When Shinji heard the call bidding him and Asuka to their Evas, he wanted to ignore it and continue pursing his father. But his father had given him the slip minutes ago, taking advantage of his superior knowledge of the base's layout.

He couldn't get Rei's cries for help out of his head.

But he decided to turn back to get to the holding bay. He had promised Asuka he would help her ward off the Eva series and even if he did end up going after his father, he could probably make it there much faster with his Eva. Not to mention that's the way he knew to Terminal Dogma.

He peeled off into Unit 01's holding bay to find a horribly familiar sight. Unit 01 was covered almost completely in blood-red bakelite. His eyes roved over the sight, trying to make sense of it. Who would do this? They had successfully kept the JSDDF out, even though they continued to prod at their defenses. Was this some sort of automatic defense? But Asuka's was most certainly fine, if her chatter that Misato was piping through the overhead was anything to go by.

He scowled. His father. He must have caught wind of what they were doing or at least suspected some mutiny from him. So he made sure Unit 01 was the only thing that could free itself.

"Mother!" he cried out to her, "You've got to free yourself! We've got to go!"

She did not respond or even move. He yelled louder, "Mom! I know you're in there! We have to go help Asuka! She's my friend!"

Still no movement. His breathing began to pick up. If they didn't go, Asuka would die again. And she'd die thinking he did nothing to help her.

He added plaintively, "Are you really mad at me for not staying with you?"

---

Asuka had gotten into Unit 02 and had been ejected onto the surface, where she could see the ants of the Defense Force scurry at the edges of the Geofront. She was honestly surprised they weren't putting up more of a fight but she suspected they were caught off guard by NERV's aggressive defense or were anticipating the Eva series' involvement.

Testing the weight of the Progressive Axe she retrieved from one of the weapon caches, she craned her head back and began to scan the horizon.

Speak of the devil, there approached a series of carrier planes and, one by one, white shapes began to peel away from them. Misato's voice came over the comms, "Asuka, hang in there. It looks like Unit 01's been locked down."

Great, someone had anticipated Shinji's involvement, Asuka thought sourly as she watched the vultures approach. Misato continued chattering, something about Unit 04?

Then, to her great surprise, one of the other catapults opened up and spat out an Eva she never thought would be manned again: the silver beast of Evangelion Unit 04. Her confusion was immediately met with a request for a comm link and, seeing no reason to reject it, she accepted.

"Hello, Princess! Good, we get to fight again together after so long! I mean. Not that you'd remember that."

"Mari?!"

The other girl's image on her screen grinned wildly, "The one and only Mari Makinami Illustrious! In the flesh and LCL. Hoooo, boy, I missed the smell of it."

At least, Mari remained the same. It felt weirdly comforting to have someone who seemed excited for what was to come. Asuka asked, "Okay, how the hell are you piloting Kaworu's Eva?"

"Straight to the point, as ever. Remember when I said I knew Shinji's mom a long time ago?"

Asuka arched an eyebrow, "Kind of hard to forget that extremely weird detail."

On her screen, Mari grinned again, a wild glint to her eye, "Well, part of that includes working on these things with her! I might be one of the only people left who know everything that makes these things tick. All my tricks don't always apply but it always seems like there's at least one I can use."

"And what one are you using now?" Asuka asked, "It can't be too hard to pick up another Eva and pilot it. We went through enough cross-synch tests to learn that."

"Well, there's a degree of how accepting the soul inside is. Unit 01 liked Rei because well...she's her, her and her daughter in a way. Though Unit 04 is different...it has no soul."

"No soul?" Asuka echoed.

"It was all his AT Field," Mari clarified, "Since he can overwhelm any Eva's soul, what's the point in putting one in it at all?"

She stopped talking, pausing as she thought. Then admitted, "Though, I might not be 'me' anymore if I pull this off."

An icy cold dread took hold of Asuka's heart. "What do you mean?"

"04 has no soul and she's going to want one. I'm no Angel but my AT Field might just work the same to commandeer her...for a time. So I might not be leaving her when this is all over—depending on how this plays out."

"We lose and you get shunted to the next loop...we win and...you stay in there."

"That's about right, Princess."

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't," Asuka hissed.

Above them, the vultures had begun to circle. A few cycles and they turned into formation, each alighting around them. The sight of them brought bile into her throat and made her guts twist into anxious, fearful knots. She pushed those emotions down and hoped her shaking wasn't transferring to Unit 02.

She hefted her Progressive Axe and, in a show of defiance, ejected the power cord.

There would be no pesky time limit this time.

At that, most of them grinned, as if amused by her show. Did they feel anything at all? It was easy to assign them a sadistic enjoyment out of their actions. She had to swallow the pit of dread that was trying to climb back up her throat. As if she could sense her fear, Mari moved in, hefting her own pair of Prog Knives.

The one closest to her took a step forward and silently laughed at her terror.

Eyeless smiles, lance through her eye, teeth on her skin, ripping, tearing, defiling—

Her trance was broken when the Eva next to it twisted in place, embedding its False Lance into its sibling's throat, where it's Entry Plug was.

"What the fuck?!" she gasped, unable to help herself.

The others scattered, taking to the air, and shrieking in confusion at their sibling's mystery betrayal. The impaled Eva spasmed in pain upon the blade. The betrayer in question ripped its blade out then swung it in a wide arc, decapitating its victim for good measure, the blood spray painting its head red.

The body fell to the ground. Still. Dead. For good.

"I'm going to take a wild guess," Mari ventured, "That that's not supposed to happen!"

"No..." Asuka trailed off.

The nonhostile MPEva picked up its sibling's False Lance and tossed it over to Mari who scrambled to catch it.

Then, it craned its head around and regarded her. She held her axe close, just in case it decided to change its mind. It didn't move at all, staying as still as a statue, an action she found more disconcerting than if it just attacked.

She could feel that curious sensation again, of something outside brushing up against the edges of her mind, as if quietly asking permission past it. Last time, she felt this, it was…

"Hello again, Asuka."

"Kaworu," she breathed.

Confirming her suspicions, the ally MPEva nodded. She recoiled, struggling to reconcile the monster in front of her with the ever-polite boy she had known. "How in the hell?" she cried.

"I'm...not entirely sure myself. I have my theories as to why but I do know that my soul was called back into this reality and landed into one of my spares, within the Eva series."

Asuka ignored the twisting feeling in her gut when she thought of a plug embedded into these monsters containing the soulless body of her friend. He wasn't being entirely clear with her but, considering the circumstances, she couldn't fault him. She figured it was just like the Dummy Plug; an Entry Plug containing a soulless body to trick it into working. He was more like Rei than he ever let on.

He continued, "As to how I'm alive once more and not shunted into the next loop...my theory is that our souls have become bound. The call of your soul guided me back into a suitable body."

The others of the Eva series were starting to move again, milling around the trio as if they were trying to consider how to tackle more enemies than they expected. Asuka, watching this, had to squash down the sentimentality Kaworu's words evoked. She grumbled, "I've got a lotta questions but…"

"Unfortunately, now is not the time," he finished for her.

Kaworu tossed her his own Lance which she deftly caught, dropping the axe as she did. "Wait, don't you need this?" she asked as she settled it in her grip.

"I need no weapon."

One of the MPEvas took the time to strike, launching into the air then swooping down onto Kaworu. He whipped around and raised a hand to flick his wrist, calling his AT Field into existence. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion: the Eva crashed into the Field and the Field punched outwards, piercing through its chest and launching it back.

"For there is no more need for secrets."

Instantly, all hell broke loose. The Eva that Kaworu first attacked did not stir, signalling that he had well and truly killed it. With him on their side and the second he attacked struggling to rejoin the fight, that left six enemies currently on the board. One each peeled off to attack Asuka and Mari. Asuka deflected a blow from hers' False Lance and the pair began a back-and-forth exchange of blows. Meanwhile, Mari was taking advantage of her comparative nimbleness, dodging and slashing at her foe in a death by a thousand cuts.

The remaining four mobbed Kaworu, identifying him as the greatest threat. Even with four on him, Kaworu was commanding the battlefield. He had taken to the skies and used it to his advantage, swooping and using his AT Field to cleave off pieces of his foes. One even crashed to the ground when he cut its wing in two.

Asuka deflected a blow off her opponent. Alright, just get them through the Entry Plug and that should prevent them from getting back up. Easy in theory...right?

---

Gendo had no idea how his son or the Second Child had come to learn of his machinations nor how long they had known. But it was the eleventh hour and both had been left behind. There was little they could do. He knew the facility a million times better than anyone else and had already lost Shinji some time ago. Perhaps they might come after him in the Eva—after all both knew where Terminal Dogma was and likely would know where that was where he was going.

"I don't want to go! Don't make me!"

Rei had been able to draw from some unknown well of strength and was using it to thrash and struggle against her captor. Unfortunately, she wasn't making too much leeway but she had at least delayed him a fair bit. Unlike with Asuka and Shinji, he would not use violence against her and simply had to wince as she fought with all her might.

She screamed and kicked and even clawed at his face. Somewhere in the rounds, she had actually knocked his glasses off, exposing his uncomfortable and annoyed expression. But he was still a grown man and her still a very weak and dying young girl.

He winced as her nails scraped across the side of his face but still trudged on, ignoring the twinge in his gut at her struggling.

It was all going to be worth it, in the end.

She had spent a good chunk of their journey trying to express to him that she didn't want to do this. She didn't want to end the world. And after everything he had worked towards, he wasn't hearing any of it.

He had already poured far too much of his soul into this plan to give up at the very end. He hardly had any left.

He growled, "I grew complacent when it came to you, Rei. I let you become attached, become human."

"I wanted to be human, not your doll! I won't be your doll!" she shrieked.

"What you want is irrelevant! You weren't supposed to want that! You weren't supposed to want anything!"

She bit down into his hand as hard as she could, so much so she could taste his blood. He tensed but didn't let go, using his free hand to reach for the keypad.

"That's far enough. Let her go."

He turned to find Dr. Akagi, glowering at him with more hatred he ever seen her muster. She had leveled a gun at him. He curled his lip, "Even you struggle against me?"

"I hadn't planned on it but once my lockdown went into play, I knew where you were going. And I just happened to be here so why not drop in?" she grinned cruelly.

"I must thank you for the lockdown, it will make this all the easier for me," he said, beginning to turn away, not concerned for the gun pointing at his head.

"I didn't do it for you!" she snarled and pulled the trigger.

He threw his arm out, flashing Adam embedded in his palm at her and deploying his newly-strengthened AT Field. The bullet hit it, ricocheted off and into the wall...and then into Dr. Akagi's gut. With a strangled cry, she collapsed.

"Dr. Akagi!" Rei wailed, trying in vain to push off of him.

His gaze lingered upon her and, quite impulsively, he murmured, "I could tell your affections ran out long ago but yet, you still helped me. Humor my curiosity, why was that?"

"You ever heard of the sunk-cost fallacy?" she spat, "Might sound familiar..."

He frowned but didn't take her bait. Turning away completely, he told her, "Nevertheless, you've helped me immensely. And I must admit I cared for you."

"Liar," she snarled, pausing to hack wetly as blood began to dribble from her lips, "You've got no space in your heart for anyone but her. Not even for your own damn son!"

He stiffened.

In the end, it'll be all worth it.

Sparing her no more words, he swiped his key card, allowing the great iron doors of the basement yawn open.

"Dr. Akagi…" Rei whimpered again as they walked through. Behind them, the doors closed, leaving the last thing she saw the crumpled form of the person who once treated her so coldly. And who might have just given her life in vain for her.

---

Shinji had been pacing the length of Unit 01's holding cage, alternating between calling up pleas to his mother and trying to keep track of Asuka's battle through the comms filtering in through the speakers. From what he could gather, Mari had not only commandeered Unit 04 somehow but for some reason one of the Eva series had gone rogue. Asuka's frequent referencing of it as "Kaworu" didn't clear things up at all but...he allowed himself to hope.

At least Asuka wasn't alone this time.

Suddenly, a deep crunch reverberated through the cage and he whipped around to find Unit 01 freeing herself. She shook the bakelite off herself and peered down at him. He beamed, "Mom! Let me on! Asuka has backup so we've can go stop Father."

Unit 01—his mother, bent her head down to let the Entry Plug free then held out her hand so he could clamber onto it. With a gentleness alien to her size, she deposited him as close to the Entry Plug as she could get him, onto the back of her neck.

Shinji did the rest, swinging himself into the Plug. He nearly dropped himself all the way to the opposite end, disoriented by the difference in orientation. He grabbed the seat at the last minute, yelping in pain at how his shoulder was jolted. The plug around him radiated concern and he allowed himself a smile, "It's okay. I'm okay."

He climbed into the seat, locked the restraints around him then banged the side of the plug, "I'm ready to go!"

Wordlessly, his mother radiated an affirmative and he could feel the plug slide then lock into place. LCL filled the chamber and with an all-too-familiar kaleidoscope of color, he could now see through her eyes.

Then, without any input from him, she turned and began to make her way out of the cage.

Caught off guard, he set his hands on the controls, "You don't need to do it for me, y'know..."

This time, she didn't respond to him at all.

Confusion and a slow dread settled into his frame and Shinji said, "Mom...I said I can do it."

She made no more reply and continued onward. He frowned deeply, "Mom...don't ignore me!"

---

The Eva series was holding out pretty well against the three of them. Kaworu had managed another lucky strike with his AT Field, cleaving one's head from its body and taking its Plug with it. But with the previously injured one back on the field, it was still six against three. And they had grown wise to protect their necks.

Shinji's voice came through Asuka's comms as she deflected another blow from one of the vultures, "My mo—Unit 01 isn't listening to me!"

Misato cried back, "It's not responding?!"

"No, she's taking me to Terminal Dogma b—shrzzt!"

With a harsh screech, his comm link was cut short. Asuka tensed, "She's going rogue. One of us has to go stop her."

"Yui's gone…?" Mari trailed off, genuine confusion coloring her voice.

Shaking it off, she continued, "I think you have to go. Unit 02's got an S2 Drive too, right?"

"I'm going to be more useful here," Kaworu said, "Go Asuka. Go after him."

"...alright," with a mighty shove, Asuka threw her attacker onto its back, dropping her Lance as she did. She took advantage of how it had to scramble to get upright and bolted for the catapult. Even though it got to its feet and ran after her, an AT Field attack from Kaworu bought her those last few seconds to throw herself into the darkness.

---

The path to Terminal Dogma was clear.

To her surprise, Asuka saw no opposition coming down the central shaft and into Terminal Dogma. Once she emerged into the hallway leading to the chamber, a cold dread settled into her as she still went without a sign of Unit 01.

Unit 01 itself—Shinji's mother going rogue was the last thing she suspected. Part of her couldn't help but feel they should have placed more importance on her refusal to let Shinji go, only a short time ago.

The great doors had been thrown open and she could see Rei and Gendo on the platform before Lilith.

He was holding her wrist with one hand and probing inside of her with the other. Rei thrashed and screamed, clawing at his face with her remaining hand.

"Rei!" she screamed and rushed to her aid, stomping through the LCL lake.

Emerging from the darkness of the room, she was knocked aside by Unit 01. Shinji's voice came through her comm like a radio struggling to tune to a station, "STOP, MOTHE—shrzzt! STOP!"

Asuka bared her teeth like a wild animal and she could hear Unit 02's jaw restraints snap as she did the same. "Bitch!" she snarled and whipped out her Prog Knife from its holster.

Unit 01 did the same and the pair clashed. Asuka slashed at her AT Field as it shimmered into place, only for her knife to screech away. The other Eva took advantage of her recoil and went to stab her in the chest. She leapt back, the knife tip barely scraping against Unit 02's armor.

Shinji's mother, for one reason or another, wanted Third Impact to happen, she realized coldly. With renewed fury, she leapt back in, knife held high and cried, "Why are you doing this?!"

Unit 01—Yui stabbed at her with her knife and Asuka jerked away again, willing her own AT Field into place. But it cracked under the stronger Eva's assault, letting the knife through into the empty air beside her head. She snarled, "You awful witch! You're going to do this to Shinji?!"

Yui narrowed her eyes and bodily tackled her into the LCL, so suddenly she couldn't even call her AT Field in to try to defend herself. The pair toppled into a heap, sending waves through the LCL lake which lapped at the metal platform dangerously.

Asuka wildly stabbed with her knife but each time, it scraped uselessly against the enemy's AT Field. The other Eva entertained this for a few moments before looping her arm around her neck into a headlock. Without her input, Unit 02 snapped at her face but Yui kept just out of range of her gnashing teeth. She grabbed 02's leg and, without any fanfare, snapped it in half.

Asuka screamed, feeling her own leg twist unnaturally. The agony was made two-fold as she could feel the ghost of her mother writhe under the assault—could even hear her wailing across their shared connection. Finally, Shinji's voice came through clear, "Asuka, stay down! She's willing to kill you both if you try to stop her!"

"Let her!" Asuka spat, seeing red through the haze of pain and LCL, "Better than ending the world!"

Yui didn't wait around to see if she'd make good on her threat, turning away on her heel. Asuka tried to get up but felt a resistance from the Eva, which only twitched in response to her desire.

"Mom, no, let us go!" Asuka screeched.

The vibes through the LCL were panicked and scared, keeping them down.

Yui strode, almost gracefully, to the platform. Gendo, his arm still half-inside of Rei, stopped, staring up openly at the monolith of Unit 01. There was wonder and affection...and a touch of fear. He murmured, "Shinji?"

Rei stopped too but there was nothing but fear in her gaze as she hyperventilated. Her destiny was rushing towards her fast. She gasped, "That's not him...that's not Shinji!"

Realization dawning, he murmured in a daze, "Yui? Have you come to help me?"

She reached down and plucked Rei off the ground. There was only a moment of resistance before her husband's arm gave way—tearing in half and leaving the other half, and Adam, inside of Rei. He fell to his knees, screaming and clutching the bleeding stump.

Rei had gone still, staring up at her captor and shaking in terror. Yui tilted her head, almost bird-like, regarding Rei like a scientist might a particularly unusual specimen. The Eva's mouth opened with a squeal of protesting metal as the restraints snapped. In a voice it shouldn't have had, it said:

"IT'S TIME TO GO HOME."

Then she plunged Rei into the body of Lilith.

"No, no!" Asuka screeched, still struggling under her mother's influence to get up and do something, anything!

Lilith strained to pull herself off her cross, her flesh pulling away like putty until she was free. She slumped forward into the LCL, as if she hadn't the energy to stand. Her body warped and bubbled, going from a chubby frame to something more lithe, more familiar. Her mask fell from her face, kept there by just a few more cords of putty-like flesh until each snapped and the mask fell away.

Yui took a few steps back to watch the process. Ever-watchful, her head swiveled backwards to the open door (to make sure no one else had come to interfere), Unit 02 (to make sure Kyoko and her daughter weren't planning to try something foolish) and then finally, her husband, who was watching the proceedings with a mixture of pain, confusion and hope.

Let him hope.

Lilith was taking familiar form now, her featureless face bubbling and warping until it took on the visage of Rei. She rose to her feet and impossibly rose, her head phasing through the ceiling of Terminal Dogma and beyond.

Unit 01 crouched and there was a buzzing in the air, grating against Asuka and her mother's AT Field. The restraints on Yui's back splintered, shattered then broke off into the lake and from her back came four, brilliant orange wings of light. She shot into the air, bending her AT Field around her like a spear, bashing out and through the ceiling after Lilith.

"How could this happen?" Asuka sobbed, "I tried my best, we all...we all tried our best."

No. We haven't tried our best yet.

She gasped as her mother's voice came in clear for the first time and the panicked air inside the Plug gave way to determination.

Deep inside the Evangelion, Asuka could feel something spin to life, like an engine starting. The S2 Engine was truly powering on for the first time and she could feel her AT Field strengthen and her awareness sharpen. Mimicking the other Eva, Unit 02 too shed the plates of armor on its back, sprouting its own quartet of AT-Field wings. She pulled herself into a painful crouch, favoring her good leg, then shot into the air, soaring through the tunnel Yui had made. Leaving Gendo to gawk after the Scenario simultaneously falling apart and falling into place.

He staggered to his feet and clutched his stump of an arm, fighting a wave of dizziness from blood loss.

He never had expected Yui to be so conscious—much less have her own plans.

His only comfort was it seemed no one else did either.

Asuka and her mother soared up, up, and out into the Geofront. She took a glance down as they rose, finding both Mari and Kaworu intact and watching the pair of Evangelions chase Lilith. The remaining Eva series had stopped too, watching the spectacle with ever-widening grins.

"I'm not really sure what taking Shinji's momout is going to do to stop this," Asuka whispered into the Entry Plug, "Are we sure we haven't already lost?"

Yui seemed very intent on following Lilith up so she must play a part in this. Take her out and, theoretically and hopefully, the whole Tower of Babel will come crashing down.

Asuka allowed herself a smile, despite of how the world was coming down around them, "I don't think that's the right meaning of that."

Neither was your Wall of Jericho!

The plug was filled with teasing mirth before it felt as if the LCL began to heat up under Kyoko's simmering anger.

This isn't just about stopping Third Impact. This is payback for not only hurting you but her own son! I couldn't fathom having this second chance and using it to hurt you again!

Unit 02 roared and flapped its wings, crossing the last few dozen meters separating her and Yui. The other Eva only got enough time to look and widen her eyes, surprised at the sight of Kyoko bearing down at her, before the pair collided.

They fell for a few dozen meters before both found their bearings again, breaking away from each other. Kyoko launched herself after her opponent, worming her fingers up under Yui's shoulder plate and yanking it off with a grisly, wet rip.

With bare flesh exposed, she sunk her teeth in savagely. Yui's scream reverberated across their AT Field. She pushed the other Eva off with a forceful shove of her own Field.

Kyoko was launched back but called her own Field into existence, shaping it to a point like she had seen the Angel boy do, and stabbed it into Yui's Field.

It stuck true, punching a hole through the Field and into her chest...missing her Core by mere feet. Murderous frustration shuddered through the plug and Asuka gasped. Was her mother really going to try to kill Shinji's mother? Was that safe with Shinji inside?

She opened her mouth to ask but a flash of white across her periphery stopped her heart.

The Eva series had come after them.

The six remaining units latched onto her, forcefully tearing the pair off Yui. Once they were separated, they began tearing off what armor they could, as if her mother's own actions mere moments before were a dark foreshadowing. Phantom wounds began manifesting across her body, on her arms and legs and even one on her side as they tore and bit at the exposed flesh of Unit 02. Screaming and thrashing in equal arts pain and rage, she could feel the internal Engine slow and slow until it stopped. The Eva's wings of light flickered then disappeared. Satisfied that no more had to be done, the Eva series dropped Asuka and Kyoko.

As the Eva series, Yui and Lilith rapidly shrank away, Asuka thought dimly that at least they hadn't killed her this time.

Though hitting the ground was going to hurt.

If she survived that is.

Maybe Kaworu could catch her...then again, maybe Unit 02's bulk would crush him if he tried.

That'd be darkly ironic.

Through the haze of LCL, a familiar apparition appeared at her feet. Rei Ayanami, serenely smiling in her school uniform. Asuka recoiled, "No, no! Go away! Not like this!"

It's going to be alright Asuka, Rei told her without moving her mouth, crawling up and over her without actually touching her.

You haven't anything else to fear.

I've always loved you.

She reached out, cradling Asuka's face with an undeniable expression of fondness.

It's going to be alright, she repeated as she pressed her lips to Asuka's.

And the world melted away.