture," SEELE-05 said.

"Fortunately my systems were not completely fried," Zero replied, "The Gigan child is strong, however. I feared I would not awaken before NERV's agents reached me. Now, what is it you wish me to accomplish?"

"There is an important laboratory in the jungle region that NERV is trying to access," SEELE-02 said.

"The lab contains information on how you and your fellow Stand users were designed," Lorenz explained.

"And you wish me to take a squad to lock the lab down," Zero surmised.

"He catches on quickly," SEELE-03 noted, "We'd also like you to deal with any intruders getting too close. We cannot let our secrets be leaked to the public. Not until we're ready to unveil our master plan."

Zero nodded.

"I will see it done. Master Keel, permission to take the Cthulhu Drone for this mission?"

Lorenz smiled.

"Granted. Our ultimate piece of technology will certainly overwhelm whoever comes knocking."

"A lab in the middle of the jungle?," Cadence asked.

Yui nodded.

"The entrance is nondescript, but considering most of the island belongs to SEELE, I can't see it being operated by anyone else. We've sent a small task force to investigate. But right now, they're being pinned down by several Drones. It's clear SEELE wants to keep their secrets hidden. I hate to ask this, but we need your squad to move in and deal with this problem."

Cadence nodded.

"I'll let my husband and the pilots know. Whatever secrets SEELE has hidden, it would be in our best interests to learn them."

Shinji looked through his binoculars at the sight of the various Drones flying in.

"Any word from the infiltration team?"

"They're holed up away from the door until the situation is resolved," Shining explained, "Once the first Drones started coming in, they decided to maintain some distance. There's one more thing."

He pointed to a giant flying Drone that looked like a super-sized Gargoyle.

"That's the secret weapon Cthulhu, the ultimate combat droid developed by SEELE. And look who's riding it."

Rei gasped when she saw Zero.

"When did he escape? We stopped the plan to free the other artificial Stand users."

"He was never captured," Cadence explained, "By the time NERV agents reached where you had fought him, he had disappeared."

"This time we'll make sure he doesn't escape," Asuka said.

The group moved in, getting the Drones' attention. Various types were there, but nothing the group couldn't handle with their various powers. The real task was getting Zero's attention, and they got it.

"It is not in my nature to seek vengeance," he noted to himself, "But it seems the Heavens are smiling upon me nonetheless."

He brought the Cthulhu down, engaging its battle mode as he did. The droid engaged shields on all four limbs.

"That thing's huge," Asuka noted, "About the size of a two-story building."

The massive mech fired off several lasers from various points on its body.

"Radioactive!"

Shining threw up one of his shields, blocking the lasers. The rest of the group moved in.

"Deathharmonic!"

Cadence fired off a concentrated sonic burst. The Cthulhu moved its shields in a position to block the attack, but it was still powerful enough to weaken the shields. Asuka, Kaworu, Rei, and Aigis then each took a limb and started their own assault, eventually breaking through the shields. Shinji then leapt onto the head of the droid.

"Time to short this tin can!," he called out, "Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

His Stand charged up a massive electrical surge, sending it right through the Cthulhu and shorting it out. It then grabbed the central core and pulled it out effortlessly, shutting down the droid once and for all.

"Your fighting skills surpass all previous data!," Zero said in shock, "How can this be possible!?"

"You didn't take our personal growth into account," Shinji noted, "Unlike mechs, we can change and grow, getting more powerful every second."

Aigis leapt over to Zero.

"This time, I will not allow you the chance to escape!"

Her arms transformed into gun turrets, charging with electrical energy.

"Max Overclock!"

The gun turrets started spinning like turbines, plowing right into Zero's torso and shocking him over and over as she rapid punched him, breaking through his suit.

"And this time," she called out, "Stay down!"

She gave one final uppercut, knocking out Zero and leaving him flat on the ground. Cadence chuckled.

"We should stick around in case he decides to try a ninja vanish."

Chapter Text

Shortly after dealing with Zero, several bigger Mutants, called Super Mutants, showed up out of nowhere.

"Just one thing after another," Shinji said with an exasperated sigh.

There were only five, so each pilot dealt with one apiece. However, once they were dealt with, Max chose then to show up.

"I thought something was off when Zero didn't report in. You kids are getting stronger than our bosses ever thought possible."

He turned to the group.

"That could prove a serious issue. Especially if you can use the info found inside this lab to gain even more strength."

Shinji scoffed.

"Why don't you people get it? We're not like you. Our power is natural, even Aigis's. We don't need fancy mechanical augmentations to grow stronger. In fact, all that tech is just holding you back."

He motioned to Zero, then Max.

"The two of you could easily become potent Stand users. You have the energy, and it's clear you have the potential. But you rely too much on artificial powers. Whatever garbage SEELE stuffed into your head, I think it's time you took out the trash."

Max rushed over to him, preparing to slash at his head, only to get blocked by Cruel Angel's Thesis.

"This is real Stand power," Shinji pointed out, "I didn't get this power from the Stand arrow. It's a power that was sleeping inside me all along. The arrow just allowed it to awaken. This is the difference between us!"

He threw Max back and charged his Stand to full power, then made a massive attack.

"DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME!"

Max slammed back into the lab door, causing it get cracked open. He shook his head.

"Whatever you may think about us, kid, know that if we had any other choice, we'd never side with SEELE."

And with that, he created another electrical shockwave to cover his escape, though he left Zero behind.

With the capture of the jungle lab, NERV was able to take that region away from SEELE, giving them just over 14% control of the island. Work was getting done raiding the lab for anything useful, from information to technology to resources. Yui in particular started looking through the files on the artificial Stand users, curious as to the meaning behind Max's words.

"He said they wouldn't be joining SEELE if they had a choice," Gendo noted, "Are these artificial Stands working as life support, perhaps?"

"That's what I hope to find out," Yui noted, "Anything we can use to turn these guys against SEELE will be useful to us."

Meanwhile, Lorenz was not pleased with the latest turn of events.

"While Max's attempts to retrieve Zero and lock down the lab are commendable," he admitted, "His actions caused a breach in the lockdown, allowing NERV access to sensitive information."

"And all this before the arrival of the Ninth Angel," SEELE-02 noted, "At this rate we might have to take drastic actions."

"What sort of actions?," SEELE-05 asked.

"As it happens," SEELE-02 explained, "Our spies in NERV have planted a kill switch that will cut all power in NERV save for the MAGI for exactly two hours."

"That's a risky venture," Lorenz noted, "We only get one chance with it. And we won't be able to contact NERV to make them an offer until the power is back on. Should they discover what happened, that will be another avenue lost to us."

"I had a different idea in mind than threatening to cut their power," SEELE-02 clarified, "Once the power is gone, our spies can retrieve our other Stand users and even steal Adam for us. We need to study him in order to create that all-important factor to power our own EVAs."

Lorenz smiled.

"Of course... We need access to the S2 Engine. Very well, proceed with the plan."

Two weeks passed as everyone was looking through the data they had collected from the lab.

"Man, this is a really big deal, isn't it?," Rei noted.

"It's a major accomplishment to take something from SEELE," Ritsuko pointed out, "It'll take some time to fully analyze everything."

Later, the five pilots were returning to the GeoFront. The Ninth Angel was due to arrive soon, and they wanted to be ready to launch at any time. Shinji looked around.

"Does the city feel... Quieter to anyone?"

The group looked around as well.

"What happened to all the traffic lights?," Aigis asked.

"Something's wrong," Asuka realized, "I think we're experiencing a blackout."

"Shouldn't the GeoFront be safe?," Rei asked.

"Only one way to find out," Shinji said.

Unfortunately, it looked like the card reader for the main door wasn't working.

"This is way too convenient," Kaworu noted, "Especially since Matarael is due to attack soon. This has SEELE written all over it. They have access to the entire power grid on Zero Point, so they can shut it all down at any given moment."

"Yeah, but how does that affect the GeoFront?," Asuka asked, "It's supposed to be on an isolated system."

"We have confirmed that some workers are no longer present," Fuyutsuki reported.

"Then this is a deliberate act of sabotage," Gendo realized, "What's the status of the cell block and the Central Dogma?"

"We have no confirmation as of yet," Fuyutsuki said sadly, "Hopefully we can find out before long. This outage can't last forever. The question is, why pull this off now of all times? SEELE had to have known we'd be on to them."

"They're using this as an opportunity to steal important items from us," Gendo replied, "Luckily Jet Alone is activated remotely. Have it active at once. Matarael is said to be the weakest of the Angels, so it should be able to deal with her."

"Not without backup," Fuyutsuki noted, "Which we can't get so quickly."

Gendo rubbed his chin.

"Then contact Doctor Idabashi. I think it's time Aigis's older brother came to the party."

Mirai Idabashi had told Gendo the full scope of what Keebo's Stand, Machinehead, was capable of. At its strongest it could easily pierce through an AT Field. Now was the time to put theory into practice. Luckily, the power outage didn't affect cell phone usage, since all cell towers were outside the island's perimeter. Fuyutsuki immediately put a call in to the good doctor.

As it happened, Matarael had actually arrived on Earth some time before Sachiel. But she suspected the humans had been planning to confront her and her siblings for some time now, and so had chosen to wait to see what they would do when one of her stronger siblings appeared. Sure enough, when she saw how deadly the EVAs were in combat against Sachiel, she decided to sit and wait for a good chance to make her own move. When a sudden blackout hit the city, she knew this was her chance.

"The Lilim should be unable to mount any sort of offensive while in the midst of this chaos. Now's my chance to find Father and free him."

"Just got word from Dad," Shinji said, "The Ninth Angel is set to arrive soon."

"Actually, knowing Matarael she's been here for quite a while," Kaworu noted, "But she likely waited for a chance like this since doesn't have the combat skills of my other siblings. In fact the only Angel weaker than her is Iruel, but she balances it out with her special skill."

Shinji raised an eyebrow.

"So would Matarael be vulnerable to normal weapons?"

"Only the highest caliber ones," Kaworu clarified, "Normal arms fire could never pierce her AT Field. However, things like anti-tank shells or high explosives would definitely have the yield necessary to penetrate it and do damage."

"That's good," Shinji said, "Because Dad is having Jet Alone mobilized to deal with Matarael until the power is restored. And he's also contacted Doctor Idabashi."

Aigis smiled.

"Looks like you guys will get to see how strong my brother is when he goes all-out with his Stand."

"You mean Machinehead, right?," Asuka asked, "Isn't it just a nanotech factory that can pump out endless nanobots to alter Keebo's body?"

"On the surface," Aigis admitted, "But Keebo has had his Stand since his strong AI first developed true sentience. And over the last seventeen years he's pushed the very limits of his imagination in utilizing it."

Misato sighed. She had would up trapped in an elevator. Then again, it could have been worse. At least she got stuck with Kaji. Over the last few weeks she had talked things out with him. He had been shocked when he learned that she had been comparing him to her father, at least when she was younger. And she was concerned she didn't deserve to be happy, and it turned out she was happy being with him. Naturally it had been her old friend Shining who had encouraged this.

'Though there are times I wonder how things could have gone if he hadn't met Cadence.'

"Looks like we'll be here for a while," Kaji noted.

He got surprised by Misato snuggling up to him.

"Yeah, look's like it. We'd better get comfortable. Luckily I was able to hit the bathroom before all this went down."

Kaji chuckled.

"Where did that come from?"

Misato grinned.

"Hey, if we're starting from square one, I gotta start by breaking the ice right? Just like when we first met in college."

They leaned in and kissed, the elevator acting like the perfect private room, for a few hours at least. Meaning they would have plenty of privacy.

Meanwhile up above, Matarael had finally found the central shaft. Unlike Ramiel, she didn't have the brute strength needed to force her way through the ground or the armor of the GeoFront. She needed to find a preexisting entrance.

"This should do nicely. I'll start secreting my special acid right here."

Just then, she felt something hard impact her body, strong enough to start weakening her AT Field.

"What the heck!?"

She spotted two large humanoid figures racing around her perimeter. One was likely Jet Alone, but she didn't know what the other was, since she couldn't feel the same energy that the EVAs had. Matarael fired an acid mist at the figure, but it seemed to repair much faster than she could erode it. It finally got close enough for her to get a good look at it. It was no EVA, looking almost purely machine, with motifs of wolf, rhinoceros, and crocodile. And piloting is was Keebo Idabashi, Hope's Peak Academy's Ultimate Robot. The mech, which he called Mega World, was created by pushing his Stand to its absolute limit. Unlike a human Stand user, his platform could withstand the strain.

Better still, he could activate his Stand to repair any damage to Mega World. Actually, the design had come from his girlfriend Miu. He had just used the design as a template. Keebo smiled as he looked at a picture of him and Miu together, which was posted on the side of the cockpit.

"I'll win this for both of us," he assured her, "Now... Machinehead!"

His Stand could also equip Mega World with a variety of weapons, in this case a set of construction spikes. The pounding of the spikes was enough to batter through the AT Field.

"Not as strong as some of the earlier Angels," he noted.

He then sent a wireless signal to Jet Alone.

"Get the EVA hatches open. Let's get the other pilots in here."

Jet Alone received the signal, and hurried to where the launch hatches were, wrenching them open one by one. This was noticed by the pilots.

"Looks like we have a chance to get into the action," Shinji noted.

The group hurried off to change into the plug suits in private, then activated special wrist watches that could act as beacons for their EVAs. Instantly the five EVAs launched themselves using their various abilities, opening wide for the pilots to enter. Matarael's various eyes widened.

"This is gonna end badly..."

Asuka moved in first, using Unit-03's claws to tear into the Angel's flesh, Shinji then flew in and used Unit-01's talons to grab the core and pull it out, before the other three finished the job of disposing of the body. Once it was over, Aigis opened her cockpit.

"It's good to see you again, Big Brother."

Mega World opened its outer hatch, revealing Keebo to the others.

"Yo. Glad I could make it here on time. Allow me to introduce my personal mech Mega World, crafted using my own Stand, and the designs of my girlfriend Miu Iruma."

The others stared in shock at the mighty mecha, and how it fit so well with their own theme.

Back at SEELE central, Lorenz watched as a suited agent brought in the container for Adam.

"We managed to find it deep within the compound. We were also able to retrieve our other agents. But there is an issue. They couldn't be brought here. It seems NERV expected them to be released at some point, so they were tagged."

"I see," Lorenz noted, "We can't have them leading NERV to anywhere sensitive. What about the information from the lab?"

The agent shook his head.

"We didn't find a chance to retrieve that. And even if we did, it's all been copied onto the MAGI computers."

Lorenz sighed.

"More's the pity for us, then. No matter. We accomplished our goals with this operation. And now we start our studies into the S2 engine..."

Chapter Text

"So you won't be staying long?," Aigis asked as Keebo prepared to return to Japan.

"I still have my studies at Hope's Peak Academy, and other cases our class is taking on while we're in school. Rest assured I know the schedule for each Angel's arrival and can be here at a moment's notice when the time comes."

He generated a flight pack for himself and started to lift off.

"I'll be seeing you again before long!," he called out before shooting into the air.

"Nice guy," Asuka admitted, "But I'm curious as to what sort of woman could fall in love with a robot. No offense, Aigis."

"No, it's a legitimate curiosity," Aigis noted, "To be honest, I've met Miu a few times. 'Eccentric' is the best way to describe her personality. She also has a sort of mania for all things mechanical. And with both me and Keebo being anatomically correct, she considers him to be the perfect man."

Asuka and Rei blushed at the idea of a robot having male genitals.

"What about that large chassis of his?," Kaworu asked, "Is that his clothing or...?"

"Keebo, like me, actually has a secondary chassis that acts as the main body, while the outer chassis is removable clothing," Aigis clarified.

The group all went, "Oh..."

"Gentleman," Lorenz said during the meeting, "We have finally managed to gain a victory, however small, against NERV. Hopefully it will be the first of many more, and bigger ones at that."

"It's about time some good news came our way," SEELE-03 said, "SEELE-02's idea proved a perfect gold mine."

"A shame we can never use that tactic again," SEELE-02 admitted, "But we can make use of this opportunity."

"The only real problem I can see is that we still lost part of Zero Point to NERV's control," SEELE-05 pointed out, "Meaning they have access to all our research."

"I concede that this is no minor detail," Lorenz replied, "But we still hold the majority of the island. And we now have Adam in our possession, and can begin to study him to learn the secrets of the S2 engine. So long as the Bakelite holds he won't be going anywhere. And once we have what we need, we'll use what's left of him to fuel our Instrumentality."

"There is one minor situation to deal with," SEELE-04 noted, "The search for the Longinus."

They weren't talking about the lance that pierced the side of Jesus, but rather a cybernetic lance that was used by beings like Adam to control others of their kind. When Adam exploded, his lance was left stuck somewhere in Antarctica, and thus far it had not been retrieved.

Though fortunately, the Speedwagon Foundation had found the lance first, and Gendo and Fuyutsuki were planning a trip to Antarctica to retrieve it.

"While we're busy transporting the lance," Gendo said, "Our agents will be pushing to capture the city sectors of the island from SEELE's control."

The discovery that NERV could actually remove SEELE's influence from Zero Point was a turning point in their plans. Now Gendo wanted to remove SEELE from the entire island if possible, removing what little influence they had left before they could trigger Third Impact.

"The Lance of Longinus," Shinji mused, "Not the first item to be named after a religious artifact."

He was of course referring to the Holy Grail that had been fought over back in the mid 90s. The outcome of that war had been surprising, to say the least. And most of the world would never hear the story. Not anytime soon, at any rate.

"One of the things to watch out for is a new agent prowling the city," Gendo noted, "The escaped POWs won't be an issue. We have enough information from the jungle lab that we can predict how they might improve themselves. It's the newer forces we need to watch out for."

He got out a profile.

"In particular, one of the agents who resides over the city region is a man known as Durga. Physically he's not more capable than any of the other artificial Stand users, but he's got a large ego. He's equipped with the Revolver Cannon, a Gatling gun housed in his right leg with a reloader attached to his right arm."

"It would also help to clear out as many Killseekers and other dangerous entities as possible," Yui noted, "The more we clean up the streets, the safer it will be for everyone."

"Gotta say," Shinji said, "Compared to all this, dealing with the Angels seems like a simple job."

Durga, as it happened, was sitting on the edge of a skyscraper in the metropolis area when he got a call from Lorenz.

'We need you down in the city area. Turns out NERV is getting somewhat cocky after taking the jungle and wants a bigger piece of the pie. Make sure to take some high-level soldiers with you.'

He hung up, and Durga scoffed.

"These Drones and Killseekers and other mutated creeps are just fodder for those kids. Only good for softening them up, and they can't even do that right. I'll take a few with me, but I'm honestly not expecting much."

He took a running leap off the building, using his skills to parkour down several nearby towers until he reached the ground. He gathered a large group and hurried to the city, where he started looking for the pilots. He started hearing odd screams from behind him, and began to notice there were fewer and fewer breaths as he kept walking. Once it was down to only a handful, he sighed.

"If I turn around and even a single Killseeker is still alive, I will be severely annoyed."

He turned around, and in spite of his earlier words nearly laughed at the sight of Shinji holding the last living Killseeker in his group by the neck.

"I just thought it'd be fun to rile you up," Shinji explained before having his Stand fry the Killseeker.

Durga gave a small chuckle.

"You've certainly got a cast-iron set, don't you? Takes a lot of nerve to want to annoy me willingly."

Shinji smiled, and Durga got blindsided by Aigis firing off her arm cannons, while Kaworu moved in and launched an electric wave to knock him toward Shinji.

"Pardon me for the rude tactics," Shinji said, before slugging Durga right in the chin, "But I'd like to clear out this area quickly!"

"Especially since we have a date planned!," Asuka said as she leapt in, arms glowing with Hamon, "Overdrive!"

Durga scoffed.

"My fault for not listening to advice. Next time I'll be coming in with more backup. Revolver Cannon!"

He cybernetic leg opened up to reveal the gatling gun and it began to fire. Asuka quickly pulled out a few strands of her hair.

"A little trick from my Hamon teacher. Hamon Hair Attack!"

She charged the follicles with Hamon and threw them in front of her, creating an effective barrier. Durga took the chance to make his escape.

"That was an unusual technique," Cadence noted as she and Rei showed up.

Asuka smirked.

"My teacher, Caesar Zeppeli, learned the trick from his friend Joseph Joestar. With my longer hair, I figured it would be easier to pull off."

Meanwhile at Hope's Peak Academy, Keebo was getting briefed on a new mission by Kakyoin.

"I know you were only supposed to be joining the group at Zero Point during Angel attacks, but I've just been informed by Shining that several of SEELE's agents were released from imprisonment at NERV HQ. If they are allowed to roam free, it will severely hamper efforts to resolve the situation. The next Angel is due to arrive, so once you deal with that, I'd like you to round up those escaped prisoners."

Keebo nodded.

"I should be able to handle that. In the meantime, Miu wanted to give me a tune-up."

Kakyoin chuckled.

"Is that what they're calling it these days?"

Keebo couldn't help but laugh at the joke, even though it really was just a tune-up of his platform.

Chapter Text

In the year 2000, a massive giant made of light had appeared when explorers tried to study an object that hit Antarctica. The massive being was hit with something and started to writhe in pain.

"NO! STOP!"

Professor Katsuragi managed to get his daughter to safety.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened," he said, "I wish I could have been a better father."

Young Misato was confused, then saw little Rusty rushing at the giant.

"Shining!"

Rusty had felt something awaken within him as the giant's waves of energy hit him. As if by instinct, he threw his hands towards the giant. As he yelled in confidence, a gigantic bubble of blue energy encased the giant. Just in time too, as the giant suddenly exploded. Most of the blast was contained, but Rusty could feel something leaking through.

'Radiation!,' he realized to himself.

Luckily, with the blast gone he was able to refocus the shield on himself to block the radiation, but the explorer team wasn't so lucky. Only Misato escaped contamination due to being locked in a lead container.

Eventually, rescue came.

"This Stand power I've gained," Rusty said to Misato, "To remind me that I need to understand what I'm trying to block, I'll call it... Radioactive!"

"That's all we really know of that day," Shining said to Cadence as he recounted the story of how he awoke to his Stand, "Adam seemed concerned about something right before he blew up. According to the Angels whose cores we've retrieved, the energy waves are identical to the virus that enables Stand potential. Being in such close proximity allowed my Stand to awaken. Without that event, I would have needed one of the arrows to awaken Radioactive. As for Misato... At first she wanted nothing more than to take revenge for the Angels."

"Until she learned what was really happening," Cadence realized.

Shining nodded.

"I'm honestly grateful she learned the real truth, that Adam never intended to harm anyone. Revenge is never something that should be taken. It only leaves one feeling empty."

Just then, an alert came within the GeoFront. Naoko ran up to the married couple.

"We've just discovered the Tenth Angel. And it's a big one! Probably the biggest of them all! Everyone's down in the main comm room. You're gonna want to see this personally."

The two of them looked at each other, nodded, and followed the doctor.

Down near Antarctica, Gendo frowned as he got the call.

"The timing couldn't be worse. We'll be stuck here for hours trying to remove the lance from the thick ice it's been encased in."

With Shining having contained the majority of the blast, the radiation levels in the frozen region had faded over time, to the point where it was moderately safe to roam the icy wastes again, provided you had the proper thermal gear.

"Science can be both uplifting and destructive," Gendo noted to himself, "These expanses of nothing but ice and what few creatures adapted to live in this environment... It could easily happen to the rest of the world if humans are not careful."

He chuckled.

"And I prefer the world to be as lively as it normally is."

He took a look at the lance, as jackhammers carefully chipped away at the glacial wall it was caught in.

"With the lance in our possession," Fuyutsuki noted, "We will have the perfect weapon to use against Lilith should she awaken."

"Only Adam could ever properly use it," Gendo mused, "Hopefully he will be able to awaken and escape from SEELE's clutches before Lilith fully awakens. Of course, none of that will matter should Sahaquiel's planned attack succeed. The Dead Sea Scrolls were quite ominous concerning his abilities..."

Kaworu looked at the image on the monitors.

"That's Sahaquiel alright. He's been in orbit around the planet for months now, studying the humans. Trying to find where Father is."

"He must have been incredible lonely," Rei noted, "Perhaps once we retrieve his core he'll be able to reconnect with his other siblings."

"I just got the data in from the satellites," Maya said, "The Angel's central body is at least eight-hundred meters. It's whole body is at least three-thousand meters wide!"

"Zeruel always said he needed to go on a diet," Kaworu joked.

"All kidding aside," Aigis said, "If that's how long Sahaquiel is, then his mass must be enormous. But how will he attack?"

"We know from the Dead Sea Scrolls that he can launch off parts of himself to bombard the ground below," Naoko noted, "Unit-01 does have space travel capability due to its flight, but one EVA alone wouldn't be able to handle an Angel this big."

"How high can Jet Alone travel above sea level?," Shinji asked.

"Not high enough," Cadence said, shaking her head, "It was never meant for interstellar combat."

"I can modify Mega World for space travel," Keebo noted, "But would two of us be enough to break through Sahaquiel's body to his core?"

Just then, the image cut out.

"Not good," Makoto said, "The satellite was just destroyed! Something impacted it!"

"Looks like Sahaquiel wants some privacy," Kaworu noted, "I never knew he was so camera shy. He must have expanded his AT Field to use offensively."

"With how big the Angel is," Maya noted, "His AT Field must be enormous."

Kaworu looked at the ceiling in worry.

'You wouldn't really go through with it... Would you, Brother?'

What Tabris was speaking of was Sahaquiel's biggest flaw. Normally a pleasant fellow to be around, this only lasted so long as things remained okay. But with Adam's loss, Sahaquiel was unable to recover, in spite of the kind words of his siblings.

"I'm sorry Father... But I cannot continue to live a meaningless life... The least I can do is break open your prison, that another of my siblings can release you in my stead."

He launched off a part of his body, which impacted in the waters just outside of Zero Point.

"Missed. I should correct my orbit before I make my run."

Kaworu pounded the nearby table when the report came in.

"Damn it, Sahaquiel! Did the words of your brothers and sisters mean nothing to you!?"

"What's going on, Kaworu?," Rei asked.

Kaworu looked like he had tears in his eyes.

"Sahaquiel was the most devastated when we lost Father. He lost all meaning of joy, no matter what anyone would say to him. Now he's doing the only thing he thinks will have meaning... He's going to kamikaze the island, taking himself and us out all at once!"

There was a general gasp.

"Why would he do that!?," Ritsuko asked, "There's no way he'd free Adam if he's dead, even if Adam was here!"

"That won't matter to him," Kaworu clarified, "He'll just let the next sibling take over afterward. He could easily just bombard the island to crack it open, and we'd be near helpless. But maybe now we have a chance to save him. If he's planning to come within Earth's atmosphere..."

"Then we could intercept him and retrieve his core!," Misato realized.

"That's a risky venture," Shining noted, "If Sahaquiel manages to impact, it won't just destroy Zero Point. The resulting tsunami could wipe out thousands in Japan nearby."

Luckily, even with most of the island under SEELE's control, NERV still had enough clout to order an evacuation of both Zero Point and nearby Japan, just in case. However, the MAGI's plan for stopping the Angel was a crazy one.

"So all six of us have to catch it with our hands?," Asuka asked, a little shocked.

"Seven if you count Jet Alone," Shinji noted, "Although it will have the more important job. Once our AT Field's have canceled out the Angel's, Jet Alone is to go in and remove the core. That should stop the Angel's trajectory."

"This plan only has the smallest percentage of success," Keebo noted.

"Story of our family's life," Shinji pointed out, speaking of the Joestar clan as a whole.

It was pure luck that allowed Jonathan Joestar to defeat DIO Brando the first time, luck that gave Joseph Joestar the chance to defeat Kars, luck that gave Sadao Kujo the chance to overtake Mario DeBorne, luck that gave Jotaro Kujo the power to defeat DIO a second time, luck that allowed Josuke Higashikata the chance to find and defeat Yoshikage Kira, luck that gave Giorno Giovanna the tools to overcome Diavolo, luck that let Jolyne Kujo handle Enrico Pucci, luck that let George Joestar III rip apart Barbro Vaiself's plan, and luck that let Josefumi Kujo outsmart Honami Sato.

"At the end of the day," Shinji noted, "Luck is just something that comes to the Joestars naturally. Let's hope today isn't the day that luck finally runs out."

They got in their respective mechs and launched.

On the surface, Keebo tuned his platform's sensors and led the group to a particular spot.

"I've calculated it as close as I can," he reported, "This should be right around the exact spot where the Angel should land. Margin for error is only five percent."

'Good enough,' Misato said, 'Now we just need to hope you guys can catch it.'

"Like Rei said when this all got started," Shinji said, "In a few minutes, you'll either know or won't care."

Soon enough, they spotted Sahaquiel overhead.

"Jeez, the computer monitor didn't do him justice!," Asuka said in shock.

His eye alone seemed to be equal in size to any of the EVAS.

"Get ready to make the catch!," Aigis called out.

Once he was down to twenty-thousand feet, Sahaquiel felt sure of victory.

"This is for great honor! Father, I know you will be proud of my memory!"

Suddenly, he felt himself get stopped by something pushing against his momentum. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw what it was.

"The machines from before! Along with a new one! No! I cannot let my sacrifice be in vain!"

He tried to increase his momentum, but it only resulted in his AT Field starting to crack as the six pilots pushed their powers to their limit trying to hold him back. It felt like trying to control a tsunami or earthquake. Finally, the AT Field shattered, and Jet Alone quickly swooped in, firing off several high-frequency laser to cut through Sahaquiel's body.

"Wait... What are you doing!?"

Sahaquiel suddenly felt himself leave his body, cutting off enough of its momentum that it harmlessly fell to the ground, albeit temporarily covering the EVAs and Mega World before ballooning up and popping.

'Is everyone alright?,' Cadence asked.

"My soul feels like it needs a rest...," Shinji noted, "Cruel Angel's Thesis needs time to heal..."

"I feel like a used doormat," Asuka muttered.

"I could sleep for centuries at this rate," Rei agreed.

"I'm currently in cooldown mode," Aigis replied, "I believe I won't be able to function for a while."

"What she said," Keebo agreed.

"So this is what happens to humans when they get exhausted," Kaworu noted.

Misato chuckled.

'Looks like they just need a bit of rest. We can hold off the next assault for a few hours.'

Watching the entire event was a young woman right around Yui's age. In fact the two had been good friends for many years. Her name was Mari Illustrious Makinami, a half-British woman who had worked with Yui before her disappearance, and was grateful to hear of her return. From behind her appeared a humanoid figure similar in appearance to the EVAs, only with brilliant Angel wings.

"So they're in the home stretch now," she said to herself, "But they'll need more help. Let's go... Beautiful World."

She had earlier joined several other Stand users in storming the metropolis, her Stand's electrical field resulting in the destruction of several dozen Killseekers. But SEELE wasn't yet done. And they likely wouldn't be until they either succeeded, which no one would let happen if they had any say in it, or they were wiped out. Mari had spent years training with Speedwagon, seeking therapy to deal with her mental issues and mastering her Stand so that she could maintain her reason even while in her feral "beast mode". She was a Stand user, and she refused to wind up one that would hurt innocent people. That would make her no different than her Uncle Gray Fly.

He had ultimately paid the price for his evil, a lesson to Stand users everywhere. And one she intended to pay heed to.

Chapter Text

Lorenz and his inner circle addressed the rest of their member agents. The outer members were only there to monitor progress on the Instrumentality project, but they were considered part of the group anyway due to how important that project was.

"Thank you for joining us on such short notice gentlemen," Lorenz said, "As you have been informed, NERV is still holding out from merging with our organization. The Tenth Angel has just been eliminated, leaving very few obstacles in our path. But what obstacles remain... Are proving difficult to negotiate."

He turned to the holograms. Unlike the four members of his inner circle, whom he had absolute trust in and wanted to speak with face-to-face, metaphorically speaking, the outer circle appeared as black monoliths. Of course, they saw the inner circle as the same using special filtering technology.

"SEELE-06," Lorenz said, "What's the status on studying Adam?"

"We believe we have enough information to start manufacturing our own S2 engines," SEELE-06 responded.

"But we're short a test subject," SEELE-11 chimed in, "During the confusion of the recent attack on the metropolis, we found that Unit-00 had been stolen. And not recently."

"We still have enough EVAs and pilots to create the Tree of Life," SEELE-07 noted, "All we need to do is put the Dummy Plug through the simulations."

Lorenz nodded. There was no need to sacrifice their precious resources when it would be so much more fulfilling to offer them a slice of the pie instead.

"The main problem is that while we have found the Lance of Longinus," SEELE-12 chimed in, "It's already been removed. We suspect NERV got to it first."

"This is troubling news," Lorenz said, "We need eyes on NERV. And we need them soon."

"But who can we send?," SEELE-08 asked, "With the jungle lab raided, most of our agents are compromised."

Lorenz raised an eyebrow.

"What exceptions can you think of?"

Meanwhile, the pilots and the Dashell couple were working their way through the metropolis, only to hear the sounds of fighting up ahead. They hurried over to see a young woman in an orange plug suit, electricity surrounding her as she battled the escaped agents. Cadence gasped.

"I think that's Mari."

"So she's a Stand user too, is she?," Aigis asked.

Shining nodded.

"And one who was born with her Stand, no less. It's called Beautiful World, and it surrounds Mari in an electrical field that can power up her body or block out outside forces for defense."

It was certainly proving effective as Mari finished dealing with the last of the agents, letting her field drop. She then noticed the others.

"Sorry, I was expecting the party to be in full swing when you showed up. But while my Stand is active I tend to wind up going a little overboard."

Shinji looked at the downed agents. They were unconscious but were only suffering bruises and dents.

"If this what you call overboard, I shudder to think what you call going all-out."

"Why the plug suit?," Asuka asked, "I thought there were only five EVAs."

"Technically there are six if you count Unit-00," Cadence pointed out.

"Which was already swiped from SEELE without them realizing," Mari said with a smirk, "Little job by some agents of Speedwagon."

"But Unit-00 is incompatible with the current EVA system," Kaworu noted.

"Was," Mari clarified, "NERV is currently having the best engineers in the world working on modifying Unit-00 to make it work with the current armor type. But there are only so many templates to work with. Luckily, given the present Super Sentai theme going on, a second bird model is feasible."

Shinji raised an eyebrow.

The engineers turned out to be Kazuichi and Miu. Kazuichi had been getting some major engineering contracts since his graduation, turning the small bike shop he used to work at with his family into a major automotive company in only a few short months. Miu was still attending Hope's Peak Academy, but her inventive genius was still getting her plenty of patents for new and innovative designs.

"The real issue was getting around the incompatibility," Kazuichi noted to Yui, "Luckily I was able to find a solution by modifying the organic creature using Carpenters."

"From there designing the new armor was easy," Miu said, "But are you sure you want to reuse the eagle template? I could easily think up a number of new designs."

"It's a condor, not an eagle," Yui clarified, "Besides, it turns out an extra flying EVA would still fit the normal theme we have going on here. The real problem is if we should go bright orange or bright purple."

"Yui!," Mari said as she came in.

Yui turned around and smiled.

"Hey, Mari. Good of you to arrive."

"We also had Chihiro called in like you asked," Kazuichi noted.

"Good," Ritsuko replied, "We know the next Angel, Iruel, is meant to attack while we're busy with the new updates to the MAGI, and that her ability let's her take over anything computerized like a virus. We can't risk losing our main source of data. Luckily Aigis and Keebo are hard-wired against viruses. We made sure to do the same with Jet Alone, just in case."

Kazuichi nodded.

"I was part of the main engineering team for that battle mech, so I'd hate for it to get lost on us. It's kinda like a son to me. Or at least a nephew."

"It will take a bit to properly condition her," SEELE-08 admitted, "But it will be an excellent chance to get close to the pilots and learn their weaknesses and strengths. Anything to help us stay on top."

"And fortunately NERV doesn't have everything on us," SEELE-02 noted, "We still have the facility in the factory region. Thus far it has remained untouched."

Lorenz rubbed his chin.

"That won't hold true forever. Send our agents to..."

He was interrupted by a sudden call. He frowned.

"Slight change of plans. All of the agents we managed to free were recaptured, and most of the others are on assignment elsewhere. We only have Durga and Garuda to rely on. Luckily, they are a nearly unbeatable team."

He smiled, thinking on how the NERV team would soon meet its match.

Meanwhile, Gendo watched as Unit-01 plunged the lance into Lilith's chest, causing her lower half to shrivel up.

"Will that stop her, Dad?," Shinji asked.

"Only for a while," Gendo admitted, "Long enough for Adam to recover and finish the job personally. At the very least she will be staying put until the remaining Angels have been neutralized."

"Iruel is supposed to be microscopic, right?," Shinji realized, "How are we supposed to retrieve her core?"

"Her own power will provide us with a solution," Gendo assured his son, "Given what we know from the Dead Sea Scrolls, it should be possible to download Iruel's core like any other computer program. But only time will tell if that theory holds true."

Chapter Text

Durga was overseeing the installing of new software into the computer mainframe at the factory region. With him was his partner, Garuda. Garuda had a body that was largely machine, his only remaining organic components being his nervous system, running through a modified Gargoyle.

"Everything's proceeding as scheduled," one of the workers noted.

"Excellent," Durga replied, "By the time NERV thinks to invade this place, we'll have everything we need to repel them. Not even their precious EVAs will be able to crack this coconut open. We'll soon be ready to test the Dummy Plugs for the final experiment."

He didn't know everything SEELE was planning, only that it had something to do with uniting the world. He hoped he could still get work when it was all said and done. As good as the pay was for this job, retirement sounded pretty boring to a blood knight like him. What no one in the factory knew was that something was growing deep inside computer system. It was Iruel, the Eleventh Angel.

"I guess I somehow missed reaching into NERV, but this is a blessing in disguise. It turns out Father in somewhere in this facility. I'll find out where, then escape and infiltrate that location and shut it down."

"Another Angel showed up?," Shinji asked, "But we didn't see anything coming in."

"The alert is coming from deep within the factory sector still controlled by SEELE," Ritsuko explained, "From our scans, it's taken over their computer systems."

"Iruel," Kaworu realized, "She's a microscopic Angel, and capable of rapid evolution beyond anything the rest of my siblings are capable of. But why did she infiltrate SEELE's network instead of our own?"

"Come to think about it," Maya noted, "A part that we rejected in favor of a more efficient replacement was picked up by SEELE."

"So that's it," Keebo realized, "Iruel must have embedded herself in that part, intending to infiltrate the MAGI to shut us down, but wound up in the wrong network. The fact that she's taking over that network instead must mean she's realized SEELE has Adam."

"Adam must be somewhere in the factory then," Mari suggested.

"Either way, we're going in there," Shinji said, "We need to contain Iruel before SEELE's forces destroy her."

Keebo then smacked his fist into his palm.

"I think I have an idea. If Iruel is microscopic, her core should be the same, right?"

The others got the he was getting at.

"Your Stand!," Mari realized, "The nanobots it produces should be small enough to retrieve Iruel's core!"

"This will be the first time I've used my Stand in this manner," Keebo admitted, "But it should work. Either way, this will likely be the first Angel we've dealt with without using the EVAs. And let's not forget, we're rushing into enemy territory. They'll have defenses waiting for us. And it won't be long before they find a way to deal with Iruel, so we have to hurry."

The group nodded, and headed out for the factory.

"It just came out of nowhere," Durga said to the hologram of Lorenz, "We're trying to combat it, but it keeps evolving to match our assaults."

'Such was mentioned of Iruel's power,' Lorenz admitted, 'I must confess, I never expected an Angel to attack somewhere other than the GeoFront. This will put a serious target on our backs. I recommend having the engineers brainstorm a means to use the Angel's own evolution against it. Find a way to place it in an evolutionary dead end. From there, only death awaits it. And make haste. I suspect the pilots will be showing up on your doorstep before long.'

"Not to worry, Boss," Durga said with a smile, "We found something special in the labs below. Turns out that without a stable food source, some of the Mutants turned to each other for lunch meat. And one of them mutated even further. Our control methods have proven effective, but I'd still give it a wide birth when it gets set loose on a target."

He pointed his thumb behind him to a large, red Mutant that looked like it was in the midst of a berserker fury. Lorenz smiled.

'Talk about an unexpected windfall. Make good use of it, Durga. For now it is the only one we have.'

The group found their way into the factory and heard the angry growl of the Berserk Mutant just ahead.

"That didn't sound friendly," Rei noted, "Maybe SEELE's been upgrading their experiments."

The giant Mutant crashed into the room and gave a fearsome roar, trying to take a swipe at the group. Keebo moved in and blocked it by creating a duralumin shield with his Stand, letting him stand his ground against the assault.

"This thing is stronger than a normal Mutant," he noted, "And a scan of its metabolic chart suggests it's been eating other Mutants to do so."

Mari breathed in.

"I think it's time to unleash a real beast... Beautiful World!"

Her Stand charged up, focusing on pure offense. Mari's eyes turned bright red, and she removed her glasses, tossing them aside. With an guttural growl, she rushed at the Berserk Mutant, plowing her fist right into its stomach. The increase in strength was made evident, as the Mutant actually spat up a bit of blue blood, and wound up sailing into the nearby wall. It got up quickly, shaking its head, before roaring right at Mari and charging at her, only to hit an electrical wall. Beautiful World had swapped to defense to block the attack. Mari stood over the brute and wrenched open its jaws, letting her electric field flood inside the beast, frying it from the inside out.

Once she was back to normal, Aigis handed her her glasses.

"Remind me not to piss you off," Aigis noted.

"Don't worry," Mari said, "Even in my feral state I'm in full control. Enough to determine friend from foe, at least. But this giant brute was just the gatekeeper. There's likely someone else waiting further inside."

"One of SEELE's fake Stand users no doubt," Kaworu noted, "Let's hurry. By now they'll have determined Iruel's weakness."

"Anything yet?," Durga asked the technicians.

"We've determined the Angel has only taken over one part of our system's binary network," the technician reported, "We've theorized it might be possible to reconfigure the other part to forcefully evolve the Angel, shutting it down within a matter of seconds."

Durga nodded in satisfaction.

"Excellent. Make sure the program is implemented within the hour. It will be quite the coup for our organization to defeat one of these Angels instead of NERV."

"Shame that dream will go down in flames," came Asuka's voice.

Durga whirled around and noticed the pilots right behind him.

"So you managed to get past the Berserk Mutant. Well, to be fair its capabilities were never fully tested. We discovered it on accident and decided to simply stick it in front of the door. The Mutants kept here were never properly fed, you see."

"That's what you get for feeding your monsters after midnight," Rei quipped.

Durga actually laughed in a friendly manner.

"Oh man, that was a good one! Remind me to send that to the Digest!"

He snapped his fingers.

"Garuda! Time to play!"

Garuda flew in using his jet mode before transforming into his humanoid mode.

"Ready for combat! Tornado Drill! Engaged!"

Rei smirked.

"I'll deal with this overgrown tin can."

Durga scoffed, but looked serious as Mari came to face him.

"Hope you're ready for a real battle."

Durga laughed.

"You think you can step to me, little woman. I have the powers of a god!"

"A god?," Mari said in a disbelieving tone, "It's been said that Stand users hold the power of gods. But your Stand is purely artificial, only tied to you by flesh. And a Gatling gun in your leg with the reloader in your arm doesn't strike me as godly. Heck, this one Stand user I heard of who simply made people angry when they stepped in water is more god-like than you."

Durga growled before firing off his Revolver Cannon, only to have the bullet blocked by Mari's electrical field. Meanwhile, Rei had her Lightning Mode active. Garuda launched an attack from his Tornado Drill, but it barely phased the half-Gigan.

"That all you got?," Rei said, a smile on her face, "My father, the Gigan who trained me, has a Mode of Wind. Compared to the storm he unleashes, you're nothing more than a gentle spring breeze!"

She started charging to full power, her spine actually emerging from her back and crackling with electricity. Garuda tried to run as he shifted into his hover mode, but he didn't get far as Rei coated the area in lightning.

"Grand Judgement!"

Several bolts struck Garuda, shutting down several of his systems and sending him crashing into the nearby wall. Durga was shocked to see this, even more when Mari charged up to her maximum and started striking at him with a ferocity that frightened even him. Mari did a few somersaults that caused her foot to plant itself right in Durga's face, before her electric field surged through him like a buzz saw. He was down on the ground within seconds. The other pilots approached the now frightened staff.

"You've just seen how strong two of our number are," Shinji noted, "Care to test the rest of us?"

The staff simply fled, letting Keebo approach the computer.

"I'll have my nanobots swarm Iruel," he said, "Shifting their purpose every few seconds. If I do it just right, it should force her to manifest a core large enough for us to grab."

It was tense, with only Keebo and Aigis able to see the struggle. Ultimately, a fist-sized core grew inside the nearby computer tower, which Keebo grabbed. Iruel sensed the presence of Keebo's Stand and realized she had been captured.

"Forcing me to evolve a larger core to overcome the nanobot forces. Quite ingenious."

"Are you alright, Sister?," Kaworu asked.

"As well as I can be seeing as my body just self-destructed within the computer network," Iruel replied, "Though I did get much information in the process. Father is here in this facility, kept deep underground and encased in Bakelite. However, what the masters of SEELE haven't been told yet is that Father is slowly starting to regain consciousness."

"And when that happens he can awaken again," Asuka realized.

"And put a stop to Lilith and her schemes," Iruel replied, "My other siblings and I have long suspected you keep her contained beneath your own headquarters. What you don't know, is that SEELE has made contact with her. And they're striking up a deal. Control of the world, in exchange for her unleashing Third Impact."

"The source of Instrumentality," Shinji realized as he pounded his fist into his hand.

"I wasn't in the network long enough to know how they intend to orchestrate it," Iruel admitted, "But I do know that they are starting experimentation with something called a Dummy Plug. A sort of remote auto-pilot for EVAs."

"Lilith won't be going anywhere for a while," Kaworu noted, "Gendo and Fuyutsuki found Father's lance and Shinji used it to pin Lilith in place. It's not a permanent solution, but one that will buy us precious time."

"Time enough for the rest of our siblings to arrive," Iruel said, "But unlike me, they do not know Father does not rest at NERV. They will make whatever attacks they can. And some of them have powers more dangerous than even those of you who possess Stand power."

"We know what's coming," Rei assured her, "And we're preparing for the worst. But right now, our real enemy... Is SEELE."

Chapter Text

"Everything is set up as we instructed," SEELE-04 said.

"Excellent," Lorenz replied, "The sad fact of the matter is that for all of our study and testing, our EVAs are inferior to the ones created at NERV. So our hand-picked pilots need every advantage we can give them. Of course, our primary concern is early warning on when our facilities will be attacked again. It is easier to prepare for an assault when you know one is coming."

"Our spy seems convinced she won't be able to find out much," SEELE-03 noted, "She has little experience dealing with people. But her handler has assured her that the pilots are more sociable than her other classmates in the past."

Lorenz smiled.

"And that will be their undoing..."

The next day at class, the teacher spoke up.

"Students, we have a new transfer student starting here today."

The young girl with long black hair and glasses entered the room. She looked down at the ground.

"Hello... I am Mayumi Yamagishi..."

Kensuke felt his heart skip a beat. Sure, he had seen beauties like Asuka, Rei, and Aigis, but something about Mayumi resonated with him. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed so similar to him, making her seem almost attainable. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by Toji, who was smirking.

"A crush on the new girl already?"

Kensuke blushed, knowing it was pointless to deny anything given the ribbing he had given Toji about his own crush.

"Well... Yeah..."

He then blushed even redder when he realized Mayumi had been seated right next to him.

"Sorry," she said, "It's just that there was a free chair here."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Kensuke replied, "I'm Kensuke Aida."

Mayumi looked a little surprised. Kensuke was giving her a genuine smile, something she was unused to. However, right behind her, Aigis was narrowing her eyes, her internal sensors spotting a dangerous anomaly inside this new girl.

"Are you sure about this?," Naoko asked as she looked at the readout Aigis had printed from her sensor log.

"I'm afraid so," Aigis replied, "It seems that growing within Mayumi is an S2 engine. Given she has not had contact with NERV, I can only assume this is the result of SEELE's experiments. They've had Adam long enough that they can start reverse engineering the S2 engine, and I wouldn't put it past them to test it on a human, just because they could."

Naoko had to agree, this was definitely something SEELE would pull off, even if they would learn nothing from it.

"Luckily, thanks to Kensuke we've invited her into our social circle," Aigis said, "That should allow us to keep an eye on her, and hopefully have the S2 engine removed."

Naoko rubbed her chin.

"But to do this without SEELE wanting to cut her off as a loose end, she'd need to be in a safe region. And I can only assume she was selected to be an unwitting spy for SEELE. I need to report this to Gendo. I think it's high time we liberate another sector from SEELE's control."

She looked at the small die on her table.

"Nu, could you keep a close eye on Mayumi in the meantime and find out what's she trying to learn?"

Nu, who had shapeshifted into the die, replied, "Very well. It shouldn't be too difficult."

Mayumi was a little surprised. She had expected the pilots to be too busy with saving the world and everything. Heck, one of them was too old to be in school and another went to school over in Japan proper. Yet even Mari and Keebo had become fast friends with Mayumi. It was rather bittersweet to her. On the one hand, she was finally starting to have friends like she always wanted. On the other, it meant she had to deal with SEELE telling her to get on with her job now that the pilots had warmed up to her. Of course, what really surprised her more than anything was that Kensuke, who wasn't even a pilot, had thought of her as attractive.

"Most guys wouldn't even give me a second look," she noted.

"Well, then most guys are idiots," Kensuke noted, "Personally, I found myself getting a crush on you from the first moment I laid eyes on you."

Mayumi blushed.

"Thank you... No one else has ever said anything like to me. Well, without meaning it at least."

Kensuke chuckled nervously.

"Man... I'm glad we met up when we did..."

"So where are the others?," Mayumi asked.

"They wanted to give us some privacy," Kensuke said, "You know, try and convince me to admit my feelings."

That was true, but not the whole truth. In reality, the group had been told about a new mission and that Mayumi was being coerced into being a spy. This meant they had to make things as difficult for SEELE to wrench information out of Mayumi as possible, to help buy time until her condition could be dealt with. Despite what she had been told, SEELE wasn't the only group that could cure her condition, because NERV knew perfectly well what it was and how to deal with it. The real problem was doing so in such a way that SEELE couldn't interfere or enact repercussions afterward.

"Here's the basics," Gendo said as he faced the pilots, "For too long we have allowed the high school on the island to remain within SEELE territory. After they stopped their attempts to kidnap students for studying the Stand virus we saw little need. But with the fact that we can take back sectors of the island from SEELE, the fact that so many of our agents reside within the city, and the recent revelation regarding Mayumi Yamagishi, it is imperative that we remove SEELE's presence from the city and claim it for NERV's purposes."

He adjusted his glasses.

"We know the only remaining presence of SEELE left in the city is a gang of Killseekers led by one of their top agents, an artificial Stand user calling himself Oinkie."

A picture of the guy, which looked piggish, got Shinji chuckling.

"Nice name... I'm assuming he's more dangerous than he appears?"

"Somewhat," Gendo replied, "He's no powerhouse compared to the others, but he can hold his own due to having a black belt in karate and the artificial Stand he uses, a biological agent referred to as The Juice. It's a self-replicating formula that gets injected into his body and gives him strength and stamina similar to a Mutant."

He showed more pictures of the area.

"Now first things first, we need to clear out a great deal of his gang. The problem is the heavy muscle is a large number of Executioners. To clear them out, I'll be taking to the field personally using one of our assault choppers."

The pilots looked surprised.

"You'll really be helping us personally this time?," Asuka asked.

Gendo nodded.

"Let's just say I have some personal grievances against SEELE that I'd like addressed."

As the operation prepared to start, Yui walked up to her husband.

"Be careful out there. I might be able to survive without you, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt if you die."

Gendo smiled as the two of them kissed.

Oinkie was finishing off a plate of bacon when he got the general alert.

"What the heck is going on out there?"

"Someone's decimating our bouncers, boss!," one of the Killseekers said, "They've got an assault chopper and they're ripping through all the hired muscle! At this rate we'll be wide open!"

Oinkie took a look and got shocked at the sight of his Executioners being turned into paste.

"We can't lose the city! The bosses will flip if we lose another territory! Get the boys together! We need to get ready for intruders!"

He whirled around as something caused some of his guys to be launched through the nearby door. Mari placed a hand on the door jam, her eyes glowing red.

"A little late for that."

She rushed into the room and started slaughtering the Killseekers. Oinkie made few nervous pig noises as the other pilots entered the room.

"This ain't good... I gotta protect my interests. The Juice!"

The injection system attached to his back activated, sending the pale green liquid into his body, instantly shifting it into a more muscular and scaled version of itself, making him resemble a tamed Mutant.

"What would a good analogue for this be?," Keebo wondered, "Suit Stand? Transformation Stand?"

Oinkie snorted.

"You wanna try me, robot boy? I hope you realize I make my living as a junk seller. And like anything worth selling, the fresher the product, the more people will pay!"

He charged at Keebo, who easily dodged him while tagging him with a few explosives.

"Sorry, but I'm the sort of tech you can't put a price on."

Oinkie squealed as the bombs went off, his hide only saved due to his increased mass. He took a karate stance and tried attacking Keebo, who countered with slashes and energized kicks.

"That nanomachine tech," Oinkie realized, "That's your Stand!"

"And unlike your bio-agent, which was simply bred in a lab," Keebo noted, "Machinehead was with me from the moment I gained sentience. It's the perfect irony, that a Stand created by a robot is more authentic than anything you and your cronies have! Machinehead!"

His platform manifested an energy cannon, which charged up before blasting at Oinkie, who managed to dodge out a nearby window and start beating feat.

'I still have other businesses on the island! I'll just retreat to one of those!'

"We lost the city?," Lorenz asked over the phone.

He had been contacted by Oinkie after he had gotten away. Lorenz was not happy, but his mood was more directed towards NERV.

"They figured it out somehow... They learned about our spy. I never thought it would happen so soon."

'I just got word that most of the other agents in the city were arrested for various crimes,' Oinkie noted, 'What do you wanna do about it now?'

Lorenz sighed.

"Trying to take the city back would be costly and expose our desperation. For now maintain your businesses elsewhere. I'll contact you if we need you again."

He hung up.

"NERV now holds more than 28% of the island. We need to keep them from getting more."

Mayumi was surprised to see NERV agents at her door. Earlier her handler had disappeared, up until now he had always made it clear that he was watching her.

"May I help you?"

"We're here to have you admitted for treatment for a serious condition," one of the NERV agents said, "And yes, our organization is aware of what it is. And contrary to what you have been told, we can have it treated. We'll be sure to let your friends know about this. Or rather, those that don't already know due to being involved with our group."

Mayumi was shocked beyond belief. But if these people said they could help her, she knew she couldn't say no.

Chapter Text

"SEELE's loss is our gain in more ways than one," Fuyutsuki said, "Mayumi had mentioned something interesting. It seems after Iruel was contained SEELE decided to move Adam to the flying citadel."

The main staff of NERV was in meeting in Gendo's office.

"The MAGI have developed a keen plan to capture the citadel too," Ritsuko noted, "First, we send two of our main fighters to cause some havoc in the grasslands sector."

Gendo nodded.

"A diversionary tactic. Keebo's variable weapon system via his Stand would be perfect for this, as well as Mari with her feral rage."

Ritsuko nodded.

"Next, we can have someone infiltrate the factory while this distraction is going on. We take control of the computer network in there, and use it to shut down the flying citadel's defenses. I recommend the Dashells take this one."

"That's fine," Gendo agreed, "But I want Aigis going with them for extra safety. That leaves Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu to storm the citadel."

"There's one complication," Fuyutsuki stated, "Due to the complexity of the plan, we'll be dealing with two Angel encounters during this operation, Leliel and Bardiel. And the Dead Sea Scrolls went into great detail about their powers."

Gendo nodded. This operation was tricky, but doable.

"And you're likely to encounter Leliel during the operation," Naoko said to Keebo and Mari, "The spherical appearance you see is just an illusion. Her real body is the shadow on the ground, within which is a Dirac Sea, basically a concentrated vacuum. She can literally suck in anything she wants, and getting out will be difficult."

"I have a few singularity weapons up my sleeve," Keebo assured her, "The real trick will be getting her to cough up her core."

"Do enough damage and you might force her to eject it," Naoko suggested, "Now get out there and run wild!"

"The transfer of Adam was completed recently," SEELE-03 said in his report, "We have him safely concealed inside the sky citadel. The only concern is that during the transfer, he was loosened a little, and began showing signs of regeneration."

Lorenz narrowed his cybernetic eyes.

"He's beginning to awaken. If he is permitted to confront Lilith..."

The group bowed their heads. They all knew what might happen if those Angels were to clash.

"Speaking of which," SEELE-05 chimed in, "We've heard no word from Lilith as of recently. Given the Lance of Longinus disappeared from the Antarctic, I think we can safely assume it was used by NERV."

Just then, a bunch of emergency reports came flooding in.

Leliel noticed the sudden rampage as she carefully slithered her way towards the center of the island.

"Wow. Someone's going hog wild on the place."

She noticed the mechanical Mega World and Unit-00 as they smashed through SEELE's cybernetic weapons. Even with her dimensional form, Leliel could still see.

"Wait... I thought there was only one bird EVA... Maybe the Lilim ran out of ideas, though I'm not sure how. Though that other battle mech seems rather capable. It's hard to pin down what animal it resembles. It seems to have traits of three different ones."

The constant rampaging soon attracted a giant crab-like robot.

'You aren't the only ones who are capable of designing mechs after animals,' came the voice of SEELE-05.

"Maybe not," Keebo admitted, "But we do it better. Let me show you something interesting."

Mega World's hands transformed into drills. Since it was still connected to Keebo, Mega World could take advantage of Machinehead to arm itself weapons it didn't normally have. Unit-00's eyes flashed as Mari charged up her Stand.

"Beautiful World!"

Unit-00 charged in, getting the crab mech's attention as Keebo took the other side, shifting the drills into blades, which proved sharp enough to slice through the solid titanium the crab mech was apparently made of.

"I remember a time when titanium was considered the strongest metal in the world," Keebo noted, "Then scientists discovered first tungsten, and then duralumin. I for one don't believe there is such a thing as indestructible. It's all a matter of how easily you can split a substance's molecules from each other."

Mari leapt into the air in a somersault, bringing Unit-00's fists down on the main body of the crab mech.

"We keep this up," she noted, "And our little display will give our friends all the time they need."

"Yes, but keep in mind we could never draw everyone's attention," Keebo replied, "There's bound to be some sort of standing guard at the factory. For now, let's make sure this oversized seafood platter doesn't catch on to what's happening at the factory."

Nearby, just seeing the overgrown crab was making Leliel hungry.

"I know the others said I need to go on a diet... But it's been so long since I've had real food!"

She rushed over to where the mech was, intent on devouring it. Luckily for Keebo and Mari, Leliel had shown up on their scanners, letting them leap over the shadow as it positioned itself under the crab mech, drawing it into itself.

"Looks like our little hissy fit drew Leliel's attention," Mari quipped, grateful the crunching sound she was hearing from metal and not something more horrifying.

"Looks like now's our best bet," Keebo said.

He looked at the distorted black and white sphere.

"That's supposed to be the real shadow, but I wonder if it's not a reflection of Leliel's core. Well, let's find out!"

Leliel sighed in content as she finished her meal, but freaked when she sensed the sudden killer intent from Keebo right behind her.

"Whoops! I was trying not to get their attention!"

She had seen too many of her siblings fall to think she had a chance, and had actually stuck to a diet in order to avoid letting them know she was around. Unfortunately, she had wound up right in their crossfire.

"And here I thought Sandalphon was supposed to be the klutzy one...," she muttered has Mega World fired a few bombs into her body.

At first she was relieved, the bombs easily getting sucked into the Dirac Sea, but then she freaked as the bombs let loose singularities.

"Urgh! This must be what acid reflux feels like to Lilim!"

She felt so sick she actually coughed up a solid version of the floating sphere, which Mega World picked up as the shadow dissolved.

"I was right. This is your core, Leliel."

Leliel sighed.

"How far was I from Father's location?"

Mega World pointed over to the sky citadel. Leliel groaned.

"There's no way I'd be able to get up there... That's not fair! Well, maybe Bardiel will have better luck. He's always been the most adaptable of us, even compared to Iruel."

"In the meantime," Mari said, "Phase one is complete. Leliel consuming that crab mech caused SEELE's forces to flee, giving us the grassland and just under 43% control of the island. Let's check in and see how the others are doing."

Chapter Text

"As if the damage from that little rampage wasn't bad enough," Lorenz mused, "It looks like the Twelfth Angel arrived and was dealt with without us even being properly notified. But NERV is making some bold moves lately. Why the sudden attack when they've been so focused on the Angels lately? What could I be missing?"

He had long forgotten what it meant to be human, thanks to the cybernetics that were practically holding his ailing body together. Speedwagon's actions in keeping SEELE from gaining the power it desired had lead to stress which caused his health to fail. Which of course only made him want his plans to succeed more. He sat down at his desk.

'Gendo wouldn't just declare an assault out of the blue like that. He's a chessmaster. This has to be part of some greater plan of his. But what could that plan be?'

He went over the series of events as they unfolded and something caused him to frown.

"Does Mayumi know about our recent transfer of Adam? But such a introverted girl... Would she even tell this to anyone she doesn't know? And even if she did, NERV couldn't get close after we bolstered the defenses of the sky citadel..."

He gasped, realizing what Gendo must have been planning. He hit a button for the communicator.

"Send Jack to the factory! Immediately!"

Yui watched the footage as Keebo and Mari dealt with the crab mech before moving on to Leliel.

"Looks like the plan is working as intended," she noted.

"A plan is easier to follow when you have fewer details," Gendo noted, "That's what makes a true chessmaster, that you can make your plan flexible to account for whatever your opponent might do. Too many details, and things can go wrong. What of our strike force going into the factory?"

"They're approaching now," Maya replied, "But something else is making its way there. Wavelength confirmed human."

Gendo nodded.

"Looks like Lorenz might be catching on. A bit too late, however."

Several bio-fiends were standing in the way of the trio. Smaller groups were blasted by Cadence and her Stand while Shining used his own to provide defense. Meanwhile Aigis overclocked herself to deal with the larger threats, including several Executioners.

"Sensors indicate the central computer is just ahead," she noted, "We should be able to use it to cause some serious havoc with SEELE's forces."

She got an alert coming in from Fuyutsuki.

'We've just detected a new presence quickly approaching your location. Wavelength confirmed human, likely one of the artificial Stand users. Be on alert.'

"Copy that," Aigis said, extending her sensors to determine where the threat might be coming from.

Just then, a rather large man with a cybernetic arm that looked like an old motorbike engine leapt down, the arm shifting into a double-bladed chainsaw. Luckily, Shining saw him coming.

"Radioactive!"

His bubble shield easily blocked the incoming attack, though the man kept trying to rev up his chainsaw faster. At least, until Aigis dropkicked him into the nearby wall. The man stood up and spit out some blood.

"Nice kick, Missy. Name's Jack. Boss man told me to come down here, and now I can see why."

He rotated his shoulder to get some kinks out.

"I really don't like it when people mess with our business."

"You're all just a bunch of mercenaries, aren't you?," Aigis asked, "Why go through with such extreme modifications?"

"Do you know how hard it is to stand out compared to other mercenaries?," Jack replied, "But SEELE said they had something that could give us a leg up. Now, unlike the others I ain't an idiot. This chainsaw is nice, but it's more of a glorified weapon than a real Stand. But not everyone of us understands how this Stand business works. You see, a few years ago I did a brief stint in Green Dolphin Prison, and I saw a few inmates using powers that were nothing like what SEELE gave us."

He revved up the chainsaw.

"Pretty good for cutting up sons of bitches, though! Gator Tooth!"

He struck at Aigis, who smirked as the steel teeth bounced off her chassis. Jack was a little surprised.

"You're cybernetic too?"

"Actually I'm a fully sentient AI inhabiting a robotic platform," she clarified, "My chassis was built using duralumin, one of the strongest materials ever discovered. In addition..."

She transformed her arms into revolvers.

"I've been equipped with significant munitions for self-defense purposes. Father always wanted to make sure his children could take of themselves."

She easily jumped over another swipe before firing off a few shots, which Jack blocked with his metal arm. He scoffed.

"Tech is advancing so far even robots are becoming human. Least you sit outside the uncanny valley."

Aigis rolled her eyes. Growing up, which for her meant getting her platform updated annually, she had heard that quip a number of times.

"Seriously, if I had a hundred yen for every time I heard that line, I'd be able to afford a full overhaul!"

Electricity surged through her body as she rushed forward, ducking under Jack's attack before blasting him pointblank. The blast sent Jack sailing right into the back wall.

"I get the feeling like someone decided to nerf my fighting skills," he said as he got up.

"You're basically bringing a knife to a gun fight!," Aigis pointed out as she rushed forward, "What did you think would happen!?"

She landed a serious blow to Jack's jaw, causing his head to slam into the wall, knocking him out. Shining, seeing the battle finished, started working on the computer.

"Looks like Mayumi's intel was accurate. I have the exact location of Adam within the citadel. Give me a few minutes. Hacking is never as easy as it is in media..."

Once Shining had full control of the system, it officially gave NERV control of just over 57% of the island. And with the defenses down on the citadel, the other four pilots were having their EVAs transported there.

"Remember," Shinji said, "The Thirteenth Angel is due to attack during our assault. We'll likely have to deal with him while managing this operation."

"Still, your dad is impressive," Kaworu noted, "If we successfully complete this operation, we'll have a majority control over Zero Point."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," Asuka said, "This is where things get really difficult."

Chapter Text

As the four EVAs reached the sky citadel, Kaworu looked out at the nearby thunderstorm building up.

"I can sense Bardiel's presence within the cloud. Luckily the new system is designed to reject him should he try to infect our EVAs, but in all likelihood he will focus on locating Father and releasing him."

"What will his strategy be like?," Asuka asked.

"He tends to spread himself as a fungal growth," Kaworu explained, "Infecting machines instead of organics, though if something organic is connected to a machine via cybernetics he can have some limited control over the being. His core will manifest in the central processor of whatever machine he's infecting."

"That cloud is right over the citadel," Shinji noted, "Meaning he'll likely reactivate some of the defenses. We should be on our guard."

"Can you sense Adam within here somewhere?," Rei asked.

Kaworu closed his eyes.

"He's in the center of the facility. It seems they have him contained within some sort of lab. I think they've been using him to mass produce their own S2 engines."

"By now they likely have a lot," Rei said, shaking her head, "Let's make sure they've made their last."

The four EVAs walked into the facility, as the rainstorm caused a stringy mold to cover the top of the citadel.

"This whole time they were intending to breach the citadel!?," SEELE-02 said in shock.

"With control of the citadel they will have control over most of the island," Lorenz said solemnly, "We do have the other two Rin sisters stationed at the base, but I think our best chance of repelling NERV's agents will be to leave things up to the Thirteenth Angel. We have set things up so we can eject Adam and retrieve him should it get too close. And Bardiel's power will no doubt restore some of the defenses of the citadel, which it will use to attack anything that tries to stop its mission."

"Including the pilots," SEELE-04 noted, "It's a risk, Lorenz, but one we need to take."

Meanwhile, Bardiel finally found what he was looking for, the central computer core of the sky citadel.

"Perfect. Now I can link myself to the entire defense system. When I noticed Iruel had landed far from the GeoFront and stayed there a while, it made me realize that maybe Father was moved to a new prison. Sure enough, I'm seeing him on these monitors."

He then noticed something.

"Hello... It's those EVA machines modeled after father. And some of the wardens of father's prison. They'll no doubt be fighting each other, but I'll be getting attention one way or another once I start cracking this place open."

The four pilots soon encountered the two girls, one with a trident and the other with nunchaku. The trident wielding one blue pointed to Unit-03.

"You there, the ugly half-breed who took out our sister!"

Asuka's eye twitched, and Rei also didn't like how the term "half-breed" was used in a derogatory way. They both ignored the monologue the woman was spouting as they turned to their respective boyfriends.

"Shinji, we need to deal with some girl issues," Asuka said.

"Indeed," Rei said, "They need to be taught some serious manners."

The boys looked at each other and shrugged.

"Do what you gotta do," Shinji permitted.

Several auto-turrets appeared from nowhere, surprising the two sisters.

"It seems we'll be having our hands full with Bardiel," Kaworu noted.

Units 02 and 03 opened and the two girls jumped down.

"Sorry, didn't really catch your names," Asuka said sarcastically.

The blue-clad woman scoffed.

"I am Fei Rin. This is my sister Ai Rin. And we-- OOF!"

She grunted as Asuka flew at her at blinding speed and punched her right under her bust line, hitting the solar plexus.

"Are annoying as all hell," Asuka finished for Fei Rin.

"Fei!," Ai Rin called out, only to find herself dodging attacks from Rei.

"I don't appreciate people who deride someone just for having mixed blood," Rei pointed out.

Ai Rin growled as she charged her nunchaku.

"Huanglong!"

Rei looked on as electricity crackled through the chain, and twin energy scythes emerged from the two sticks, making it more like a set of kama. Fei Rin got up and spat on the ground.

"Fine then, let's do this! Zilong!"

Her trident seemed to exude extreme cold. She swung the staff at Asuka, who simply blocked it, her arms crackling with Hamon.

"Nice try using cold," she admitted, "But unless you're actually freezing me, ice is at best a shield."

She grabbed the trident and flipped Fei Rin over her shoulder, slamming her on the ground. Fei Rin got up and slammed Zilong into the ground, causing a wave of ice to start forming. Asuka increased her body's temperature, allowing a few flames to sprout in the air.

"Scarlet Overdrive!"

She punched right through a growing ice block, smashing through it and continuing on as she nailed Fei Rin right in the face.

"Oh, you will pay for that...," Fei Rin muttered, taking great pride in her natural beauty.

She wound up for a major strike, as Asuka noticed the previous attack had caused multiple floor panels to come loose.

"If it works for leaves...," she muttered, and channeled her Hamon in the ground, "Life Magnetism Overdrive!"

The magnetic energy hit the panels, causing them to float up and create a magnetically charged shield, blocking the strike. Asuka leapt over the shield and spun in mid-air.

"Tornado Overdrive!"

A small whirlwind kicked up around Asuka's body as she slammed into Fei Rin, finally knocking her out. Meanwhile, Rei had her lightning mode active, using the charge from her nerves to block Ai Rin's attacks, delivering a few shocking counterattacks in exchange. Ai Rin was getting more and more frustrated with each failed assault. Finally, she came in with both scythes, causing Rei to use both hands to block the attack.

"Ha!," Ai Rin said, "Now you cannot shock me!"

Rei smirked.

"Quick biology lesson, little girl... Nerves are all over the body!"

Several nerves burst out of Rei's legs, crackling with electricity as they wrapped around Ai Rin's legs, delivering a massive electrical shock. Ai Rin stumbled a bit before shaking her head.

"Damn it... I thought Stand users could match Gigans..."

"Like you're a real Stand user," Rei pointed out, "You're just a phony wielding a piece of tech that just happens to use the same energy."

She charged up as her spine emerged from her body, creating a surge of storm energy.

"Grand Judgement!"

Ai Rin screamed in shock and pain and a massive lightning bolt struck through her body, causing her to fall unconscious.

"That's these two dealt with," Asuka noted, "Let's hope the boys can deal with Bardiel. We never really tested the new armor's capacity to reject his physical form."

"We'll know soon enough," Rei said, "But they've come out on top before. Of course, we could always provide backup if needed."

Getting to where Bardiel's core wasn't easy, given he had full access to the citadel's defenses, but luckily Shinji and Kaworu were able to reach it just as Bardiel was getting ready to access the central lab.

"Ah ah, brother," Kaworu said, grabbing the core and yanking it free from the mold, "Father isn't quite ready just yet."

"Wait...," Bardiel said as his body dissolved into goo, "You came here to retrieve him?"

"We need his help to defeat Lilith," Shinji explained, "What we know from the Dead Sea Scrolls suggests her power can only be matched by someone similar in origin, like Adam."

"Then my reason for coming here was redundant," Bardiel noted, "But Father's presence will still draw the others."

"We'll treat them the same," Kaworu replied, "Especially since Father can reconstruct your bodies. SEELE is planning something terrible, and some extra firepower would be greatly appreciated."

Bardiel's core shifted, indicating something like a nod.

"It seems the Lilim... No, the humans, are the ones meant to win this war. Hopefully Father will awaken before that monster Lilith can be unleashed. I was in the system long enough to know SEELE intends to create an awakening to bring her into this world."

Shinji and Kaworu looked at each other in concern.

"So NERV has taken 71% of the island," Lorenz noted, "We have but two holdings left, and the remaining Angels will be arriving soon."

"Then perhaps the time has come to put our true plan into motion," SEELE-03 suggested.

Lorenz nodded.

"Indeed. Everything has been building up to this point. And Speedwagon does not have eyes everywhere. Robert EO Speedwagon spoke of the human spirit, but I think he underestimated human greed."

He smiled.

"Our forces are much larger than anyone could have anticipated..."

Chapter Text

Things had been going pretty well in the wake of NERV's latest success. Shinji and Asuka had officially moved into their own apartment, as had Rei and Kaworu. Most of the island was starting to look brighter with the major renovations to regions NERV now controlled. But as Gendo looked out at the sickly white metropolis that SEELE still controlled, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

"You'd think Lorenz wouldn't take these losses sitting down. He has to have something more up his sleeve, or else he wouldn't write off everything that's happened to him as 'setbacks'."

A sudden call on the network interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes?"

'We have a visitor, sir,' came Hyuga's voice.

"Who exactly?," Gendo asked.

'I'm not sure, the camera is only picking up refracted light,' Hyuga replied, 'But he claims to be here to see his daughter.'

Gendo chuckled. Obviously it was Wamuu, having used his Wind Mode to create a protective barrier to block the sun rays, like SPF One Million. The technique had the added affect of hiding him from view, and with his superior senses the loss of sight was no issue.

"Let him in. And be sure to let Naoko know her husband has arrived."

Shigeru had seen some weird things since he started his job. But seeing a six-foot tall bronzed Aztec statue come to life devour an entire roasted chicken, bones and all, in a single bite really took the cake for him. As it happened, Joseph Joestar had been stopping by to check out how things were progressing. Seems the two of them went way back.

"Sorry if I look so old," Joseph said, "But what with my business and family matters I haven't had much time to practice my Hamon."

Wamuu gave a warm smile.

"It's fine. Even Gigan can grow old as they start to live past the hundred-thousand year mark."

He looked to his daughter.

"I came here because I noticed the ambient air on the island was showing heavy signs of ionization. It seems you've discovered your ultimate attack."

Rei smiled.

"All that training really paid off."

"But it is creepy seeing her spine pop out of her back when she uses it," Maya noted, a nervous grin on her face.

Joseph laughed.

"That's not even scrapping the surface! Pure-blooded Gigans have such control over their bodies they can safely expose vital organs without them drying out or getting infected!"

Ritsuko was still gaping at how huge her stepfather was. She'd heard the stories, but now she was less concerned with the concept of Gigan reproduction versus human reproduction and more on the manner in which her mother survived sex with Wamuu.

"You know," Joseph said, "I remember asking Santana how Gigans reproduce. He never gave me an answer, instead brushing me off to focus on his own curiosity."

"He might not have known the nature of your question," Wamuu suggested, "Santana was only 10,000 years old at the time of his death, barely a toddler by human standards."

"That makes sense," Joseph noted, "He took more time than you, Kars, and Esidisi to grasp English enough to speak it fluently, so his intelligence, while superior to humans, was likely inferior to older Gigans."

Shinji then remembered something Josuke had told him.

"Weren't Gigans originally referred to as Pillar Men?"

"That's because Santana had fallen asleep in Mexico, inside a stone pillar," Wamuu clarified, "While me and my late masters fell asleep in Rome, just under the Coliseum. As the Nazis had no other name for our kind other than 'Pillar Men', they kept referring to us as such."

Later, the group was in briefing for the next major plan.

"Right now NERV is in control of the majority of Zero Point," Gendo said, "But knowing SEELE, they still have an Ace or two up their sleeves. We can't rest on our laurels until the final battle is finished. To that end, we need to start dismantling all of SEELE's remaining operations. Leave them with as little resources as possible. Our first step is to finish off Oinkie's business dealings. We know he still has a few holdings in the metro region, so we'll simply swoop in and finish them off."

His gaze turned concerned.

"We also need to remember that the last few Angels are due to arrive in the coming days. And these ones will be the toughest of them all. The Dead Sea Scrolls spoke of their overwhelming power, both physical and mental. This is where the Marathon begins. One slip up and... Well, I'm sure you all know the stakes."

The pilots nodded.

"The next couple weeks are going to be the most crucial," Keebo noted, "But let's take things one step at a time. We can't leave any loose ends that could lead to retaliation."

Shinji stood up.

"Then let's get started."

'Thus far everything is proceeding as we intended,' the mysterious voice said to Lorenz during the meeting, 'The pilots... They didn't even suspect the Trojan Horse strategy. Fei Rin's natural disposition certainly helped.'

"Good," Lorenz said, "When we finally make our move, we will have plenty of muscle. NERV has plenty of resources, and we need extra front line fighters to deal with their armed guard."

He switched communication to Oinkie.

"Have your businesses been annulled as planned?"

'Most of them,' Oinkie reported, 'I left a few token businesses open so things wouldn't look suspicious when NERV comes calling.'

Lorenz nodded.

"Smart thinking. By the time they realize anything is amiss, we will be ready. The time has come to unveil our own EVA units. We will prove their effectiveness when the Fourteenth Angel makes its appearance."

Just then, smashing could be heard in the background.

"Looks like it's showtime. Remember to put up a fight. They may decide to kill you outright if they suspect anything is amiss."

'Got it, Boss,' Oinkie said before cutting communication.

Lorenz turned to the rest of his inner circle.

"The moment of our final operation is at hand. Have the outer circle bring in their private forces. The time to tip our hand has arrived."

Keebo smashed through the Berserker Mutant Oinkie had brought to attack the group, while Shinji dealt with Oinkie directly. The Juice made Oinkie strong, but it relied on an electrical system, which Shinji could exploit with his Stand.

"Time to fry some bacon!," he called out, "Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

His Stand charged to its maximum output, without causing damage to Shinji's soul, and lit up the area, tearing through Oinkie's delivery system, shorting it out and rendering him unconscious. Aigis approached.

"Something is amiss. Most of Oinkie's businesses have already been dissolved."

Shinji frowned.

"I think I know SEELE's plans," Keebo said, "And I know someone who can deal with such a situation, should it arise."

Chapter Text

With the alert that the Fourteenth Angel was about to arrive, the pilots took off in their EVAs, ready for battle as usual. Lorenz looked at the screen and grinned.

"Now is when we reveal our first card. Max, are you ready?"

'Yes, sir,' Max replied, 'Our special device is ready. I should mention that it can only hold so much electricity.'

"We've analyzed their maximum output," Lorenz assured him, "It could easily handle anything they could discharge. Unleash the weapon once they land. Remember, we only need to concentrate on the main five."

It had happened so fast that the pilots barely had time to register it. Only Keebo had detected it with his advanced systems, and managed to get Mari out of the way as an electrical field shot up around the other five pilots and shocked them, keeping them in place. Nearby, Mari spotted Max and shot out of Unit-00 to confront him.

"You're responsible for this?," she asked.

Max grinned.

"A little negative current to keep the pilots contained. SEELE wants their own toys displayed to deal with that..."

He pointed to where Zeruel had landed. Sure enough, twelve different EVAs, looking more like the old, mass produced units, came up from the ground. Zeruel scoffed when he saw these.

"I was expecting the mighty warriors who had defeated my brothers and sisters. Not some factory rejects that came fresh off an assembly line."

He then noticed the SEELE logo on the breast plates and chuckled.

"So that's what this is all about. Such a foolish idea. SEELE's members must be more mired in Lilith's corruption than the average Lilim."

The first EVA approached, prog knife in hand, only to get the whole arm sliced off by Zeruel's extending arms. Two more fired positron rifles at him, only to have them bounce off his armored flesh.

"Not even worth erecting my AT Field. The true pilots would have easily pierced my hide, but these weak weapons are no better than military hardware."

He serenely moved through the group of EVAs, his arms moving at imperceptible speeds. Despite being the physically strongest of the siblings, he was a pacifist by nature. That didn't mean he wouldn't fight when it became necessary, he just preferred not too. He was grateful NERV chose to preserve the cores of his siblings. Otherwise he could have lost himself in anger. Most of the EVAs were smart enough to jump away, but a few wound up losing limbs.

"I'd almost feel cheated out of a good duel. These imperfect clones are nothing compared to the advanced units developed to focus on full synchronization. So... Will you yield and allow the true protectors of this world to face me? Or shall I simply level this island right now and seek our Father? I'm waiting for your answer."

Max was completely shocked at this development, while Mari grinned.

"Keebo. Go ahead and give Zeruel the fight he wants. I'll see what I can do about Max here."

'Got it,' Keebo replied, directing Mega World to confront Zeruel.

Meanwhile, the five pilots were busy trying to find out how to get out of this situation.

"This is a negative charge," Aigis noted, "Perhaps a strong enough positive charge could disrupt it."

"We'd still need to smash the device projecting the current," Kaworu noted.

"Well," Shinji said, "Unit-01 does have a few more tricks. It just needs enough of a charge to activate it."

The five pilots nodded and had their EVAs hold hands. Kaworu fully charged his AT Field, Aigis went to maximum overclock, Asuka focused all her Hamon, and Rei charged her Lightning Mode to full.

As the energy flooded into Unit-01, Shinji called out, "Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

Pure electric energy flooded into Unit-01, causing an automatic alteration of its armor, shifting from eagle to gorilla, as the organic being beneath the armor started having its muscles expand, roaring in excitement as it spun around, smashing the nearest electric towers, which had shut down when exposed to the stronger positive current. It then turned its sights on Zeruel, which was dueling against Mega World.

"Keebo, we're loose," Shinji said, "Break off and trash the rest of those fake EVAs. I'll deal with Zeruel."

"Copy that," Keebo said, leaping away as Zeruel smashed the ground with his arms.

He soon saw the enlarged Unit-01 charging at him like a real gorilla, using all fours.

"At last... Now, show me the strength that has defeated so many of my siblings!"

"Alright," Shinji said, a grin on his face, "But you'd better be careful what you wish for!"

Zeruel braced for the first punch, but it was far stronger than he anticipated. It sounded like bones were breaking, though Zeruel knew it was simply the outer armor layer of his body. Still hurt just as much however. A second incoming punch prompted him to raise his AT Field. Clearly extra defense was needed against this warrior. However, he got another shock as electrical energy channeled through the punch to shatter the field, causing him to get nailed right in the face. Parts of the face fell away, revealing part of the core.

"Jeez, and I thought Leliel had a huge core," Shinji noted, "Let me guess, it's all muscle."

Zeruel actually chuckled.

"I'm assuming that's a human joke. Not that it isn't appropriate for the situation."

He extended his arms to try and attack, only to have Unit-01 grab them.

"I'm guessing these aren't as breakable. Kinda look like toilet paper, too."

Zeruel barely had to time to question to himself what toilet paper was as Unit-01 used Zeruel's own arms to pull him close enough for an all out assault.

"DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME!"

Zeruel felt his body crack open, revealing his immense core, which Shinji promptly grabbed. Up above, Mari had been busy dealing with Max, finally getting him on the ropes. Max saw the defeat of Zeruel at the hands of Unit-01 and slammed his fist on the brick awning he was against.

"This isn't over!," he called out to Mari before leaping off the side of the building, his cybernetics letting him survive the drop.

Lorenz gritted his teeth. Not only did SEELE's EVAs prove useless against Zeruel, but Unit-01 showed unexpected strength never before seen, and practically demolished the Angel. He slammed his hand onto the desk.

"How!? Why!? We accounted for everything!"

He rubbed his face as he growled deeply.

"This is going beyond a joke..."

He turned to the other members.

"Are our EVAs salvageable?"

"Yes, thankfully," SEELE-03 said, "Most only lost limbs. It will take some time to repair, however, and right now NERV has gained control of the metro region. They have almost eighty-six percent control now."

Lorenz calmed himself.

"Fortunately we still have a chance to complete our plans. The last two Angels will arrive soon. Once they are dealt with..."

He smiled.

"We begin the final phase. Everything has been building up to this. And there's no better place to make someone fall, then at the very top."

He smiled. Soon he would have the means to escape his failing body. They would all become gods, and rule over the new humanity. Meanwhile, beneath NERV, Lilith began to stir in anticipation, knowing her time to awaken was near.

Chapter Text

"Gentlemen," Lorenz said, "The endgame is upon us. By now NERV thinks they have us on the ropes. But while I admit the situation does not favor us, the fact of the matter is we have been making moves Gendo and his little band could not possibly foresee. Soon enough our forces will assemble, and we will begin the plans for Instrumentality. Are our EVAs repaired?"

"Almost," SEELE-02 replied, "A few still need to finish bonding to the new limbs. Replacing the armor was easy enough. We also have finished testing on the Dummy Plug system. The EVAs can now be piloted remotely."

Lorenz nodded and grinned.

"Good... Once NERV finishes off the last Angel, we make our move."

"This isn't the sort of work I expected to take on so soon before graduation," Byakuya noted to Keebo.

Byakuya Togami was Keebo's senior classmate, part of the 78th class at Hope's Peak Academy. And his Stand, Infinite, was arguably one of the strongest.

"I know," Keebo replied, "But a great deal of Director Ikari's plan hinges on your power."

Byakuya nodded. Truth be told the primary reason he was agreeing to this was because having the world end would only be detrimental for him. So when he heard he was needed for an important plan, he canceled all his business meetings and cleared his calendar for the next few weeks.

Elsewhere, Rei was finishing a training workout with Unit-02. Much like normal beings, the EVAs could improve by using workout routines, since at their core they were organic creatures. Rei finished her shower and saw her sister whispering to Maya, who smiled.

"So, Sis," Rei said, "Seeing anyone special right now?"

She smirked as Maya squeaked and Ritsuko blushed a little bit, confirming that the two had indeed been seeing each other quite a while. Ritsuko sighed and turned to Maya.

"I'll see you later tonight."

Maya smiled.

"Of course, Senpai."

Once Maya was gone, Rei smiled.

"So, does Mom know...?"

"That I'm a lesbian?," Ritsuko replied, "I think she might suspect, not that she says anything. Despite being a workaholic, something always felt missing in my life. I found myself checking Maya out more and more as we saw more of each other, and one day I just... Invited her to my apartment for drinks. I think you can imagine how things proceeded after that. We did take it slow at first, of course. But luckily Maya is the sort of woman that can match herself to someone else's pace as needed."

Rei shrugged.

"Well, it doesn't matter to me. Anyway, what's this new plan Gendo came up with?"

"I don't know the full details yet," Ritsuko admitted, "But apparently Yui discovered something interesting regarding the outer circle of Zero Point that Gendo wants to use to our advantage. Something that normally would have acted in defense of SEELE. Gendo wants to hit them with the perfect irony before we begin an all-out siege. Militaries the world over are coming in for assistance on this matter. Seems overtime several high-profile specialists have vanished, most of them just after receiving an increase to their bank accounts."

The implications of this were worrying to Rei, to say the least.

"This will be a simple operation," Gendo stated to the NERV staff, "As it turns out, SEELE was more than prepared for an all-out assault and siege. The reason we have been able to rout them so far is because they felt an all-out war early would be too costly, and we had no way to get around their defenses in the central area. But now we have something that makes such an action possible."

He brought up a hologram of the island.

"The outer parts of Zero Point each have a shield generator, one that only protects the edge closest to the inner sector, which houses SEELE's main headquarters. When all of them are active at once, it creates a perfect cylinder around the headquarters."

Shinji then noticed something.

"The cylinder is just barely larger than the sky citadel."

Gendo smiled. Shinji had definitely inherited both his and Yui's intelligence.

"Indeed. And this brings me to the crux of our plan."

He hit a few keystrokes and a domed shield appeared over the central sector.

"This secondary shield is always in place," Gendo explained, "With only a small opening to let in personnel and supplies. Fortunately testing has proven the shield to only be made of titanium. Something heavy crashing down on it, such as the sky citadel, would most certainly bring the shield down, exposing SEELE HQ."

He turned to Byakuya.

"That's where you come in. Most likely SEELE will try to redirect where the sky citadel lands. Now once it reaches the shielding that will be impossible, but the shields only extend ten-thousand meters past the top of the dome shield."

Byakuya nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry, I'll see it done. Can we expect resistance?"

"Most likely," Gendo noted, "But you'll have some backup in the form of the Dashells."

"Good," Byakuya said, "My Stand cannot affect my own physical being, only everything around it. As strong of my defenses are, even I have my weaknesses."

The trio reached the sky citadel, and Byakuya narrowed his eyes when he saw a large Russian man bearing cybernetics, along with three Cybrid Joes.

"One of the artificial Stand users," Cadence noted, "Get to the center of the citadel. We can handle this."

"Don't take too long," Byakuya replied, "Infinite!"

In a flash, he flew out of sight, heading for the center.

"You sure it's a good idea to send him away?," the man said, "This is two-to-one odds in my favor."

"Stand users never get concerned about odds against non-human opponents," Shining pointed out, "So who are you?"

"I am Nikolai," the man replied, "SEELE might have been blind to your plans here, but I suspected. It's an obvious scheme, da? Full force of the citadel colliding with the physical shield would certainly break it open."

He activated the large electric components on his arms.

"I am here to put a stop to that. Tesla Blitz!"

He rushed at the couple. Shining smirked.

"Radioactive!"

Nikolai grunted as he his attack bounced off the shield.

"Deathharmonic!"

Cadence let out a siren shriek that shorted out the three Cybrid Joes. Nikolai growled.

"They really should consider improving the quality. High-frequency sound attacks are a little beyond them."

"I can also concentrate the assault," Cadence pointed out, "Deathharmonic!"

Nikolai put up his guard as he got hit by the sonic assault. He was about to make a sudden counterattack, the couple looking on as his body seemed to shift, when a sudden shaking caught his attention.

"Chert... He moves fast."

He undid his partial transformation.

"Consider yourselves lucky. My ultimate form is not to be taken lightly."

He quickly ran off as a sudden feeling of weightlessness occurred. Shortly afterward, Shinji showed up in Unit-01.

"First plane out!," he called out, "Byakuya's bringing this down fast!"

The sudden rocking surprised Lorenz.

"What in the hell is going on!?"

He checked the monitors before slamming his hand on his desk.

"Verdammt! They're bringing the citadel down on the dome shield!"

He quickly contacted the rest of SEELE.

"Get all our forces here double-time! NERV has just shown they are through playing around! We need to accelerate our timetable!"

The others nodded before signing out. The creaking of his cybernetics was a deep reminder of his humanity, which he wanted to be rid off.

"I've come too close to let it end here. I'll play all my trump cards if that's what it takes to win..."

Chapter Text

Mayumi rubbed her belly after the procedure was complete. Prepping her for the surgery to remove the S2 engine was time-consuming considering everything else NERV was going through, but it was always a higher priority. Kensuke sat with her.

"You feeling okay?"

"Considering I had what amounts to a much-needed abortion," she quipped, "I'm feeling mostly better. A lot of the pain is gone."

She sighed. The day all this had happened, she only remembered getting abducted after someone had chosen to adopt her. Turns out whoever did that had chosen her thinking no one would care about a missing orphan. She had told the main group of NERV what she knew of the incident, and about SEELE. How they first used her to experiment with a new type of organ transplant, and then as a spy to check on the very organization who was helping her. If Aigis hadn't detected the S2 engine, it likely wouldn't have been long before SEELE accelerated the process of the engine's growth, which would have killed her. Apparently, the engine was never meant to be held by a pure human body.

"For now it's better that she remain here in NERV HQ," Gendo offered, "SEELE's presence is limited, but we're not yet done with them."

"Operation Heavy Rain was a complete success," Shigeru noted, "The dome has completely cracked and broken away. But it looks like SEELE still isn't done playing its hand. We have reports of vast military forces moving through previously unknown channels into the central region of Zero Point."

Fuyutsuki was confused.

"Where on Earth could they have gotten these forces? Speedwagon made sure they couldn't influence the world's military."

"I don't think these came from any country," Shigeru clarified, "The only insignia they're carrying is that of SEELE. Basically, this is a private army they've been building up, likely for years."

Fuyutsuki frowned.

"They've been planning this. They must have been seeking out those who had no interest in the world and bringing them into the fold, slowly training and arming them over the course of half a century. To think they could maintain this level of influence in spite of everything."

"It's not like they need much to instigate Instrumentality," Shigeru noted, "Only enough to keep their asses covered and understand the concepts behind the Angels."

That's when the alert came in of a Code Orange.

"Speak of the devil, as ironic as that statement is right now. Looks like the Fifteenth Angel decided to make its presence known."

"That's Arael alright," Kaworu noted.

The spy satellites had gotten a good look at her. She looked like a skeletal bird made of pure light.

"I hope she hasn't gone crazy looking through every human mind on the planet," Kaworu said, concern in his voice, "Human thoughts can be really terrible."

"Shinji, Mari, looks like this one is going to be all on you," Misato said, "Your EVAs are the only ones that can fly. Just in case of breach you'll be going in using specially crafted breather helmets. The plug suits were designed to be able to resist outer space conditions."

"Hopefully it won't need to get that far," Shinji noted.

This was probably the most dangerous mission they ever had. Yes, Units 01 and 00 could fly even in outer space, but they weren't exactly spaceships. Because of the LCL the entry plug was vacuum sealed, one less thing to be concerned about, but if a breach should occur it could be catastrophic. Fortunately, Arael's abilities were purely mental. Additionally, their Stands were strong enough to pierce the AT Field. The only other thing that could likely do so was the Lance of Longinus, and the longer that stayed pinned to Lilith the better.

Little did anyone know, the elderly Douglas, one of SEELE's artificial Stand users, was down in Lilith's chamber with a group of armed men and Mutants.

"Have the Mutants remove it," Douglas said.

One of the soldiers nodded, using a shock collar to get one of the Mutants to climb Lilith and remove the lance.

"Finally...," she muttered, "But I'm still too weak to fully awaken yet."

"My bosses have already prepared sufficient escape for you," Douglas said, pointing to the tunnel they had used to enter this deep.

"Excellent," Lilith replied, "I have strength enough to use it. The time will soon be upon you all..."

Douglas looked down as Lilith crawled through the hole to the central sector of the island.

"Follow her," he said to the others, "I'll be staying here. Someone needs to let NERV now what has just happened."

The soldiers nodded and left, thinking this was SEELE's way of saying NERV was going to lose. In actuality, Douglas wanted to warn NERV about what SEELE was doing.

'I lost way too much in my life. And will likely lose what little I have left by the end of this. Might as well make some form of atonement.'

He walked over to a nearby trip wire and used it to set off an alert.

Meanwhile Shinji and Mari had just hit escape velocity and were sailing through the sea of stars, Arael's giant form looming over them.

"Great humans of Earth, greetings. I know you are expecting a terrible battle. This is normally where I would try to peek into your minds... But you have no more time to waste on me or my remaining brother. Lilith... Lilith has disappeared from your chains!"

Shinji gasped.

"Wait... Seriously!? But we had her pinned with the Lance of Longinus! Sure we expected her to get loose sooner or later... But not this soon!"

"It was the hands of SEELE who did this," Arael explained, "They had been secretly digging into your depths for several weeks now. I know, because I had been looking into their minds. Lorenz Keel, he has terrible designs in place. If he succeeds... Most of humanity will not survive. And over countless millennia, I have found myself growing fond of the developments humans have made. Taken all at once, their minds would overwhelm me. So I chose to only visit every few centuries, to see what new developments have occurred. I have even conversed with several Stand users that had telepathic abilities."

She opened up her ribcage, revealing her core inside.

"Go and take my core, that I may see my siblings again. Then you must deal with the ones who allowed Lilith to roam free. Right now her power is still weak, but it will not remain so for long."

Shinji nodded to Mari, and the two of them grabbed the core and pulled it free, letting Arael's body explode in space.

"Dad," Shinji said, "Were there any alerts in the Central Dogma?"

'Just now in fact,' Gendo replied, 'We checked the chamber where Lilith is, and she's gone. The only thing left is a massive cyborg and the lance, which they left behind. The other pilots are moving to investigate.'

Douglas was just sitting in place when the door opened, revealing Rei, Asuka, Aigis, and Kaworu.

"You could have easily escaped from here with no one realizing what had happened," Kaworu noted, "Why bother staying?"

"I'm too damn tired to keep this going for much longer," Douglas explained, "And you've locked up damn near every other member of our group. Figured I might as well get it over with. The Twins!"

He revealed a pair of pile bunkers in his hands, causing ignitions as they popped out. He charged at the group. Aigis revealed her own arm revolvers, firing on Douglas as he did his best to dodge. However, he wasn't the most maneuverable, and got hit quite a few times. Luckily he was also durable, though once the pilots got close enough his vulnerability to electric attacks became apparent. And they were much more nimble than him, making it easy to hit and run, wearing him down slowly. Not that he wasn't expecting it. Finally, Rei wound up right in front of him, her hand on one of his pile bunkers.

"I'm normally not one for attacking the elderly," she noted, "But you did start this fight. It's about time you got some rest."

She flooded Douglas with electrical energy as her nerves wrapped around his arm, shorting out his body and causing him to go unconscious.

Lorenz was meeting with his inner circle again.

"Gentlemen, all of our scheming has led to this moment. Soon Lilith will be at her full strength again. And only one Angel remains to be dealt with. Once everything is in place, we will begin our plans for Instrumentality."

"It's about time," SEELE-05 said, "Just waiting for this moment has been a struggle."

Lorenz nodded.

"Though I suspect you were just eager for Robert EO Speedwagon to refuse our offer, correct? Not that it matters, your contributions have been especially significant. Without them, we never could have gathered a private army to make up for the loss of government influence."

SEELE-05 grinned.

"You just need to know the right people. But time is starting to become a factor in our plans. NERV is catching on to our actions, and are taking steps to interfere."

"We've gathered the best from every country," SEELE-03 noted, "But it's not exactly a large force compared to the greater allies of the world. Still, we are closer than ever before. Only a few more steps to complete."

Lorenz smiled. He was willing to share the power of godhood with those who aided him out of loyalty rather than coercion, as these four men have done. And soon he would have everything he ever desired.

Chapter Text

Most of the artificial Stand users, with the exception of Jack and Douglas, had managed to escape from their confines with the help of the Rin sisters. Fei Rein and Ai Rin were supposed to get themselves caught so they could release the others, though most didn't know why two of their number decided to stay behind. However, they didn't get very far. Byakuya was standing just inside the exit to the upper sectors. Baron scoffed.

"We have to get through a prep school student to get out? That ain't right."

Byakuya smirked as he adjusted his glasses.

"Lesson one... Don't believe everything you see. Infinite!"

In a flash, the group found themselves on a long, winding path, spiked iron balls rolling right at them.

"Ah hell nah!," Baron called out, "He got that Stand power too!? Shit! Come on, Mathilda, we got to smash our way through here. Super Sexy Fists of Fire!"

"Iron Maiden!"

As they tried to make their way through along the path, multiple copies of Byakuya's Stand Infinite showed up to attack them, making it harder and harder to get through. Big Bull also tried to barrel his way through, only to get stopped cold by the onslaught. All three of them were soon knocked out.

"Far too thuggish," Byakuya noted, "Even the simplest of power-type Stands have an air of finesse to them."

Sasha moved in to attack directly.

"If it is finesse you seek, I will provide!"

She suddenly found her Snow Spikes getting blocked by several clusters of cubes.

"All style, no substance," Byakuya chided, "I've seen Stands with an E in Power that had more impact than you. Allow me to show you a proper balance in skill and power. Infinite!"

Infinite charged energy in its hands and fired them off, the bolts flying in seemingly random directions before striking Sasha, knocking her to the ground.

"Anyone else care to take their turn?," Byakuya asked, "Or will you suddenly become as smart as the two still in lockup?"

"Don't you go looking down on us!," Oinkie called out, "We have the same power you do! The Juice!"

He took on his transformed state. Byakuya scoffed.

"Still have not learned your lesson, have you? These weaker powers, granted through technology, are useless in the face of a true Stand user."

He demonstrated by conjuring several cannons to fire on Oinkie, forcing him to dodge as much as he could. He was faster than he looked, but in the end he couldn't dodge forever and wound up knocked out. Byakuya shook his head.

"It's no different than a spoiled brat who obtains a Stand and thinks the world is suddenly his."

"A little hypocritical, aren't we?," Zero pointed out.

Byakuya chuckled.

"Please. I am not so arrogant as to consider myself king of the world just because of my Stand power. It took a great deal of time and training to get to my current level."

He raised his hand and floated into the air, manifesting a series of missile launchers as he did, which fired upon Zero. Zero tried to slice through the missiles, but there were just too many and they were as large as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Zero soon found himself overwhelmed.

"Don't act so cocky, you young brat!," Durga called out, "I have the powers of a god!"

Byakuya chuckled.

"A god? A name that just so happens to mean 'invincible', and a Gatling gun in your leg? Rather pathetic for a god. I've seen powers that grant one the might of a dragon, abilities only seen in video games, the gift to heal anyone, or destroy anyone, and you think you impress me with a weapon you can find in any military's basic armory?"

Rin Rin stepped forward.

"And what would a man playing at god know about it?"

Suddenly, they found themselves knocked aside, and were shocked by who had done so, a familiar blonde haired individual.

"DIO Brando?," Ai Rin asked in shock, "But I had heard he died."

"Hold on," Durga said, "There's something wrong with his eyes. They're... Lifeless."

"That is a construct created by my Stand," Byakuya stated as he landed next to the fake DIO, "Every bit as powerful as the real DIO, but without everything that made the vampire who he was. This is the true, full power of Infinite. With it, I can call in heroes..."

Joseph in his younger form, Stroheim, and Rudy from his time during the Steel Ball Run appeared as Byakuya grinned.

"Or resurrect villains."

He conjured J Geil, Diavolo, and Pucci.

"This is why I named my named my Stand infinite. Its virtual reality grants me access to any other power in existence. With a power like this, becoming a god isn't that hard at all, so I don't even bother. The truth is, I'm not playing god. This whole time... I've been playing human!"

He snapped his fingers and time instantly stopped as DIO moved to attack. Byakuya still couldn't move in this state, time was frozen after all, but thanks to Infinite he could perceive the frozen time. DIO struck at the four remaining artificial Stand users, before letting time continue again. Byakuya made another gesture, calling in Mario DeBorne. Dark Schneider activated, leaving the quartet confused as they were suddenly surrounded by armed guards, most of whom had been overseeing the cell during its construction, while others wouldn't be there until months later. Dark Schneider launched an energy ball using the compressed time to blast the group.

Byakuya dispelled the constructs before conjuring a new one, Honami Sato. Her chains lashed out and struck the cyborgs, before blasting them with fire as she attached their various weapons to her body, striking at them with their own power.

"I can keep this up all day," Byakuya noted, "Or at least until you're out cold. With how much I've studied on previous adventures, I have a number of warriors at my disposal."

He snapped his fingers, a blonde man in golden armor appeared. Byakuya blinked.

"Huh... Don't know where I got him from..."

The man, Archer from the Fourth Holy Grail War as it turned out, raised his hand and opened a giant gate, blasting the quartet with a variety of jeweled swords. Seeing the group finally knocked out, he chuckled.

"Well, that's that I suppose. Hopefully this will teach you an important lesson. SEELE doesn't understand the value of humanity, so you shouldn't put stock in their words. At the end of the day, you were merely a series of experiments for their usage."

He contacted the upper floors.

"We had a minor breakout attempt. It's been taken care of. I trust I won't be needed further?"

He nodded at the response.

"Good. I will admit, it was cathartic to be able to cut loose with my Stand for once. Let me know if you have any more little chores that require someone of my level."

And with that, he walked out of the area.

Chapter Text

"The report came in just as we were contacting Speedwagon for additional support," Maya said, "This is the Sixteen Angel."

The image of the giant double-helix ring was visible across the entire skyline.

"Armisael," Yui said, "The last of Adam's natural children. Once we claim claim his core, everything will be set for the endgame. How is the status on Adam?"

"Stable," Makoto replied, "Our estimate is that he'll be awakening within a few days."

Yui nodded.

"Alright... We just have to hold out until then."

"It's been a long time coming," Gendo noted, "To be honest, I'm glad it turned out this way. If I had gone through with my original plan... I don't think we'd be in such good condition."

"For now the Angel isn't moving," Maya noted, "Just hovering around the exterior of the center of the island."

"Have the pilots maintain a perimeter around the Angel until it makes the first move," Gendo ordered, "We may not get another lucky break like we did with Arael."

The six pilots, plus Keebo's Mega World, now had Armisael surrounded. Through his form, currently in an ethereal state, he was able to observe them.

"And so the penultimate battle begins. But there is another player in this game. As we speak, my mind is linked to twelve pilots selected by SEELE to operate mockeries of the true warriors you fight alongside."

"Pretty poor hostages," Asuka noted.

"You misunderstand," Armisael clarified, "I know you will fight me. You care nothing for those who have sided with such evil, as do I. They are not hostages. I am simply providing you an easy way to weaken them. Arael surrendered because of Lilith's escape from your confines. This is acceptable. But you will need every advantage to win against the true enemy. Therefore..."

The double-helix of his body merged into a single line.

"Our battle must be real!"

His body split off at one point, turning into a thread-like being, which moved at intense speed. Armisael wound up rushing at Mari, only to slam into her electric field as she activated her Stand. Mari managed to have Unit-00 grab Armisael, squeezing and caused severe pain. He managed to wriggle free, only to get sliced by Unit-03.

'Be careful not to do too much damage,' Cadence chimed in, 'If the core gets destroyed it'll go nuclear and could take out a great deal of the island, and us with it.'

"Try telling the Angel that!," Asuka called out as Armisael lashed out with its body, impacting Units 02, 03, and 05, knocking them back but not off their feet.

Unit-01 immediately took off after the Angel, its speed managing to keep pace as Shinji had several electric shocks fired off, managing to hit Armisael multiple times. Finally, Shinji managed to get the Angel split open.

"Ah! Hitting my limit already...? I never was the most defensive of our siblings... No matter, the sheer pain from this should be sufficient. Tabris... Let Father know we did our duty to the best of our abilities."

Shinji quickly pulled the final core out from the Angel, balling up its body and throwing it as far into the stratosphere as Unit-01 could managed. The resulting explosion wasn't quite nuclear, but was certainly massive.

"The sudden attack by the Sixteenth Angel caught us off-guard," SEELE-03 noted, "We're having our pilots checked now to make sure they can still perform as needed."

"Good," Lorenz said, "We're nearing the final confrontation. We can't afford to have anything go wrong at this stage. But the NERV pilots have become an annoyance that we can no longer tolerate. Have Max confront them, but remind him that the pilots are not to be killed. After all..."

He grinned.

"They are final piece of the puzzle. Or at least one of them is, but leaving just that one alive would raise eyebrows."

Max landed just where the pilots had exited their EVAs.

"You're all a real piece of work," he said, "By now, SEELE has gotten more than annoyed with your antics."

"Well, there's an easy solution," Shinji noted, "Just stop their plans and we'll get out of their hair."

He cracked his knuckles.

"And if they don't like it, I see no problem smashing through their strongest enforcer to deal with them."

"I may be the leader of our group," Max admitted, "But the strongest? Not anymore. One of my members found a way to get stronger. He modified his Stand to unleash a greater power."

He took a fighting stance as Shinji did the same.

"Guess we'll deal with that when the time comes," Shinji noted.

He and Max ran toward each other, Shinji blocking a strike from Max's blades.

"My Stand's defenses rank among the strongest," Shinji noted, "It could withstand a blow from a standard C4 explosive. Not that normal weapons could hurt a Stand, but the hypothetical is there."

He had his Stand strike Max with its free hand, knocking him on his back. Max quickly got back up and launched a few tesla drones to attack. Shinji just smirked as he easily tanked the damage.

"Electric-proof, remember? Meanwhile your cybernetics are far more vulnerable!"

He launched a massive electric wave, scrambling Max's cybernetic body.

"Always the electricity with you kids," he noted, "What's up with that?"

"Cruel Angel's Thesis can use its electrical manipulation to control machines that run on electric currents," Shinji explained, "Including the EVA armor, which was originally a glorified straightjacket. Now it's more like powered armor. Kinda figured that out by accident."

His Stand crossed its arms.

"Of course, it's physically strong as well. I've had years training with my cousin Josuke, so I know how to deal with thugs who think they stand above others just because they got a new power. Let me tell you something... Real power is something you earn! It's something you work for every day of your life! Let's go! Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

Max found himself getting slammed over and over as Cruel Angel's Thesis kept punching.

"DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME DAME!"

Max's body soon shorted out, leaving him unconscious on the ground.

Gendo got a call from Kakyoin.

'The UN has weighed in. The Big Five are willing to send in what forces they can spare to help hold off SEELE's army. By our estimates, there should be just enough to maintain a stalemate. That should give you time to deal with Lorenz at long last.'

"And about time too," Gendo replied, "We never did figure out how he plans to create Instrumentality. Only that Lilith is key to that somehow. Regardless, there is development. It seems Adam is starting to regenerate, and rapidly. Before long we will be releasing the Bakelite."

He hung up.

"The endgame begins now."

Chapter Text

"Exam time...," Asuka noted, "I'm a little worried. I already graduated from college, so I know the answers, but the kanji is so difficult to pick up."

"Same here," Kaworu agreed, "In reality I'm billions of years old, but that doesn't mean I'm completely up to date on modern knowledge."

"I'm actually pretty confident," Shinji said, "Both my parents are scientists, and Mom takes my education seriously, so I'm probably one of the smartest in the class."

"Same here," Rei chimed in, "Thanks in part to my Gigan genetics, my intelligence is greater than the average human. Taking in all that knowledge is pretty much second nature to me."

"It must be nice for Keebo," Asuka said, "Don't Hope's Peak Academy students only have to worry about showcasing their developing talents?"

"Not anymore," Aigis clarified, "After the school was absorbed by the Speedwagon Foundation, the students also had to focus on regular education, to insure they could function in society beyond their special talents. Anyway, after that is the dance, yes? By that point we'll have to worry about saving the world."

Kaworu chuckled.

"One last calm before the storm... I think we need this last bit of happiness to remind us what is at stake."

Deep inside Adam's chamber, his remnants were starting to stir and grow. Shining was there, watching the whole thing. After a bit, Adam felt his consciousness return to him.

"I... I am awake again..."

He couldn't see, likely because his eyes had not yet regrown, but he could feel everything around him. And there was a very familiar presence right next to him.

"You... You are that boy... The one who kept me from causing untold damage..."

He paused.

"Thank you. It was never my intention to cause destruction. I only wished to help mankind break free from Lilith."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you," Shining replied, "You simultaneously awakened the power within me, and helped me understand its limitations."

He created a barrier in mid-air, which Adam felt and recognized.

"Powers similar to the Makers. So, they launched a seed at this planet. Or perhaps it came from another planet that had likewise been seeded. This is proof that not all humans are Lilim. So Lilith failed once again..."

He gave a chuckle.

"She never could understand her own flaws."

He felt more of his body regrow.

"Looks like it won't take long," Shining said, "We've been waiting for this moment. You see... Lilith is awake, and is aiming to help SEELE."

Adam grumbled.

"I can guess the nature of this deal. But there's a flaw in their plan."

"There always is," Shining noted, "Speedwagon has encountered many villains since the death of our founder, and each of them thought they had everything figured everything out in terms of their plans. But something always happened to stop them at the last minute."

Adam's hand started to flex its fingers as more of his arm grew.

"Not much longer. Once I'm complete... I will hunt down Lilith."

Shining smirked.

"It won't be hard. Thanks to our efforts against SEELE, there's only one place she could run too."

Lilith narrowed her eyes as she felt the increase in energy.

"Adam... He grows strong once more. The last time I was unable to hold a candle to him. Now I have more power. Billions of years have made me strong while he was sealed away. To think he would return for this pathetic species. They were useful for a while, but they have grown too independent."

She opened a channel to Lorenz.

"We must act immediately. Adam is soon to return. Are your preparations complete?"

'Everything is as scheduled,' Lorenz assured her, 'The armies amassing outside our HQ are nothing to be concerned with.'

Lilith nodded.

"Then I will play my part."

"Yes, the removal of the lance had nothing to do with Adam being destroyed," Shining explained to Gendo, "In fact, it would only have concluded everything faster. Instead Lilith sensed him, and tried to destroy him while he was weak. She could have taken out most of the world as well..."

Gendo grinned.

"If it hadn't been for you awakening your Stand at that time. Seems Adam did manage to get a head start in protecting us from extinction. From everything Adam and the Angels have said, mankind is everything these Makers wanted out of a species."

"Finding a way to separate Adam's soul from Tabris," Shining noted, "Have to thank D'Arby for that one. And finding out Osiris can work just from the victim surrendering."

After taking custody of Kaworu from Lorenz, Speedwagon had introduced him to the gambling Stand user. D'Arby had since stopped using Osiris while gambling normally, perhaps fearing Jotaro would catch wind of it, but had agreed to use his power whenever a dangerous criminal that could not be apprehended any other way was brought to his attention. Kaworu originally had two different souls, his own and Adam's. D'Arby used his Stand to remove Adam's soul and handed it to the Speedwagon Foundation, who delivered it to NERV and fused it with Adam's remains. It had still taken time for Adam to be reawakened and begin to regenerate. But at long last, it was happening.

Adam was almost fully complete. And not a moment too soon. By now the city was evacuating, and the military was rolling in. Everything was falling into place for the last staging area.

At the edge of the island, Shinji was sitting atop one of the buildings. Never before had such a bizarre adventure impacted so much of the world, yet even with this much at stake, so little of the world knew what was really going on. There was a lot of media cover-up behind the scenes, after all. A bright red pillar of light emerged from the center of the island. Shinji narrowed his eyes as he saw Lilith rise up from it. However, a similar pillar of white light emerged from the depths of NERV HQ. Adam rose up from one of the EVA launch tubes, lance in hand. Shinji sighed as he heard footsteps behind him.

"Really want to start this now?"

It was Leo behind him.

"This war is about to reach its end," Leo explained, "I'd rather not leave any loose plot threads."

Shinji shook his head.

"I'm afraid you're way too outclassed. Especially since my friends and I aren't in the mood for games."

Leo then felt himself shocked from four different angles. Rei's lightning, Asuka's Hamon, Aigis's overclocking, and Kaworu's AT Field were all flooding into him, before Shinji called forth his Stand to finish it then and there.

"Let's not waste time with anything flashy. Cruel Angel's Thesis!"

He sent his electrical power into Leo's cybernetics, sending them into overdrive, triggering an automatic shutdown.

"D-Damn you...," Leo said as he slipped into unconsciousness, "I can't even get the satisfaction... Of a real fight..."

"Maybe next time," Shinji said, "When this is all over."

As he spoke, Unit-01 flew overhead, prompting him to take wing himself to board it.

Chapter Text

Adam and Lilith faced each other, and those watching from their command posts could practically feel Adam glaring.

"Almost three million years since I was sent to contain you... Little did the Makers realize that you had grown beyond your original programming. When you first spoke to me at first I thought there was a mistake. How very wrong I was..."

Lilith chuckled.

"That mistake will cost you dearly. While you were sealed away I've had plenty of time to build up my strength. When we first met I was no match for you, hence the reason I relied on trickery. But now my strength has become greater. Now I am able to destroy you once and for all!"

Adam scoffed as he brandished his lance.

"It took you two million years to reach a power level capable of damaging me to the point where my soul was ejected. Do you really think another seventeen is enough to gain the power to destroy me outright? Humans may not be as weak as you perceive them, but physically my kind is far stronger."

He dashed forward, impaling Lilith with the lance.

"Allow me to demonstrate..."

At once, he lifted Lilith into the air, and flew off with her still impaled.

"Where are they going?," one commander asked.

"To the one place Adam knows he won't cause collateral damage," another noted, "The moon."

"Well, that makes things harder," SEELE-04 noted.

"Not to worry," SEELE-03 assured him, "We still have our Plan B. The main pilots are already on their way. May I ask why we made twelve units for this plan? We only need nine."

"The other three are there to maintain the electric barrier keeping the pilots contained," Lorenz explained, "A necessary measure. Regardless, have our pilots greet our guests. It's time to reveal the real power of Evangelion."

He grinned. Unit-01 was the key to the whole thing, and with a source of Lilith nearby, they could create the inverted Tree of Life. Nothing could stop them.

The twelve EVAs surrounded the pilots once again like before.

"Ha," Asuka said, "We know what to do here."

Unfortunately, it turned out SEELE had learned from their earlier mistakes. This time they were prepared with two different circuits, one positive and one negative. Three of the EVAs stayed in place while nine others moved into different positions.

"What the heck are they doing?," Asuka asked.

"I think they're going to try and make an inverted Tree of Life," Kaworu realized, "This must be the source of their Instrumentality."

The nine EVAs suddenly used a series of energy nets to grab Units 01 and 02 and lift them into the air, three on each side. More electrical energy surged through the nets.

"Shit!," Shinji called out, "My systems are starting to overload!"

"Same here!," Rei said, "At this rate our EVAs will shut down!"

Shinji realized something.

"Wait... Shut down? There's no way they'd risk that. They obviously need us active for this, or else why would they isolate us and not use the other EVAs? Kaworu, what else would be needed in this Tree of Life!"

Kaworu thought for a moment.

"Well, they'd need the power of both Adam and Lilith. Of course, both of those are currently on the moon. But they could be approximated by using a human soul contained in Adam's effigy, plus a being containing some of Lilith's genetic materials. Come to think of it, before its redesign, Unit-01 did resemble Father quite a good bit..."

"And prior to my birth," Rei noted, "There was a project in place to create an artificial human designed only for piloting EVA, created using Lilith's genetic material. But it was scrapped about a month before I was conceived."

"Something's wrong," Lorenz said, "This is taking too long. If this keeps up the heralds will accidentally short out the key ingredients."

He contacted Lilith. The sounds of combat could be heard. Clearly Lilith was less "stronger than Adam" and more "on his level".

'Kinda busy with the ex here,' Lilith quipped here, 'What's the problem?"

"There seems to be something wrong with the effigy and your daughter," Lorenz explained.

Lilith looked confused.

'I'm sorry... Say what?'

"Adam's actions took both you and him out of the game," Lorenz clarified, "So we resorted to Plan B, using an effigy of Adam containing a human soul and an artificial being with your genetics to fill the gaps."

The sounds of fighting stopped. It seemed even Adam was dumbfounded. Lilith blinked a few times.

'How closely were you monitoring NERV?'

Lorenz raised on eyebrow.

"I mean... We couldn't really monitor them that well since they never signed on with us. But we could predict how they would handle the Angel threat."

'Yeah, well, you should have done a better job,' Lilith stated, 'They never did anything with me other than stab me in the heart with that damn lance, and while Unit-01 used to have a human soul, it upchucked it after the pilot gave it a way to gain more power without a human soul.'

Lorenz looked shocked.

"Wait... If Rei doesn't have your cells, why does she look the way she does?"

'She's part Gigan,' Lilith explained, 'And her mom needed a blood transfusion, which Yui provided. Didn't you have spies in NERV? Didn't they tell you all this?'

Lorenz realized he had only told his spies to check on the conditions of the EVAs and pilots, and any immediate moves NERV was making. Nothing about their personnel, or background information. Suddenly, Lilith felt a hand on her shoulder.

'Excuse me, I still need to sort out some things with my ex.'

Lorenz was no longer listening.

Meanwhile, the fourteen Angel cores had shot out of the GeoFront and were now surrounding Unit-01, to the confusion of the herald EVAs.

"Shinji Ikari," Zeruel said, "It's clear that SEELE's plans have failed. Yet until they are dealt with, the world can never be considered safe. Allow us this chance to aid you. We grant you the full force of our powers."

Shinji grinned.

"Alright, let's do this!"

The fourteen cores shrank down to a point the could slip into Unit-01's body. Its eyes glowed and it gave a roar of triumph as its armor shifted, breaking through the electric net. It landed on the ground, its armor now having a motif of a whale, perhaps the largest living natural creature on the planet. With a calm serenity not normally seen in an EVA, Unit-01 proceeded to dash at one of the heralds, slicing its head off and smashing its fist into the central plug. Shinji then had the herald tossed into the air, where it exploded, sending the other heralds into a state of panic, from which they were quickly slaughtered by the other EVA heroes. However, it wasn't over yet.

Rising up from the center of of the island came a new form, this one a pure white battle platform that hovered above the ground.

"I must commend you," came Nikolai's voice, "Lorenz never expected his plan to fail, but those of us employed by him suspected."

Keebo and Mari joined the group.

"What the heck is that?," Keebo asked.

"The ultimate form of Tesla Blitz," Nikolai replied, "You could call it an evolution of Stand power. Though if you have any words before this final battle battle, I will wait for them."

Shinji chuckled.

"He's practically giving us an invitation. Hey guys... How about doing this Super Sentai style?"

"Why not?," Asuka said, "It's the last battle, after all. I think we've earned the right to goof off before getting serious."

The seven of them stood shoulder to shoulder, causing Nikolai to raise an eyebrow. Unit-01 returned to its eagle form before pulling of a simple pose.

"Power of Cruel Angel's Thesis! Unit-01... Shinji Ikari!"

"Power of Lightning Mode! Unit-02... Rei Akagi!"

"Power of Hamon! Unit-03... Asuka Langley Soryu!"

"Power of Overclock! Unit-04... Aigis Idabashi!"

"Power of AT Field! Unit-05... Kaworu Nagisa!"

"Power of Machinehead! Mega World... Keebo Idabashi!"

"Power of Beautiful World! Unit-00... Mari Illustrious Makinami!"

Unit-01 stood up before swiping a hand over its head. Shinji narrowed his eyes.

"Don't mess with this planet!"

The seven of them charged straight of Nikolai.

Meanwhile on the moon, Adam and Lilith had wound tussling on the surface, Lilith now in a position to choke the life of Adam. Fortunately, he found the perfect opportunity to fight back. Right next to his outstretched hand was an American flag embedded in the ground, a reminder from the Apollo 11 mission that marked the first time mankind set boots on something other than their own soil. Adam chuckled, the poetic irony was just too tempting to ignore. He grabbed the flag and jammed it into one of Lilith's seven eyes, causing her to scream in pain. The next thing she felt was something sharp rip through her core.

She looked down and saw Adam had bought enough time to retrieve his lance and spear her. In spite of everything, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Brought down because of a tiny toothpick... Who would have guessed? No... This is what you were talking about, wasn't it Adam? This never would have happened if humans weren't strong enough to challenge their own boundaries... Just do me one last favor..."

"That depends on the favor," Adam replied.

"Fix what I did wrong with the humans," Lilith said, "I always wanted them to compete with the Gigans you created, but when they failed I couldn't take it. I just want to know... If it could have been possible..."

She then went limp, her body dissolving as her system triggered a self-destruct.

"A funny thing is," Adam said, "They're already well on their way. But I don't mind accelerating the process. It's what the Makers would want, after all."

He looked out toward the planet.

"Such a young species, yet how far they've come... I wonder what would have happened had Lilith not glitched. Perhaps, once my task here is finished, I'll be able to get a glimpse. But first, the last remaining remnants of her influence should be cleansed."

He generated a white light that started to cover the planet.

Meanwhile, Nikolai was trying to fend off seven pilots driving powerful war machines. He wasn't having much success. Just when he thought he couldn't get worse, a brilliant white light started covering the land. Nikolai felt his cybernetics fall apart, only to be replaced by his original body as they did. Even crazier, he could feel the same energy from Tesla Blitz build up within him.

"What on Earth...?"

The pilots also paused at the sight.

"This is Father's power," Kaworu realized, "He must have managed to defeat Lilith, and now he's removing her influence from the planet."

"It looks like it's having a profound affect on Nikolai," Aigis noted, as Nikolai's false Stand was shutting down, dropping to the ground as it did.

Nikolai got out of his mech, looking at the sun as if for the first time. There was a distinct Stand aura glowing around him.

"Just like with Shining," Shinji realized, "Nikolai's become a true Stand user now."

Nikolai closed his eyes.

"It is all over... There is no more reason for battle... SEELE has lost... My body is restored... And I obtained the true power I have always sought... This is the end."

He willingly surrendered as armed forces arrived to pick up the pieces.

Shining looked at a painting of Robert EO Speedwagon. The painting depicted him in his prime with his wife Lydia, which had been commissioned shortly after he was given the title of Baron.

"We got him at long last, Robert. Lorenz Keel is finally dealt with."

Lorenz had broken down when he felt his body restored, as if his very reason for wanting Instrumentality had left him. Self-Defense forces did notice he had one final EVA called Black Ace, which he planned to use if Nikolai lost, but Adam's world-healing wave rendered it useless, since unlike the perfected EVAs it was a jerry-rigged model. It had already been a month since that day. The former SEELE agents had become true Stand users, their bodies restored and their new powers extensions of their previous artificial parts. All the rejects created by SEELE's experiments had died, dissolving into puddles of goo that quickly evaporated.

As for the six EVAs, they had ultimately died, their lives meant to be short ones since they only needed to live long enough to protect the world. They were transported on giant aircraft carriers to a series of gravesites in the Japanese wilderness, their armors propped up on endo-frames to act as memorials.

With the pilots having been kept anonymous to avoid being mobbed by fame, Shinji found time to return to Morioh for a quick visit. He was surprised to run into Josuke's brother-in-law, Sadao Kujo.

"Hey there," Sadao said, "Josuke told me about what you were doing."

The two got to talking.

"You know," Sadao said, "I never thought there would be another JoJo without Joestar blood having his own bizarre adventure. I got mine by chance when I stumbled across a mob shakedown. That's the thing about this family... You never know when destiny will creep up on you."

The two looked over at Josuke training with his teenaged son, both of them practicing their Stands.

"Still," Sadao said, "It's always satisfying once you complete that destiny. And you never know, you may just get the chance to help out the next one down the line. But man, it's been a crazy couple of years. First we find out Pucci resurfaced to complete DIO's plans. Then there was that business with the alter verse. My grandson had to deal with a dangerous hemomancer, a zombie outbreak, and a crazy ritual. and now this. Gotta wonder what's next."

Shinji chuckled.

"I think there's some time before we find out. But at least the future is starting to look a little brighter."