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Children of an Elder God 24 Partial Draft
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Children of an Elder God 24 is making slow progress. But it is making progress, so here is the first section of the fic:
COAEG 24
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
--The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
***
"Well, the flight is going well so far," Misato said, facing the viewscreen in the bridge of the Scimitar. "The Children had some nightmares, which we're going to have to look into, but overall, things are going pretty well here. We estimate we'll arrive at our destination in another eight hours."
"That's good," Dr. Himmelfarb said. "Everything is fine here; the Navy reports they are all in position to launch their attack when the time comes." She was standing on the main bridge, back in Germany. She looked a little nervous to Misato.
"Good. We're out over the ocean now. It's very peaceful."
Ritsuko suddenly froze up, then collapsed at her desk. Dr. Himmelfarb looked over at her, worried, and hoped it wasn't the mere mention of the ocean that did it.
Misato looked worried as well. "The...umm...anyway, it's all good here." She wanted to ask about if anyone had dreamed of Nylarathotep, but suddenly she was worried whether he might be listening in.
"I'll get her to sickbay," Maya said, helping Ritsuko to stand up and hobble out the door, leaning on her heavily.
"Let me know how..." Misato began, and then there was a loud explosion behind her. She spun. "What the hell is..."
There was another explosion and the screen went dead. "Communications link down!" the Scimitar's communications officer shouted. "No signal at all."
"Nothing?" Misato replied, head snapping around to face him.
"Nothing," he confirmed, scanning the boards quickly before looking back at her. "Either the line to the antenna, or the antenna itself, has been destroyed. We can't receive or transmit." He pulled out a cellphone and started punching. "I'm getting cell signal, but calls to NERV-Germany are not going through. The network's gone down."
"Keep trying to get hold of someone at the base," Misato said. "Or UN HQ, or anyone else you can. Find out where the network's out. Commander Fuyutsuki, we're getting you to safety." She detailed three security men to hustle him out, over his protests, then tried calling the security office on her phone. "Local calls still working," she shouted back over to the communications officer. Then a third bomb went off.
Power went down all over the ship, leaving the windows as the only light source. The blimp started drifting, though fortunately it didn't need power to stay aloft, and they should be able to stay alive until they could call for help.
Misato called the Children, telling them to meet her at the bridge; moments later, they appeared in a cloud of bubbles, startling the security team she had started gathering. "We need to find out where those explosions came from, and fast."
"Who could do this?" Shinji asked.
"A traitor," Misato said. "Probably working for whoever sent those Nazi-wannabes when we were still in Germany." Her face was grimly determined. They couldn't afford failure, not this close to victory.
Asuka grimaced, and Touji and Hikari looked around warily. Rei moved, taking the lead just ahead of Misato, so she was ringed round by the Children, Rei in front, Shinji to the left, Asuka to the right, and Touji and Hikari behind her. Four security men were ahead of Rei, four more behind Touji and Hikari.
She called Makoto again, but he didn't answer. Please don't let him be dead, she thought. Not now. She took a moment to pray for Ritsuko as well, even if she didn't know what she was praying to. Something, anything out there that might hear a plea and have a little pity on mankind, specifically her friends.
Her imagination painted the picture for her, Makoto lying there dead like Shigeru, his brain hollowed out, accusing her with his eyes, another one of her failures.
For a moment, she intensely wanted a beer, then she shoved the thought away and forced herself to think positive. Makoto was off duty and probably taking a nap with his cellphone off, not expecting any calls out here. Some poorly vetted person from NERV-Germany would turn out to be the traitor, probably working for the cult of the next and hopefully LAST Angel.
She called the bridge, which was thankfully explosion and death-free, and asked the communications officer if he'd gotten hold of anyone.
"No one is answering their cellphone, but I got a text message indicating the base is under attack and being evacuated," he told her.
Shit, she thought. "Okay, find out whatever you can," she said.
"Yes, Commander Katsuragi," he said.
Hikari was fiddling with her own phone. "Texts might be getting through, but I can't get to the web."
"Dammit," Asuka said. "I..."
Gunfire cut off Asuka's answer, and they turned and raced towards the sound. In the generator room, they found Makoto sitting against the wall, bleeding from multiple wounds; a security guard turned from him to look at them as they came in, then shook his head. As they stared, a single yellow line began to run out of his shirt, curving up his throat like a question mark, glowing evilly.
"No, no, no," Misato said, agonized. "Not you too! DAMMIT!"
Rei slowly advanced on him, flanked by Shinji and Asuka, while Touji and Hikari stood next to Misato.
"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, the Old Ones yet will be," he mumbled. "Ancient and unseen, they walk among us and we know them not."
"Maybe...we can drive it out of him," Shinji said hesitantly.
Rei looked skeptical, but she nodded. "It would not hurt to try."
"Hold on, Makoto," Asuka said, stepping closer.
Touji frowned. Wouldn't he just die of the bullet wounds even if they got rid of whatever was inside him? He'd lost a hell of a lot of blood. But he didn't want to rain on their last hope.
Hikari watched tensely, expecting that if they did drive the creature out of him, it might well try to eat Commander Katsuragi.
"This is all your fault, you know," Makoto said, pointing at Misato. "We're all dying one by one because you're too weak to protect us."
For a moment, Misato cringed, then she hardened. "Don't play games with me, whatever you are! Get out of Makoto!"
"It's too late to save Makoto. You let a cultist of Hastur fuck him over and over for months. He's dead and gone and never coming back. But you'll be dead soon too," Makoto said harshly. A yellow dot appeared on his forehead and lines began to blossom across his forehead.
Rei, Shinji, and Asuka now formed AT-fields and pressed in on him, the fields shaping around him, pressing down on him. Makoto began to thrash and howl. "Just look at your precious Children! Even if they slay the Dream King, they'll just do to this world what the Champions of Xoth did to their own world! TEAR IT APART! You sacrificed them for your own benefit, but they'll repay... aaaaaaaa!!!!!" He howled and shook and frothed.
"YOUR VICTORY IS YOUR DEFEAT!," he screamed, twitching like an epileptic.
Live, live, live, be free, BE FREE! Asuka chanted to herself, focusing her will.
Rei concentrated fiercely, though you could hardly tell it from her blank expression.
Come on, come on, hold on, come on, Misato thought desperately.
The Yellow Sign on Makoto's forehead caught fire and burned away. The rest of his body convulsed, but Makoto's expression changed. "Misato! There's a bomb in the fuel and it's about to go off and another one by the gas bag! He came down here to distract you!"
"Oh no," Hikari said.
"Makoto!" she cried out. "Rei, carry him." She pulled out her cellphone to call the rest of security.
The remaining bombs now went off; it was too late to stop them.
Fire bloomed out of the gondola as the fuel caught fire and burned; the torn edges of the canopy started flapping violently in the wind as the Scimitar began falling, helium rushing out of the gas bag. The shockwave hit; Misato nearly fell, but Touji caught her. While the Children were able to save themselves and those near them from immolation, the ship now lurched and turned and began to fall.
The ship lurched again, and they all slid across the room, slamming into the wall. Makoto grunted sharply as the breath was forced from his lungs, then went limp; obviously dead. Rei looked to Asuka. "Get us out."
"No, we have to save as many people as we can!" Misato said.
"No time," Rei said, though she did grab a security man; the other Children followed suit, taking as many security men as they could carry as Asuka burned them a way out. They all sprouted wings and flew away from the burning, plummeting, collapsing wreck of the Scimitar.
Misato stared aghast as it burned and fell. "Commander Fuyutsuki!"
Shinji winced, holding a security man with each hand as best he could. "I think he was in the middle of that firestorm."
"Find land," Misato said, wanting to cry but knowing she couldn't afford tears. "No point in staying up here."
Below them, the EVA transport bay burst apart as Units 00-04 ripped free, flying upwards to join the Children, growing great wings of fire, feathers or skin.
With a huge splash, the corpse of the Scimitar plunged into the ocean and sank. Fires snuffed out one after the other as the ocean closed over it, burying the dead as the Children flew for land.
************
Maya was busy giving Ritsuko an injection when the first of the froglike men came through the door. Maya fumbled for her purse as he approached and produced a pistol. Even as he began to gesticulate and croak at her, she levelled it at him. "Back off! Back off!"
"He wants us to come with him," Ritsuko managed to say, recovering her strength and sitting up.
They could hear anarchy in progress, distant shouting and shooting and explosions. Something blew up and the table shook as Ritsuko got up off it.
"What do we do now?" Maya asked. "Should I shoot him?" She shivered at the very sight of him. But she'd die before she'd let him touch her Ritsuko.
Ritsuko said something to him and he backed off. "Follow me," she said.
Maya kept the gun out, swept a bunch of extra doses into her purse, and took several unused syringes, then followed.
To her surprise, Ritsuko led her into the women's bathroom.
"I suppose this may be our last chance to go," Maya said hesitantly.
Ritsuko laughed softly. "Best take it, but we're going to sneak out the window afterwards, so turn a sink to full blast once you're done," she whispered.
Maya got out the window easily; it was harder for Ritsuko, but she managed to squeeze out the window.
Unfortunately, this was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. There were bodies scattered across the yard, corpses of soldiers. Some had been stabbed, others were missing limbs, some had large holes in their head which were eerily dry.
Maya stared in horror, shivering at the widespread devastation. Distantly, she could hear shouts and shooting and cries of pain as the battle still raged. Out over the Rhine, she could see helicopters fleeing into the distance.
Worse, she could now see the leader of the Deep One forces. It was a good twenty feet tall, passing between buildings because it couldn't fit inside them, greyish skinned and gelatinous; it wobbled slightly as it walked, bipedal, but winged and with a skull-like head that had short tentacles around the mouth. Maya stared at it in horror and could hardly move. "What is that?" she whispered.
"Death for us," Ritsuko said. "If we are lucky, we can make it to the west gate."
They creeped across the grounds to the distant cry of battle and death. The amount of gun firing was fading, however; it was clear the Deep Ones were victorious.
They reached the edge of Building 28, a storage building for various mundane goods. From here, there was open ground to the West Gate of the compound, through which supplies were often delivered. There was also a parking lot, which Ritsuko hoped might have a vehicle.
Unfortunately, a squad of twenty Deep Ones squatted at the gate, leaning on their spears and looking bored with sitting here and preventing escape. The tires had been slashed on the vehicles, except for the ones which were on fire.
Light and shadow played across Maya and Ritsuko's faces as they peeked around the corner. "Maybe the south gate?" Maya suggested.
It was worth trying but it was probably guarded too. By the time they headed that way, they could hear a squad of Deep Ones coming their way, and Ritsuko could tell they were looking for her and Maya, though she kept her mouth shut so as not to discourage Maya.
But as they crept up around the laboratory building closest to the south gate and its parking lot, they could see more deep ones guarding the gate and amusing themselves playing frisbee with car tires.
"Now what?" Maya said in frustration.
"We try and get some wireclippers and cut a hole in the fence," Ritsuko said.
As they doubled back, however, a dozen Deep Ones came around the corner and pointed at them. One said something authoritative. Ritsuko put a bullet in his eye and into his skull, killing him.
The others howled and rushed at them.
"Run, Maya!" Ritsuko said, shooting a second one with three rounds and injuring two more.
"I can't leave you!"
"RUN!"
She ran. Right into a group of six more Deep Ones who threw a net over her and knocked her to the ground.
She heard more gunshots and then just grunts and shouting.
"SEMPAI!" she howled, and then the Deep Ones clubbed her until she passed out. Maya's last sensation was that of some kind of nasty gel being forced into her mouth; it tasted rather like LCL. And then there was only darkness and the smell of salt.
*************
III. Across the South Pacific
They'd dropped the security men off on an island, with cellphones to call for help. Now they had to figure out what to do next.
Specifically, what to do about Misato. Contrary to many a giant robot show, you can't ride on the outside of a giant flying thing and continue to function very well - unless it goes verrry slowly. Even then, how could she actually track things in battle and give orders? They could use her GPS program on her phone to reach the right location; she had the coordinates. But transporting her, protecting her in battle, and communications were all issues.
"I can protect her," Rei said. "She must ride with me and lead us."
"You can?" Touji said. "I thought that LCL shit was dangerous for anyone who can't pilot EVA."
"It is," Rei said. "But I can protect her. Otherwise, we must leave her behind or wait for backup." She paused. "I do not think backup is coming."
NERV was in chaos; NERV-Germany had been attacked and many of the personnel were dead. The other bases were too far away to help. They had to act and act swiftly, before it was too late.
"I hope Commander Fuyutsuki didn't have any big secrets he was waitin' for the last second to reveal," Touji mumbled. Poor guy, he thought. What a shitty way to go. "Ya really think you can do it, Rei?"
Asuka felt vaguely bad for Fuyutsuki; his death must have been horrible, if swift. But she'd no longer trusted him. Not after all the lies he'd spread. She felt a lot worse for Makoto, who she'd liked; but surely he was in Heaven now.
Shinji felt worse, but he was trying to hold it in, until the battle was over.
Hikari only vaguely knew the man and felt an abstract sympathy for his death, but had little tie to him.
Misato felt the worst, though Makoto was far more on her mind than Fuyutsuki; she was squashing her pain until later. Or else she would just collapse.
And they needed her.
"I am willing to trust Rei's judgement," she said, looking down at the glow. After all, she didn't have much other choice; they'd have to abandon her, and she them.
"I believe I can do it," Rei said. They didn't have a plug suit, but Misato didn't need to synchronize, just to survive. Rei took her hand and concentrated and now Misato began to glow very softly; you couldn't really notice it in the bright light here.
Misato's first act on experiencing LCL for herself was to nearly vomit. "THIS IS GOD-FUCKING-AWFUL," she howled.
Having all of the Children laughing at her didn't help.
"Damn straight, it tastes terrible!," Touji said. "Nastier than anythin'."
"It is quite foul, though you tend to blank it out with time," Hikari said.
"I hardly notice it anymore," Shinji confessed.
"Is this an AT-Field?" Misato asked, studying her glow.
"Something like it," Rei said. "A sign of my power. Guide us."
Misato took her phone and punched up the coordinates. "Right. Let's go."
************
Indonesia seemed to go on forever, long enough even flying at high speed for their minds to drift and worries to try to surface.
Misato finally managed to get through to some survivors at NERV-Germany, but they seemed shellshocked; about all they could tell her was that everyone thought Ritsuko and Maya were dead. She couldn't believe that. Didn't want to believe that. Not until she saw the body. Not her too.
She could have told the Children, but it would have only hurt them. Rei knew, but Rei kept silent for whatever reason, and Misato was grateful.
And there was still hope.
Please, don't let them die, she begged the universe.
But it made no reply.
************
As the desolate ocean rolled away beneath them, Touji was starting to wonder if there was going to be anything left to defend once this was all over. Though at least no one could blame any of this on him. Damn possessin' monsters. Damn fishmen. Damn everything.
This was the end, right?
Right?
He couldn't take much more of this shit, though at least his closest friends were alive.
Except for Kensuke. But at least I set his soul free, Touji thought. That had to count for something.
Right?
****************
Hikari tried to remember when she had been a normal girl with normal worries. She could dimly remember things like homework and playing with Toonces and going to the mall and worrying about her hair and her makeup. She couldn't actually see herself now, but she had a strong feeling she looked a fright.
But it all seemed unreal, like another life. She'd lost everything. Her position as class representative, her school, her family, even her pet.
Only her friends and Touji were left and not even all of her friends. Some were scattered and she might never see them again. And some were dead.
She tried to remember her classmates. She could summon most of them to her mind's eye, but names...habits...everything felt like a blur.
Touji loves me, she told herself. And I love him. Asuka is still alive and so are Shinji and Rei and Commander Katsuragi. And I have to be strong for them. They need me. I can't believe I'm here, but I am and I have to be strong.
Because if she lost them, there would be no more reason to keep on living.
**********
Shinji stared at the landscape below, wondering what the people of Indonesia thought of the huge monstrosities flying over them. They were too high up to make out people, but he could see towns and cities and fields. Some parts of the country looked much like Japan from this high up; other parts looked like jungles, mountains, volcanos, and other wild places.
On an impulse, he sent out a command to every spider in the country to weave webs that would read 'Don't Worry, We're Only Passing Through.' Hopefully that would reassure them.
He paged Asuka. "Asuka," he said softly. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Shinji dear," she said softly. "Just feeling a little melancholy."
"Me too," he said. "Do you think this is the end?"
"I think so," Asuka said. "Unfortunately, for all that Fuyutsuki was lying to us, he also was the only person left who might be able to answer that." She sighed. "And he was on our side, sort of, at least. What a terrible way to go."
"And Makoto too," Shinji said. "Do you think..."
Asuka made a face. "She was on the rebound and would just seize anyone who came along. And you'll note she didn't take an interest UNTIL he got a girlfriend."
Shinji sighed. "She must feel terrible."
"I feel terrible. I really liked him," Asuka said. "But I've lost so much, it's hard to hurt." Her voice ached despite her words.
"I know exactly what you mean," Shinji said softly. "I don't want to go back to the old me, but I wish...I wish we could live in peace."
"Me too," Asuka said. "But without this, we would never have met. I don't know...I don't want to live without you, Shinji," she said urgently.
"I don't want to live without you either, Asuka," Shinji said, catching her urgency. "I wish I could kiss you."
"Me too," she said.
"You two trying to make out?" Misato asked, suddenly linking into the conversation.
"I wish," Asuka mumbled.
"Are we getting close, Misato?" Shinji asked.
"This is a private thing," Misato said. "Look. I'm a shitty housekeeper. I'm a terrible role model. My love life is a shambles. And I think my best friend..."
"I'm sure she's alive," Asuka said firmly, though she was lying. If they hadn't heard from Akagi-san, she was probably dead. But she couldn't tell Misato that.
"No one is dead until you see the body," Shinji said, trying to be encouraging.
"That's right," Misato said, rallying. "Damnation, this stuff still tastes god-awful."
Shinji laughed a little.
"Anyway. I want...I guess this is a stupid time to ask you, though."
"Go on," Shinji said.
"I want to be your guardian when all this is over. Until you come of majority." Misato looked down, giving them a very good view of her forehead. "I kind of like having you two around."
"I'd like that," Shinji said. "You've been...I..." He struggled to find the right words.
"There is no one else I would rather live with but you and Shinji," Asuka said flatly. "Though I am going to make you learn to cook."
"Yes, master," Misato said, then laughed. "Okay. Seriously, though, we will get through this. One way or another."
"After all we've fought, this can't possibly be too tough a fight," Shinji said. "I'm sure we'll be just fine."
"We will win," Asuka said firmly. "This time the stars are right for US."
*********
"What a shitty looking place," Touji observed, studying the new island which squatted in the South Pacific, freshly risen from the ocean floor. Looking at it made his head hurt, though; the buildings all looked distorted and wrong, like an entire city built by Escher. Cross-bridges between buildings twisted like mobius strips, but surely you weren't expected to walk upside down. Some of them jutted at extreme angles where they should have fallen down, but somehow they stayed up. Yet surely inside them you'd be constantly trying to walk uphill or to keep the furniture from sliding downhill, right?
Others twisted and bored into each other, like bamboo growing into the back of a tied-down victim of the green death. Some split into branches as you looked up them then fused back together or joined with other buildings.
Hikari and Touji had seen the city in their dreams, but it seemed even more freaky and alien now that they were awake. It didn't seem so alien to Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, who knew it was typical Xothian architecture, designed under the laws of physics which held sway on distant Xoth, where certain key principles differed from Earth; Cthulhu's power held it all together, a tiny bubble of long fallen Xoth on Earth; if he won this day, he would have enough strength to remake the Earth into a new Xoth, where the laws of physics men take for granted would no longer hold sway. If he fell, the inexorable laws of geometry would turn on once sunken Ry'leh and destroy it in a cataclysmic collapse which would smite the hordes of Deep Ones and Xothians who roamed the streets.
"I don't like it," Hikari said.
"Well, some of this would never have passed muster in the old days," Asuka said disparagingly. "You can see that whole district was made with substandard materials and there's little imagination. Just look over there, it's a total imitation of a much superior Fourth Era monolith in the Cytorrian style. It's pretty clear that..." She paused, then looked horrified. "DAMMIT."
Unit01 patted Unit02. "I know, I know," Shinji mumbled.
Misato carefully did not comment. "Asuka, Shinji, Rei, I know you don't want to dredge up Angel memories, but anything you can tell us about this place from them or where our foe is likely to be would be very good, given we don't have a feed from Polaris to guide us."
"Probably that giant ugly as fuck palace," Touji said, pointing to the huge pile of stone in the middle which had five evenly spaced leaning towers. He was pretty sure it should have collapsed under its own weight, given the way it was built. "I think it's a palace."
"Language," Hikari said firmly.
"Sorry, babe," he muttered.
Before they could go look, another building - reddish stone, with veins of purple - collapsed. Five giant blue humanoids erupted out of it, sprouting metal spines from their backs. Red leathery skin stretched between them, forming giant wings. They were Evangelion units, blue and red, with an design traced out in gold on their chests and brows - oval, trailing tendrils at its bottom, and ringed by the words "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh C'thulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
"Dammit, SEELE found the resources to actually make the planned mass-production EVA units," Misato said. "We can assume, however, that they should be weaker than you, since they haven't been fighting Angels."
Touji hoped that was a good assumption.
They were armed with long red-shafted poles, a forest of long metallic blue blades at the end, giant quinta-tridents. The shimmer of AT-fields danced along the blades as the Mass Production Units drew closer. You could read the giant stamps on their backs as they flew up: Unit06, Unit07, Unit08, Unit09, and Unit10.
As they approached, they split off, Unit06 going after Rei, Unit07 after Shinji, Unit08 after Asuka, Unit09 after Touji, and Unit10 after Hikari.
"Do not engage according to their preferences," Misato ordered. "I don't know why they decided to line up against you like this, but we don't want to find out. Touji, teleport behind Unit06 and slice its wings with your Progressive Knife. Then engage it at your discretion if that doesn't work. Hikari, engage Unit07 and keep its attention. Rei, double-team Unit07 once Hikari draws its fire. Asuka, I am giving you a hard task. Take on Unit09 and Unit10 at the same time. Evade, dodge, and so on, attacking just enough to keep them busy. Shinji, try to web up Unit08. Kill it if you can, keep it busy if you can't. Once we have one of these bastards down, we can begin double and triple-teaming them safely. These things are remote controlled, so there is no need for mercy; I don't know how they got DAGON to work, but we have to stop these things without being weakened too much to deal with the last Angel."
The Children saluted, then moved into action.
Unit02 arced upwards, then dove at Unit09 and Unit10, spewing fireballs at them, forcing them to dodge and dive. She chased them downwards, shouting imprecations in German.
Unit01 charged at an angle, parrying a thrust from a trident, then spewing webs over the head of Unit08; it began flailing blindly. Closing, Unit01 grabbed Unit08's right arm and bit down, trying to chew it off; 08 clawed at its own face with its left hand, trying to restore its sight. Its trident flopped uselessly in its right hand.
Touji concentrated, and the world erupted in stars and galaxies; he appeared behind Unit06, slashing with his knife. It turned and forced him back, attacking with considerable skill - but he'd cut one of its wings and, now it tended to wobble tremendously. This kept him alive, as he quickly realized it actually fought with much more skill than he did and had a lot more reach with its spear. But it was unstable and many of its blows went wild.
Hikari cut across the incoming enemy line to charge at Unit07, wishing she was better at this. She had the least experience of any of them, and the least power... which is why she ended up accomplishing her mission of drawing Unit07's fire by getting Unit04's arm impaled on a lance. Unit00 dived on Unit07 and took it from behind; claws dug in and drove tendrils of ice deep into its flesh, as it howled and Unit04 tried to get free from the trident spines. But now the spines were burrowing up 04's arm, following its veins, seeking its heart.
Unit09 broke left, Unit10 broke right - and now Asuka realized she'd charged down into attack range of a squad of Xothians. 'Miniature' versions of their lord, the Dream King, they were about the height of double-decker busses, and armed with Y'glai Crystalline Rods which produced Corgathic blasts. Which is to say, she found herself blasted by a barrage of energy beams, and had to raise an AT-field to defend herself. But now Unit09 and Unit10 were above her, preparing to dive-bomb her.
"HIKARI!," Touji shouted, and teleported Unit03 over to begin hacking at the trident impaling her arm. However, this left Unit06 free to come to the aid of Unit08, by driving its trident into Unit01's gut.
"SHINJI!" Asuka shouted.
"Touji, you just left Shinji vulnerable! Unit04 already has help! Get on Unit06 now! Shinji, form an AT-field and force out the trident! Hikari, do the same thing! Asuka, go full defensive!" Misato shouted.
"And I?" Rei asked from right next to her.
"You obeyed orders. Finish Unit08. Then we can help Shinji," Misato said softly to her. So did Hikari, but I will praise her later, Misato thought. She needs to focus.
Rei nodded and continued to savage Unit08.
************
Maya woke up, feeling soaked to her skin. A few swishes of her hand told her this was because she was, in fact, underwater. Her mouth and nose felt very strange; she quickly realized some sort of gelatinous gunk was filling her mouth, nose, and throat, extending over her face just enough to seal off both passages.
Ritsuko's voice said, "It's alive. It absorbs oxygen from the water and passes it to you, down your throat and into your lungs." Maya turned to look at her; she no longer had to wear the 'breathing' apparatus down here, but she looked very worried.
Maya said, "Amazing. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ritusuko said softly. "Are you?"
"I'm just fine," Maya said, then came over and kissed her gently - it felt very strange, through the gunk - then rested her forehead against Ritsuko's and whispered, "Are we being watched?"
Ritsuko's eyes had widened but now she relaxed. "Yes," she whispered.
Maya could see they were lying on a bed of very soft and comfortable moss, laid out on a smoothly polished floor of coral; the walls were also coral - but more natural, full of holes - and the ceiling likewise. There were curtains, rather than doors, made of many little beads of coral strung together on golden wires. There was a table, carved out of basalt, and 4 wicker-like chairs, sea-green in color. Four gourd-like things, purple with a sort of baby bottle-like nipple, sat on top.
Maya asked, "What are those?"
"Some sort of juice, very nutritious and tasty. You suck it out through the nozzle," Ritsuko said. "Part of the organism extends down to your stomach, so if you drink, it will transmit it there."
"Is it safe?" Maya whispered.
"I think so," Ritsuko said.
Maya drank two of them; it tasted like cocoanut to her, and she rather liked it. She now felt very hungry, though. "Aren't you going to have one?"
"I had some earlier."
"Where are we?"
"In a city of the Deep Ones, with the usual incomprehensible name which sounds like someone sneezed," Ritsuko said. "Or threw up."
Maya laughed at that, and Ritsuko's concerned face briefly quirked to a smile.
Then Ritsuko's expression crashed. "This is where Mother lives. I believe we are under the Baltic."
Two Deep Ones entered, unarmed, and spoke to Ritsuko. Ritsuko replied to them in their sibilant tongue. "Mother wishes us to dine with her," she said to Maya.
"Fine," Maya said. No point in avoiding food. If they wanted me dead, they would have killed me already, she thought.
They walked down a long, wide hallway, from which smaller ones periodically branched. Some areas had porous walls, giving glimpses of other rooms; others had walls built to conceal. Most of what Maya saw looked like various kinds of craftwork - though in one room, Deep Ones knelt and prayed, chanting to a statue of a really big Deep One.
They passed a kitchen, and Maya paused, staring into it through a hole in the wall. There was no fireplace, obviously enough, but she could see a metal box glowing as if very hot. Various fish hung from hooks over it, the water around them boiling, all of this held within a large stone-and-glass container. Two Deep Ones holding carven rods watched it very intently.
"How are they generating that much heat underwear?" Maya asked curiously.
"It's probably best we not know," Ritsuko said. "It's a sign of Mother's importance, one of her ways of showing off, that she can actually have food cooked instead of eating raw."
"She's a bigwig here?" Maya asked.
"She possesses a great deal of lore which gives her a great deal of power," Ritsuko said. "Unfortunately, she's also assimilated, and completely insane. She surrendered to the monster inside her." Ritsuko sounded angry and disdainful, but then she looked at herself, and sighed.
Maya took her hand and squeezed it. "You didn't surrender," she said firmly.
"I am sorry to drag you into this," Ritsuko said.
"I dragged myself in," Maya said. "I will follow you to the bitter end."
Several passing Deep Ones paused and stared at Ritsuko, looking confused; the two escorts shouted at them and they all bowed until their heads nearly touched the floor, then turned and ran off down a side tunnel.
Maya laughed softly, while Ritsuko looked a little embarrassed. "This place would be really neat if we weren't prisoners."
"Don't let your guard down," Ritsuko said. "This place is extremely dangerous."
Maya nodded.
The dining room had more of the wicker-style chairs, with a long table. A female Deep One sat at one end, with two more chairs placed to her right and left. Unlike most of the Deep Ones, she wore clothing - namely a robe, made mostly of seaweed, with various gems and pieces of coral set into it. If you studied it carefully, you could see they formed various arcane patterns; especially the repeated motif of an oval standing on end, with dangling, irregular lines descending from the bottom of it.
More of the gourds sat on the table, next to very fancy (and very wet) cloth napkins, silver tableware, and porcelain plates. "I would have supplied glasses but you can't drink from them here. My apologies," Ritsuko's mother said with a deep voice.
"Mother, this is my assistant, Ibuki Maya. Maya, this is my Mother, Dr. Akagi Naoko."
"You can call me Naoko," Dr. Akagi said with what was clearly supposed to be warmth, though her intonations were strange.
"Then you may call me Maya," Maya said, trying to be polite.
They soon sat down and made uncomfortable small talk. Maya felt incredibly strange; if Dr. Akagi...Naoko...wasn't an inhuman monstrosity, this would be just like she'd imagined meeting a lover's parents would be like.
But Ritsuko's mother was a frog-woman, they were deep beneath the Baltic Ocean, some sort of slime monster was in her mouth and nose and lungs and stomach enabling her to breathe, she was sucking juice out of some alien gourd and...how was coral growing in the Baltic? Isn't it tropical?
"Some species of coral are not dependent on sunlight and algae and can grow in much deeper, colder water. There is, in fact, a community of our people off the Aleutian Islands," Naoko said.
Three covered plates were brought in now; the Deep Ones carrying them pulled off the covers in unison, as if trying to show off. Each plate had a carp, some roast potatos, some kind of white and purple thing which Maya wasn't sure what it was, a small pile of green and purple goo, a pile of sliced carrots, and an apple.
Naoko immediately cut up the potatos and mashed the goo into them, so Maya did likewise, nervously. Ritsuko ignored the goo and began cutting up the carp. "I take it SEELE supplies you with all the surface foods you want?"
"This city has always been in contact with the shores, covertly. Ancient Lithuanians helped to supply us once, then the Teutonic Knights conquered them, but elements within the Knights came around soon enough. Then the Prussians, and now the Poles. Gold will always get you what you need," Naoko said. "You should try the sauce, Ritsuko."
"I don't like sauce on my fish," Ritsuko said a little petulantly.
"If you would try it, you would like it," her mother said.
Maya tried the mashed up potatos. It had a tangy, spicy taste and she rather liked it. "This is pretty good, sempai," she said. "What is it?"
"You always say that," Ritsuko snapped at her mother.
"I'm always right," she said sharply. "You close yourself off from new opportunities too much. How hard was it for you to get her to open up to you, Maya?" Her voice had shifted from hard-edged to soft and friendly when she spoke to Maya, though Maya could see she was twitching a bit.
"I had to ambush her," Maya said. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. She'd half expected to be tied to a wall with runes being drawn on her body for sacrifice by now. Though she could see why the two didn't get along.
"I thought so. Anyway, this is a mix of six or so spices with liquified Shantak brain tissue, marrow, and blood. It's a hassle to bring it over to this side of reality, but only the best for my daughter and her lover," Naoko said, again trying to sound kind, though she looked ominous.
Maya turned a little red at being referred to as such, then wondered what a Shantak was and whether it was safe to eat. "And this?" she held up the purple and white thing.
"Turnip," Naoko said.
"That sounds rather like...," Ritsuko began, sounding angry.
"It is in the style of Tcho-Tcho cuisine, yes, but there is absolutely no human in any of this," Naoko snapped at her. "We are the next stage of human evolution, humanity perfected to live in the majority of this planet, the ocean. We are higher beings, but we do not eat humans any more than you would eat a Neanderthal. Mind you, some of the early Cro-Magnon were not so picky, but they were barbarian thugs and killers." Naoko shook her head, her voice wobbling from anger to civilized. "I want you to join us, not turn into ghouls." She said this as if Ritsuko was a small child who had to be reminded not to eat cat food. "You and your lover, of course."
Ritsuko paused in the middle of eating fish and stared at her mother. "What?"
"She is your lover, correct?"
For a moment, Ritsuko's mouth moved soundlessly. Maya stuffed food in her own mouth. Eating with this stuff was very strange; she could feel it move inside her mouth as she chewed, which was rather creepy. But it all tasted so good.
Even if she didn't know what a Shantak was.
"She doesn't act ashamed of you in public, does she?" Naoko asked Maya curiously.
"I AM NOT ASHAMED OF MAYA," Ritsuko shouted, trembling with anger. "I could never be ashamed of her!"
"Sempai is always very kind to me," Maya said firmly.
"Then kiss her," Naoko said.
"I can't kiss her from across the table," Ritsuko said a little petulantly.
"You have feet, you know," her mother said.
"It's okay, sempai," Maya said. She turned to Naoko. "She gets embarrassed when I kiss her in public, but that's just cute."
Ritsuko said, "I do not get embarrassed." Maya found this to be cute too, though she knew it wasn't true. But that was okay. Maya rather enjoyed embarrassing her sometimes.
"Well, if you're ashamed to kiss your lover in public, I suppose there's nothing to be done. You always were stubborn," Naoko said, then ate some of her own food.
Maya put some of the sauce on her fish and tried it; it was really good. Then, suddenly, Ritsuko was standing over her, bending down with her eyes shut and then they kissed and Maya got some crumbs of fish and sauce into Ritsuko's mouth; Ritsuko tasted a little strange herself, but Maya didn't care, kissing her firmly. For a moment, she thought Ritsuko was crying, but you couldn't really tell as any tears blended right into the water.
Naoko applauded. "See? Not hard at all."
"I hate you," Ritsuko snapped at her mother and stormed back to her seat.
"But I love you and you clearly love her," Naoko said. "Which is why I've brought you here to make you an offer. Your side has lost. NERV's main bases have been destroyed, Dr. Fuyutsuki is dead and only Commander Katsuragi and the Children of Adam survive. But they will soon be defeated by SEELE's own Evangelion units, piloted by DAGON capsules. Then they will let our Lord, the King of Dreams, the Master of our race, devour them and he will take their power and ascend. This world now belongs to us. You cannot hope to defy our Master."
"I will sooner DIE than bow to an alien monster with delusions of grandeur!," Ritsuko snapped, pointing with her fork for emphasis.
"You were always stupidly stubborn," Naoko snapped back angrily, then shook for a few seconds, then forced herself calm, though her voice was tense. She took a moment to gobble down some carrots, then breathed hard until her breathing gradually calmed. "And you bring out the worst in me."
"You surrendered to the worst in you and told me to surrender too," Ritsuko almost hissed.
"So you're offering us protection?" Maya asked, trying to calm them down.
"Yes," Naoko said. "I can, in fact, make you like Ritsuko, so you would no longer need the Abra'crtha and would be safe here. Instead of living under the risk that the priests would select you for the breeding pits, or insist on you being sent to the mines, or any of a variety of other terrible things which could happen."
"You mean..." Maya said hesitantly. "Physically."
"Yes," Naoko said. "It is among the many fruits of research on Adam," she said. "The leadership of SEELE will be undergoing this process once victory is guaranteed and the ability to pass in human society is no longer needed. It is rather expensive and requires hard to acquire materials and supplies that are limited now that Adam is dead, but I am quite willing to expend them to transform you as well, so the two of you can be together forever."
"Forever?" Maya squeaked.
"Forever. We are immortal and never die, barring accident, disease, violence, and the like. Imagine spending an eternity with the woman you love, free of the ravages of time," Naoko said kindly to Maya.
For a moment, Maya lost herself in a fantasy of what that would be like. To be with sempai forever, ferreting out all the mysteries of the universe.
"And what is the catch?" Ritsuko asked, stabbing her carp and cutting it viciously.
"What catch? Eternal life with the one you love and all the mysteries of the universe to explore. You'd be working for me, which I suppose you'd think is a 'catch', Ritsuko," Naoko said, sounding amused. "No signing over your soul, or murdering your friends or whatever you're expecting me to ask of you. Don't you want to be with Maya forever?"
Ritsuko said, "Of course I do! But there's no such thing as eternity!" She pounded her fist on the table. "And you're asking her to give up her humanity!"
"To become more than human. Immortal and ageless, adapted to live in the vast majority of this planet better than any human. You think Ritsuko is beautiful, don't you, Maya?" Naoko asked.
Maya thought the Deep Ones were hideous and inhuman and creepy, though it was oddly easy to almost forget that Naoko was a Deep One. But Ritsuko was beautiful to her, whatever might happen. "Yes," she said softly. She didn't know what to think. She didn't want to spend forever surrounded by inhuman monsters who raped human women to breed more of themselves. It was easy to forget, sitting her and bantering with Ritsuko's mother as if this was a normal 'meet the parents' date. But they were terrible monsters who did terrible things and sacrificed to an alien god who wanted to destroy mankind.
But she could almost forget that, here and now.
Which was probably what Naoko wanted her to do.
She shivered, not sure what to do. Eternity with sempai...but to give up her humanity as the price.
"Can we have some privacy to discuss this?" Ritsuko asked tensely.
"Of course. Yell for me when you wish me to return." Naoko swept out of the room, leaving them alone.
*************
Touji shattered the haft of Unit07's trident, but the head continued to burrow into Unit04, snaking its way up through the shoulder; the will of its pilot and that of Hikari clashing violently, the shoulder of Unit04 pulsing and throbbing and distorting into hideous shapes as energy and wills thrashed wildly inside it.
"HELP SHINJI NOW!" Misato barked at Touji.
"I can't just abandon Hikari!" Touji said, putting Unit03's arms on Unit04 and trying to help her.
Asuka called upon the power of Rahab; and while the two EVA Mass Production Units diving towards her resisted it, the Xothians suddenly stiffened - no longer able to move their arms to aim, their limbs to move, or their mouths to breathe. Their bodies turned leathery and darkened to brown, then grey, until finally they looked like statues of Xothians. But their minds lived on, trapped inside an immortal, unchanging, ageless shell, unable to see or smell or hear or taste or touch, locked in with themselves forever. This was the gift of Ghathanoa. Unchanging immortality. Never to age, never to die, never to know the fading of mind and body. Left alone forever to contemplate eternity, until the stars went out and the universe went cold or fell in on itself to return to the cosmic womb.
In theory.
In practice, Unit09 and Unit10 drove Unit02 into the ground, and several of them were broken into shards, quickly crumbling to leathery grey dust as the mass-production Evas pinned her to the ground with their tridents, howling in triumph.
Unit01 lost its grip on Unit08's arm; but the mangled arm now lay helplessly at its side, flopping wildly as it moved. 08 switched its trident to its left hand and prepared to press the attack which Unit06 had begun on Unit01. Meanwhile, Unit01 grabbed Unit06's trident with one hand, trying to pull it out as the tines began searching through the chest cavity for Shinji's entry plug. Unit01's other arm became a serpent, which now latched onto Unit06's face and began to pump deadly poison into Unit06's head. It began to turn green and to distort as every vein and artery inside it started expanding to several times normal size. Green lines ran down its skin towards its 'heart'... but it was clear the tines would reach Shinji before the poison reached the heart. And now Unit08 drove its trident into Unit01's chest, and its tines began to seek his entry plug as well.
The sun now set. Darkness descended upon them, the stars glittering high above in a pattern long anticipated. And down below them, two great stone doors began slowly moving.
Hordes of Xothians closed on Unit02, armed with appropriately scaled versions of the mass production tridents, like Lilliputians preparing to pin down Gulliver or ants swarming a sleeping man. Unit 02 flailed, trying to force out the tridents as they sought out Asuka's Entry Plug, to pierce it and her.
"TOUJI! HELP SHINJI NOW!" Misato shouted angrily. Then she noticed her skin was paling, and her hair starting to take on a bluish tinge. Her elder sign necklace was shimmering and sparking, and she could see things, flows of energy she was pretty sure no human eye should see. "Rei, I think I'm in trouble."
Rei made no reply, savaging Unit07 as fast as she could with claws and ice blades and fangs at once. It was clear her attention for shielding Misato was flagging. Misato didn't know what this would do but it could not possibly be good.
But she would have to risk it; Rei needed her attention on the battle. Especially since Touji was busy wildly stabbing Unit07 and shouting INSTEAD OF HELPING SHINJI.
Far below, a great stone door fell to the ground, crushing several dozen Xothians. A hideous green glow shone forth, casting shadows and drowning out the stars.
Misato could see the entry plug of Shinji's EVA crack now; three tines broke through, heading for his body, and she stared in horror. "No! SHINJI!" she and Rei shouted in unison.
Asuka howled incoherently, and flames rushed everywhere, turning onrushing Xothians into piles of ash. She tried to blast Unit08 and Unit06, but Unit09 and Unit10 shielded them with AT-fields while driving their tridents home, and now the tines were almost to her entry plug.
Only a few months ago, Shinji would have simply died. Not just because of a lack of power, but because of a lack of will. He had been unformed clay, drifting with the current, not living, but surviving. He had nothing to live for, he was just too weak to end it all. He hadn't chosen to pilot EVA; his father had chosen for him, forced the choice on him. And he had caved in because his entire way of life was based on caving in to all demands that could not be run away from.
That was what SEELE was counting on, broken Pilots, whose wills would snap when it came to the final crisis, so their power could be devoured by docile hunting dogs, who themselves would be eaten by their master, the Dream King, who would reshape the Earth into the veritable eidoleon of now long dead Xoth, the world of his birth. In that world, they would rule, immortal, ageless, and serene.
This was their plan, their dream towards which they had worked for untold aeons, piecing together clues and hints and messages from dreams and prophecies, messages from their masters. They would rule, rule as Kings and Queens, as GODS, sharing in the power of their Master, worshipped by all.
And as the tines touched his flesh, Shinji knew their dreams for delusions. The Dream King did not share power and he cared nothing for his worshippers. They were humans who had put together a web of delusions to give meaning to their lives, to give them hope in a cold and empty world that did not care if they lived or died but would inexorably kill them, however well they might cheat death for a time with machines and the arcane sciences.
Even now, the Dream King's mind flooded into theirs, filling them with ecstasy, as the shields fell away which had protected humanity from the madness inevitable when alien minds touched human ones. But even for the corrupt and warped minds of the leaders of SEELE, the touch of the his Mind, the very call of Cthulhu itself, was too much. A drunkard might consume a lot more alcohol with less effect than an ordinary person, but if he drank enough, he would still die of alcohol poisoning. And so it would be with them; their pleasure would mount until it became pain and then their minds would be scoured away, leaving only fleshy shells to eventually be eaten by fish. Even the Deep Ones would perish, for they were wretched chimera, part Xothian and part human, wretched abominations in the sight of the Dream King; even their memory would be destroyed by him as they perished so that they would not even haunt his dreams with their twisted, hideous, mutated, imperfect bodies. Their faithful service would meet the end of all faithful service--death and eternal nothingness. He would not even remember them.
And no one would remember Shinji, Unit06 promised. Wasn't that what he wanted? Sweet oblivion, never to have to struggle or strive or be forced to do things again? This world was doomed; even now, the Dream King's power was beginning to touch the world, even now, the visions of his glory flooded every mind, even now, humanity was prepared for the slaughter. Did he really want to fight on and have to see all that and know it was his fault? Why not just give up?
The final door shook and cracked and rumbled and a single star slowly crept across the sky, seeking its destined place for all things to find their perfection in the one who had slept in death and now came to life, the King of Dreams and Flesh, the last of the Children of K'kansh on ancient Xoth, who had risen from a hapless child to the final master and avatar of his race.
Bow to him and perish, Unit06 whispered to Shinji. Then you will be free.
The Shinji believed in by SEELE would have given up. He would have caved in and snapped under the pressure and surrendered. That Shinji was a weak and lonely boy with no friends, no family, no hope and no reason to continue to exist but pure animal instinct.
That Shinji was the last and most fatal of the delusions of SEELE and their creations, the DAGON units which drove the Mass Production Evas, which responded now not to SEELE's commands but those of their master, the Dream King. And so it was his delusion too.
That Shinji was dead.
The Shinji who grabbed the tines with his hands, forcing them together into a single long spearpoint, was another Shinji entirely. He didn't really fight for humanity. He didn't fight for faith, for he didn't really believe in anything he couldn't see. He fought for people, not for abstractions. He fought for his family. Asuka. Rei. Misato. Touji. Hikari. All of them here. All of them depending on him. All of them fighting by his side. He would not fail them.
His entire body glowed with an AT-Field, and now it rushed up the spear towards the hands of Unit06. He fought for the dead. His mother, Yui. His father, Gendo. Commander Fuyutsuki. Makoto. Shigeru. Kaji. Anna. Kensuke. And all the others who had perished because of this endless, stupid game of the gods!
They had not died just on Earth. World after world had been put to the test by the Herald of the Outer Gods, the Crawling Chaos, the Blind Ape of Truth. Nyarlathotep. Who put every world to the test, a test that was always failed. A test he believed must inevitably be failed, and every failure reassured him that it was not his fault his own world had been destroyed. That he was not a filthy traitor who sold out his own race for power; that it was nothing but the inevitable way of the world.
Xoth. Celeano. Yuggoth. Alabraxas. M'kare. Shirrioth. Calabnur. Sarnath. The Kingdom of Joy. World upon world destroyed by outside conquest - or destroying itself, by fighting fire with fire, and burning alive as its defenders became what they fought.
The spear now turned into another giant snake, its head next to the hand that weilded Unit06's trident. He fought for all these worlds in his memories, the worlds destroyed by those whose power he bore, that the Earth might not join their ranks. And he fought especially for the dream of the Kingdom of Joy, in whose story he was now entangled.
And now that head vomited spiders and snakes and disgusting creepy crawling things which mixed aspects of crab and snake and bat and cat and dog and wolf and chicken and pig and fish and all the other living things of Earth, and they swarmed over Unit06 and ate it alive, for all animals must kill to continue to live, in the end, all things are the vampires they fear.
And Shinji felt another will beside him, inside him, outside him, moving through multiple dimensions at once and now Unit01 moved of its own accord and seized Unit08's trident, pulling it out of Unit01 and hurling the trident to Unit00, which caught it.
"Through the head, Rei!" Misato commanded, and she felt the trident pierce Unit07's brain, felt the ecstasy of power as she and Rei and Unit00 found its soul and drained it, crumbling it to dust which turned to dull flakes of flesh, that rained down upon the lone, crumbling giant door below, which was now breaking apart into rubble. Misato screamed with pleasure the likes of which she had never known. Her flesh rippled and shifted, barely keeping its integrity and she and Rei lost themselves in the pleasure of victory.
Unit06 was dying now as it was eaten alive and Shinji drank down the power and moaned as the pleasure of victory flowed through him. Vengeance and victory at once.
Unit03 was freed by Unit07's death, and now Unit03 and Unit04 attacked the unarmed Unit08 in unison, mauling it in a crazed frenzy. They held Unit08's spear together; it had repaired itself by their power, and they drove it deep into Unit08 and began to devour his essence through it.
Unit02 now stretched its arms and grabbed her foes, impaling them on their own tridents, which now connected both of them to her. One of the tridents sprouted into feeding tendrils and began to suck the fluids and power out of Unit09. The other turned into black, inky fluid and flowed up into Unit10's brain; Unit10 then turned on and began to eat Unit09 alive, even as the black inky fluid, connected to Unit02 by a slender thread, consumed more of its own flesh, hollowing it out into a mere shell full of inky darkness.
The Dream King emerged. A cyclopean beast with the rough form of a man - though great green greasy tentacles protruded from his chin, acquired when he slew one of Rhan-Tegoth's kin. And great gelatinous wings, stolen from the fallen world of Alabraxas, and long claws on his fingers which once had belonged to Ytur'gna, who had tried to defend Celeano from his hunger. He was larger even than the EVA units, towering over his Xothian kin, themselves large enough to dwarf an ordinary human. And his mind now shone forth unhampered over all the world, even as his defenders fell.
But he was confident, for the Earth was not the first world he had smashed to splinters and remade in his own image in accord with his fantasy of what his own world had been like before he had annihilated it in his quest for power. He was confident, for he had always given death and never tasted it.
He gazed upon the Children as the last bits of the Dagon Units were either devoured or subverted. That did not make him afeared. He feared nothing; all other life was contemptible and only the Stars and the Outer Gods could not be defied and devoured in his experience. His mind rushed against them, but it bounced off their AT-fields.
Across the Earth, heads exploded as he pushed against them and against all of mankind and many others collapsed in agony. Riots erupted across the equatorial belt as already stressed humans slid into primal rage. His rage, riding them. They could not resist his power.
But these before him were not the broken, empty, weak fools he was used to fighting and devouring. They had lost everything, everything but each other. Their dead formed a nearly endless litany, but they had not been broken by death. The memories which haunted them had not devoured them. Rather, they had been forged into weapons by their joint suffering and death and pain, but they had also been forged into a family, a pack, a nakama by the power and the love they shared.
They wanted his heart and THEY WOULD HAVE IT. This ended here and now.
Misato could hardly think. The hunger was upon her and her body kept changing, and it terrified her and it felt so right. These were her children, and she had taught them and she had loved them and she would lead them. But she could feel the instincts of Unit00; it had been prepared for this day. They could all feel it, their EVAs moving without the need for concious thought, guided by a common purpose, a common mind, a common soul.
They spread out around the Dream King as he took to the skies, as his mind pressed upon theirs, as his worshippers and followers clutched their heads and died of ecstasy and agony at once in the streets below as he threw all his strength at them. Without their presence, this would have slain most of humanity in a storm of thought.
But they had formed a pentagon around him and now they held out the lances they had claimed for themselves, Unit02 tossing its extra lance to Unit04, so all could wield one. Lines of light, shimmering AT-Fields rushed out between them, forming a five pointed star and in the middle was the Dream King.
And a woman's voice began to speak the words of an ancient rite and Misato's Elder Sign necklace glowed like the sun, but she no longer needed eyes to see for she could see with her skin and her hair and the visual spectrum is so limited anyway.
Unseen and ignored, screens within the EVAs blinked the message 'CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE INITIATED. Hearthstone: IKARI YUI.'
Five AT-Fields closed in on the Dream King, crushing him ever tighter and tighter, five crossing fields forming an ever shrinking inner pentagon to match the outer, constricting him until his flesh became so dense, it ignited into flame of a kind unnatural to the Earth, but sweet nectar to the Children.
They spoke in unison, allowing themselves to be guided, and Misato spoke too, for she had been there at the beginning, the last witness to the end of the old world and the beginnings of the birth pangs of a new one. And now the final remnant of the old world was under attack.
The Dream King's dreams all turned to nightmares and his power turned in on itself, as the Children began to devour it and to weave it into great throbbing webs of dream, bridging the gap between dream and waking once guarded by Matriel, Atlach-Nacha, whose soul now rested inside Unit00 and Unit01 and the First and Third Child.
His flesh became a doorway of light between dreaming and waking and his mind collapsed in on itself and his final sight before oblivion were once gentle brown eyes through which now he glimpsed the center of the universe where great Azathoth howls and thrashes and burbles idiot melodies to the blind, arrythmic pipings of twisted monstrosities whose job it is to keep the King of Creation from destroying it in his mindless rage and whim.
The universe was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
And that was the last thing he would ever see or realize.
As his body became living flame, a living doorway where dreams and flesh could meet, the Ceremony of Innocence was loosed upon the world.
**************
"Mother cannot be trusted," Ritsuko said flatly. "She's given herself to the darkness. And she wants us to do the same. Sell out the human race for our personal benefit." Her voice was tight with anger. "She let it slip, just a little. Mines, breeding pits...they may not eat humanity, but they'll rape half of it and work the other half to death." She shivered. "And Mother approves of that."
Even an eternity with Ritsuko would be no good if it meant being part of that. "You're right, sempai," she said softly. "I wouldn't mind spending forever with you, but not like that."
"There is no such thing as forever," Ritsuko said harshly. "That's nothing but a delusion." Her voice now softened. "But I would gladly spend the rest of my years with you, Maya. Unless we are lucky, however, that will be more like the rest of my minutes." She sighed. "I am sorry, you would not be stuck here if not for me."
"While there is life, there is hope," Maya said. "If we're going to die anyway, we have nothing to lose by trying to escape."
Ritsuko nodded. She placed herself by the door, holding two of the sharp knives for cutting the fish. "Come in!" she shouted.
Naoko walked in. "What is..."
Then the knives plunged into her eyes.
"I will die a woman instead of a thing," Ritsuko said, pulling out the knives and slashing Naoko's throat with them. Naoko made gurgling noises and slowly fell down, clutching at her throat as blood poured everywhere. Maya stepped forward, but Ritsuko waved her back and kept stabbing until Naoko's blood was rising everywhere in streamers, obstructing vision and spreading out to darken the water.
"It's just like you, Mother, that the one time you do something nice for me, I have to kill you." Ritsuko was shaking and laughing hysterically. "You're a monster. I did the right thing..." She was crying and laughing at once and this scared Maya more than any of the physical transformations ever had. "Damn you, Mother. Damn you."
Maya forced herself past her fear to hug Ritsuko, though Ritusko quickly shook herself loose and now Maya felt some of the blood wash onto her, staining her soggy clothing.
"We can't stay. We must go, even if we don't know where to go."
They started running, but very quickly, a horn blew and increasing numbers of Deep Ones began to chase them. They swam as fast as they could, but the Deep Ones were in their element, abandoning the habit of walking to swim after them. More moved ahead to road block them and they found themselves trapped at a four way intersection.
"This is the end, I'm sorry," Ritsuko said softly.
"There is no one I would rather die with than you," Maya said, swishing around the table knife she'd taken with her, in a manner she hoped was menacing.
"I would rather die and you live but if we must both die, then to die with you by my side is best," Ritsuko said. "I...I love you, Maya."
"I love you too, Ritsuko," Maya said softly, then quickly kissed her, though the goo in her mouth and nose got in the way and it ended up like trying to kiss through jelly. An entire jar of it.
The Deep Ones were approaching, but oddly slowly. Why weren't they finishing this? Ritsuko tried to figure it out, but unless they feared...
They must fear I possess some of Mother's lore and will do something hideous to the first to attack, she thought.
Ritsuko began babbling, half-remembered fragments of words. "Y'nagg Achtir'neh K'ylagh Brazzt Mic'ir'los!" she shouted and waved her hands in a wide arc. Her own veins seemed to ignite and she gave a blood curdling howl of pain, praying she hadn't just killed herself somehow.
Then a voice spoke in her mind, a woman's voice, one she'd known somewhere, some time, hadn't she? BRK'NAK. And the burning in her veins ceased.
And now the Deep Ones staggered, howling and clutching their heads, eyes rolling back as they fell to the ground writhing. Soon were they were still; though clearly alive, as their gills worked busily.
Be not afraid, the voice whispered in Ritsuko and Maya's minds. You have fought valiantly and well and in the new world, virtue will be rewarded as it was not in this one. Now rest.
Exhaustion took Maya and Ritsuko as they stared around in confusion and tried to figure out if they were going crazy. Maya landed on Ritsuko and then there was only silence and the working of many gills.
**************
SEELE had gathered for its moment of triumph. More precisely, they were meeting virtually, each of them esconsced in their own place of power, but projecting their images magically or electronically to a single location, where Keel Lorenz sat at the head of the table enjoying the fruits of centuries of work. He had sustained himself through the lore of SEELE in a variety of ways, defying the passage of time -- stealing bodies, being resurrected by the same ancient alchemy Fuyutsuki had once used to revive Gendo when Gendo had first died, rejuvenating those bodies which had proven most useful by arcane means, whatever worked.
He had even been forced to turn to cybernetics to sustain himself after Second Impact; the alchemical resurrection had brought him back afterwards, but was warped and twisted by the energies he had absorbed, forcing them to cut away portions of his flesh and replace them with metal. When his God triumphed, when the world was remade, then he would be given new flesh. True immortality for himself and all the leaders of Seele. The technicians stood by for the moment of triumph. Finally he would be free of these clumsy, aging, dying shells he had haunted for so long.
He could feel the power of his God in the air, feel the visions which rushed through his mind and those of his compatriots. They sat silently, lost in ecstasy as they experienced visions of their Master's home and his triumph over the Children.
It was the greatest pleasure he'd ever experienced. The greatest imaginable. His body was too dried up for any sort of sexual release, indeed, it just barely functioned, as he'd neglected it in the rush of work needed to get to this day. And after so long, even the arcane was failing him in terms of life extension, and technology could only do so much.
Except then...
There was a presence, a woman. He could see her in his mind's eyes, standing in the middle of the visions his Master gave him, though she could not be seen with his physical eyes. She blazed with light, light that forced him to his knees within his mind. The AT-Field pinned him in place and she stepped into the cockpit of his mind and he knew her.
Ikari Yui, the wife of Gendo, who had died in the first experiments with Unit00. Or so they all had thought. And in the knowing, his mental speaking of her name, she took the mastery over him, totally and completely, casting him down from the seat of his reason, to grovel before her, wicked and withered. For she wielded the Violator's power now, along with that of many other gods. This vision of glory and triumph was only an illusion she had fed them to keep them from being aware of her victory until it was too late.
He tried to rise up but he could not; she held him down with contemptuous ease, and then she took command of his physical form, raising his withered hands into the sign known as the Dragon's Tail descending. Then, slowly, painfully, she forced his lips to move in the ancient formula whose first half had helped to return him from the grave so many times.
OGTHROD AI'F
He grovelled before her on the floor inside his mind as she spoke through him in the world of flesh. "No! Please! Mercy!"
GEB'L-EE'H
With the second word, his body froze in the sign of the Dragon's Tail, but all his allies were lost in imaginary ecstasies, unable to percieve his plight.
YOG-SOTHOTH
The Dread Name of Yog-Sothoth echoed through his mind and through the meeting room, but none could hear it, though his allies felt a nameless dread overcome them, even in the middle of the dream-forged ecstasies of victory which still shielded them from the deadly truth. Unseen by any, tiny bubbles began to rise out of his clothing and his body began to twist and bend, shrinking in on itself, limbs contorting. Several fingers fell off and his visor now burned with tiny stars.
'NGAH'NG AI'Y
The fourth word echoed and the room shook and his body fell to the floor, parts of it swelling hideously, others shrinking and yet others crumbling to dust. The stars blazed in his visor and shone before his vision within the dream, and now all doubt was gone, the ecstasy shattered and he saw the great starry void and the tiny bubbles of light within it, the pleasant dreams of all his ancient allies, all the masters of SEELE, and the strings which connected them and billions of other dreams in a great web, and at its center sat a throne and on the throne sat Ikari Yui clad in glory, wearing the rainment of the stars. Upon her brow was a crown of orichalcum and set into it were stars and planets and galaxies and her eyes blazed with fire and ice.
"Mercy," he begged. "I can serve you well."
Flanking the throne were two men, and he knew them as well and in the knowing, he knew there could be no mercy for him or for any within SEELE. "TRAITORS!" he shouted. "You will..."
And his lips in the physical world betrayed him.
ZHRO!
And with that final syllable, the body of Keele Lorenz, the Ancient of Days, the Eldest of Men, crumbled away into a fine blue-grey powder. A few cybernetic parts sat atop the dust, caving in on themselves as the gravity of a thousand tiny stars tore them apart. And then the lights winked out and there was only darkness, and the agonized howling of the rest of SEELE as fate took them.
DOOM came to SEELE.
****
For in the end, none may resist she who sits upon the throne, the Hearthstone of the Ceremony of Innocence, the Queen of Light and Darkness, the Victor of the Game of the Gods, the new Soul of the Elder Gods.
And she spoke her command. LET THERE BE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.
As she commanded, so it would be, for there were none to resist her, no not one.
And she looked upon her works and judged that they were good.
Goddess is in her heaven...all's right with the world.
***
This is about the first third of the final chapter.
COAEG 24
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
--The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
***
"Well, the flight is going well so far," Misato said, facing the viewscreen in the bridge of the Scimitar. "The Children had some nightmares, which we're going to have to look into, but overall, things are going pretty well here. We estimate we'll arrive at our destination in another eight hours."
"That's good," Dr. Himmelfarb said. "Everything is fine here; the Navy reports they are all in position to launch their attack when the time comes." She was standing on the main bridge, back in Germany. She looked a little nervous to Misato.
"Good. We're out over the ocean now. It's very peaceful."
Ritsuko suddenly froze up, then collapsed at her desk. Dr. Himmelfarb looked over at her, worried, and hoped it wasn't the mere mention of the ocean that did it.
Misato looked worried as well. "The...umm...anyway, it's all good here." She wanted to ask about if anyone had dreamed of Nylarathotep, but suddenly she was worried whether he might be listening in.
"I'll get her to sickbay," Maya said, helping Ritsuko to stand up and hobble out the door, leaning on her heavily.
"Let me know how..." Misato began, and then there was a loud explosion behind her. She spun. "What the hell is..."
There was another explosion and the screen went dead. "Communications link down!" the Scimitar's communications officer shouted. "No signal at all."
"Nothing?" Misato replied, head snapping around to face him.
"Nothing," he confirmed, scanning the boards quickly before looking back at her. "Either the line to the antenna, or the antenna itself, has been destroyed. We can't receive or transmit." He pulled out a cellphone and started punching. "I'm getting cell signal, but calls to NERV-Germany are not going through. The network's gone down."
"Keep trying to get hold of someone at the base," Misato said. "Or UN HQ, or anyone else you can. Find out where the network's out. Commander Fuyutsuki, we're getting you to safety." She detailed three security men to hustle him out, over his protests, then tried calling the security office on her phone. "Local calls still working," she shouted back over to the communications officer. Then a third bomb went off.
Power went down all over the ship, leaving the windows as the only light source. The blimp started drifting, though fortunately it didn't need power to stay aloft, and they should be able to stay alive until they could call for help.
Misato called the Children, telling them to meet her at the bridge; moments later, they appeared in a cloud of bubbles, startling the security team she had started gathering. "We need to find out where those explosions came from, and fast."
"Who could do this?" Shinji asked.
"A traitor," Misato said. "Probably working for whoever sent those Nazi-wannabes when we were still in Germany." Her face was grimly determined. They couldn't afford failure, not this close to victory.
Asuka grimaced, and Touji and Hikari looked around warily. Rei moved, taking the lead just ahead of Misato, so she was ringed round by the Children, Rei in front, Shinji to the left, Asuka to the right, and Touji and Hikari behind her. Four security men were ahead of Rei, four more behind Touji and Hikari.
She called Makoto again, but he didn't answer. Please don't let him be dead, she thought. Not now. She took a moment to pray for Ritsuko as well, even if she didn't know what she was praying to. Something, anything out there that might hear a plea and have a little pity on mankind, specifically her friends.
Her imagination painted the picture for her, Makoto lying there dead like Shigeru, his brain hollowed out, accusing her with his eyes, another one of her failures.
For a moment, she intensely wanted a beer, then she shoved the thought away and forced herself to think positive. Makoto was off duty and probably taking a nap with his cellphone off, not expecting any calls out here. Some poorly vetted person from NERV-Germany would turn out to be the traitor, probably working for the cult of the next and hopefully LAST Angel.
She called the bridge, which was thankfully explosion and death-free, and asked the communications officer if he'd gotten hold of anyone.
"No one is answering their cellphone, but I got a text message indicating the base is under attack and being evacuated," he told her.
Shit, she thought. "Okay, find out whatever you can," she said.
"Yes, Commander Katsuragi," he said.
Hikari was fiddling with her own phone. "Texts might be getting through, but I can't get to the web."
"Dammit," Asuka said. "I..."
Gunfire cut off Asuka's answer, and they turned and raced towards the sound. In the generator room, they found Makoto sitting against the wall, bleeding from multiple wounds; a security guard turned from him to look at them as they came in, then shook his head. As they stared, a single yellow line began to run out of his shirt, curving up his throat like a question mark, glowing evilly.
"No, no, no," Misato said, agonized. "Not you too! DAMMIT!"
Rei slowly advanced on him, flanked by Shinji and Asuka, while Touji and Hikari stood next to Misato.
"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, the Old Ones yet will be," he mumbled. "Ancient and unseen, they walk among us and we know them not."
"Maybe...we can drive it out of him," Shinji said hesitantly.
Rei looked skeptical, but she nodded. "It would not hurt to try."
"Hold on, Makoto," Asuka said, stepping closer.
Touji frowned. Wouldn't he just die of the bullet wounds even if they got rid of whatever was inside him? He'd lost a hell of a lot of blood. But he didn't want to rain on their last hope.
Hikari watched tensely, expecting that if they did drive the creature out of him, it might well try to eat Commander Katsuragi.
"This is all your fault, you know," Makoto said, pointing at Misato. "We're all dying one by one because you're too weak to protect us."
For a moment, Misato cringed, then she hardened. "Don't play games with me, whatever you are! Get out of Makoto!"
"It's too late to save Makoto. You let a cultist of Hastur fuck him over and over for months. He's dead and gone and never coming back. But you'll be dead soon too," Makoto said harshly. A yellow dot appeared on his forehead and lines began to blossom across his forehead.
Rei, Shinji, and Asuka now formed AT-fields and pressed in on him, the fields shaping around him, pressing down on him. Makoto began to thrash and howl. "Just look at your precious Children! Even if they slay the Dream King, they'll just do to this world what the Champions of Xoth did to their own world! TEAR IT APART! You sacrificed them for your own benefit, but they'll repay... aaaaaaaa!!!!!" He howled and shook and frothed.
"YOUR VICTORY IS YOUR DEFEAT!," he screamed, twitching like an epileptic.
Live, live, live, be free, BE FREE! Asuka chanted to herself, focusing her will.
Rei concentrated fiercely, though you could hardly tell it from her blank expression.
Come on, come on, hold on, come on, Misato thought desperately.
The Yellow Sign on Makoto's forehead caught fire and burned away. The rest of his body convulsed, but Makoto's expression changed. "Misato! There's a bomb in the fuel and it's about to go off and another one by the gas bag! He came down here to distract you!"
"Oh no," Hikari said.
"Makoto!" she cried out. "Rei, carry him." She pulled out her cellphone to call the rest of security.
The remaining bombs now went off; it was too late to stop them.
Fire bloomed out of the gondola as the fuel caught fire and burned; the torn edges of the canopy started flapping violently in the wind as the Scimitar began falling, helium rushing out of the gas bag. The shockwave hit; Misato nearly fell, but Touji caught her. While the Children were able to save themselves and those near them from immolation, the ship now lurched and turned and began to fall.
The ship lurched again, and they all slid across the room, slamming into the wall. Makoto grunted sharply as the breath was forced from his lungs, then went limp; obviously dead. Rei looked to Asuka. "Get us out."
"No, we have to save as many people as we can!" Misato said.
"No time," Rei said, though she did grab a security man; the other Children followed suit, taking as many security men as they could carry as Asuka burned them a way out. They all sprouted wings and flew away from the burning, plummeting, collapsing wreck of the Scimitar.
Misato stared aghast as it burned and fell. "Commander Fuyutsuki!"
Shinji winced, holding a security man with each hand as best he could. "I think he was in the middle of that firestorm."
"Find land," Misato said, wanting to cry but knowing she couldn't afford tears. "No point in staying up here."
Below them, the EVA transport bay burst apart as Units 00-04 ripped free, flying upwards to join the Children, growing great wings of fire, feathers or skin.
With a huge splash, the corpse of the Scimitar plunged into the ocean and sank. Fires snuffed out one after the other as the ocean closed over it, burying the dead as the Children flew for land.
************
Maya was busy giving Ritsuko an injection when the first of the froglike men came through the door. Maya fumbled for her purse as he approached and produced a pistol. Even as he began to gesticulate and croak at her, she levelled it at him. "Back off! Back off!"
"He wants us to come with him," Ritsuko managed to say, recovering her strength and sitting up.
They could hear anarchy in progress, distant shouting and shooting and explosions. Something blew up and the table shook as Ritsuko got up off it.
"What do we do now?" Maya asked. "Should I shoot him?" She shivered at the very sight of him. But she'd die before she'd let him touch her Ritsuko.
Ritsuko said something to him and he backed off. "Follow me," she said.
Maya kept the gun out, swept a bunch of extra doses into her purse, and took several unused syringes, then followed.
To her surprise, Ritsuko led her into the women's bathroom.
"I suppose this may be our last chance to go," Maya said hesitantly.
Ritsuko laughed softly. "Best take it, but we're going to sneak out the window afterwards, so turn a sink to full blast once you're done," she whispered.
Maya got out the window easily; it was harder for Ritsuko, but she managed to squeeze out the window.
Unfortunately, this was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. There were bodies scattered across the yard, corpses of soldiers. Some had been stabbed, others were missing limbs, some had large holes in their head which were eerily dry.
Maya stared in horror, shivering at the widespread devastation. Distantly, she could hear shouts and shooting and cries of pain as the battle still raged. Out over the Rhine, she could see helicopters fleeing into the distance.
Worse, she could now see the leader of the Deep One forces. It was a good twenty feet tall, passing between buildings because it couldn't fit inside them, greyish skinned and gelatinous; it wobbled slightly as it walked, bipedal, but winged and with a skull-like head that had short tentacles around the mouth. Maya stared at it in horror and could hardly move. "What is that?" she whispered.
"Death for us," Ritsuko said. "If we are lucky, we can make it to the west gate."
They creeped across the grounds to the distant cry of battle and death. The amount of gun firing was fading, however; it was clear the Deep Ones were victorious.
They reached the edge of Building 28, a storage building for various mundane goods. From here, there was open ground to the West Gate of the compound, through which supplies were often delivered. There was also a parking lot, which Ritsuko hoped might have a vehicle.
Unfortunately, a squad of twenty Deep Ones squatted at the gate, leaning on their spears and looking bored with sitting here and preventing escape. The tires had been slashed on the vehicles, except for the ones which were on fire.
Light and shadow played across Maya and Ritsuko's faces as they peeked around the corner. "Maybe the south gate?" Maya suggested.
It was worth trying but it was probably guarded too. By the time they headed that way, they could hear a squad of Deep Ones coming their way, and Ritsuko could tell they were looking for her and Maya, though she kept her mouth shut so as not to discourage Maya.
But as they crept up around the laboratory building closest to the south gate and its parking lot, they could see more deep ones guarding the gate and amusing themselves playing frisbee with car tires.
"Now what?" Maya said in frustration.
"We try and get some wireclippers and cut a hole in the fence," Ritsuko said.
As they doubled back, however, a dozen Deep Ones came around the corner and pointed at them. One said something authoritative. Ritsuko put a bullet in his eye and into his skull, killing him.
The others howled and rushed at them.
"Run, Maya!" Ritsuko said, shooting a second one with three rounds and injuring two more.
"I can't leave you!"
"RUN!"
She ran. Right into a group of six more Deep Ones who threw a net over her and knocked her to the ground.
She heard more gunshots and then just grunts and shouting.
"SEMPAI!" she howled, and then the Deep Ones clubbed her until she passed out. Maya's last sensation was that of some kind of nasty gel being forced into her mouth; it tasted rather like LCL. And then there was only darkness and the smell of salt.
*************
III. Across the South Pacific
They'd dropped the security men off on an island, with cellphones to call for help. Now they had to figure out what to do next.
Specifically, what to do about Misato. Contrary to many a giant robot show, you can't ride on the outside of a giant flying thing and continue to function very well - unless it goes verrry slowly. Even then, how could she actually track things in battle and give orders? They could use her GPS program on her phone to reach the right location; she had the coordinates. But transporting her, protecting her in battle, and communications were all issues.
"I can protect her," Rei said. "She must ride with me and lead us."
"You can?" Touji said. "I thought that LCL shit was dangerous for anyone who can't pilot EVA."
"It is," Rei said. "But I can protect her. Otherwise, we must leave her behind or wait for backup." She paused. "I do not think backup is coming."
NERV was in chaos; NERV-Germany had been attacked and many of the personnel were dead. The other bases were too far away to help. They had to act and act swiftly, before it was too late.
"I hope Commander Fuyutsuki didn't have any big secrets he was waitin' for the last second to reveal," Touji mumbled. Poor guy, he thought. What a shitty way to go. "Ya really think you can do it, Rei?"
Asuka felt vaguely bad for Fuyutsuki; his death must have been horrible, if swift. But she'd no longer trusted him. Not after all the lies he'd spread. She felt a lot worse for Makoto, who she'd liked; but surely he was in Heaven now.
Shinji felt worse, but he was trying to hold it in, until the battle was over.
Hikari only vaguely knew the man and felt an abstract sympathy for his death, but had little tie to him.
Misato felt the worst, though Makoto was far more on her mind than Fuyutsuki; she was squashing her pain until later. Or else she would just collapse.
And they needed her.
"I am willing to trust Rei's judgement," she said, looking down at the glow. After all, she didn't have much other choice; they'd have to abandon her, and she them.
"I believe I can do it," Rei said. They didn't have a plug suit, but Misato didn't need to synchronize, just to survive. Rei took her hand and concentrated and now Misato began to glow very softly; you couldn't really notice it in the bright light here.
Misato's first act on experiencing LCL for herself was to nearly vomit. "THIS IS GOD-FUCKING-AWFUL," she howled.
Having all of the Children laughing at her didn't help.
"Damn straight, it tastes terrible!," Touji said. "Nastier than anythin'."
"It is quite foul, though you tend to blank it out with time," Hikari said.
"I hardly notice it anymore," Shinji confessed.
"Is this an AT-Field?" Misato asked, studying her glow.
"Something like it," Rei said. "A sign of my power. Guide us."
Misato took her phone and punched up the coordinates. "Right. Let's go."
************
Indonesia seemed to go on forever, long enough even flying at high speed for their minds to drift and worries to try to surface.
Misato finally managed to get through to some survivors at NERV-Germany, but they seemed shellshocked; about all they could tell her was that everyone thought Ritsuko and Maya were dead. She couldn't believe that. Didn't want to believe that. Not until she saw the body. Not her too.
She could have told the Children, but it would have only hurt them. Rei knew, but Rei kept silent for whatever reason, and Misato was grateful.
And there was still hope.
Please, don't let them die, she begged the universe.
But it made no reply.
************
As the desolate ocean rolled away beneath them, Touji was starting to wonder if there was going to be anything left to defend once this was all over. Though at least no one could blame any of this on him. Damn possessin' monsters. Damn fishmen. Damn everything.
This was the end, right?
Right?
He couldn't take much more of this shit, though at least his closest friends were alive.
Except for Kensuke. But at least I set his soul free, Touji thought. That had to count for something.
Right?
****************
Hikari tried to remember when she had been a normal girl with normal worries. She could dimly remember things like homework and playing with Toonces and going to the mall and worrying about her hair and her makeup. She couldn't actually see herself now, but she had a strong feeling she looked a fright.
But it all seemed unreal, like another life. She'd lost everything. Her position as class representative, her school, her family, even her pet.
Only her friends and Touji were left and not even all of her friends. Some were scattered and she might never see them again. And some were dead.
She tried to remember her classmates. She could summon most of them to her mind's eye, but names...habits...everything felt like a blur.
Touji loves me, she told herself. And I love him. Asuka is still alive and so are Shinji and Rei and Commander Katsuragi. And I have to be strong for them. They need me. I can't believe I'm here, but I am and I have to be strong.
Because if she lost them, there would be no more reason to keep on living.
**********
Shinji stared at the landscape below, wondering what the people of Indonesia thought of the huge monstrosities flying over them. They were too high up to make out people, but he could see towns and cities and fields. Some parts of the country looked much like Japan from this high up; other parts looked like jungles, mountains, volcanos, and other wild places.
On an impulse, he sent out a command to every spider in the country to weave webs that would read 'Don't Worry, We're Only Passing Through.' Hopefully that would reassure them.
He paged Asuka. "Asuka," he said softly. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Shinji dear," she said softly. "Just feeling a little melancholy."
"Me too," he said. "Do you think this is the end?"
"I think so," Asuka said. "Unfortunately, for all that Fuyutsuki was lying to us, he also was the only person left who might be able to answer that." She sighed. "And he was on our side, sort of, at least. What a terrible way to go."
"And Makoto too," Shinji said. "Do you think..."
Asuka made a face. "She was on the rebound and would just seize anyone who came along. And you'll note she didn't take an interest UNTIL he got a girlfriend."
Shinji sighed. "She must feel terrible."
"I feel terrible. I really liked him," Asuka said. "But I've lost so much, it's hard to hurt." Her voice ached despite her words.
"I know exactly what you mean," Shinji said softly. "I don't want to go back to the old me, but I wish...I wish we could live in peace."
"Me too," Asuka said. "But without this, we would never have met. I don't know...I don't want to live without you, Shinji," she said urgently.
"I don't want to live without you either, Asuka," Shinji said, catching her urgency. "I wish I could kiss you."
"Me too," she said.
"You two trying to make out?" Misato asked, suddenly linking into the conversation.
"I wish," Asuka mumbled.
"Are we getting close, Misato?" Shinji asked.
"This is a private thing," Misato said. "Look. I'm a shitty housekeeper. I'm a terrible role model. My love life is a shambles. And I think my best friend..."
"I'm sure she's alive," Asuka said firmly, though she was lying. If they hadn't heard from Akagi-san, she was probably dead. But she couldn't tell Misato that.
"No one is dead until you see the body," Shinji said, trying to be encouraging.
"That's right," Misato said, rallying. "Damnation, this stuff still tastes god-awful."
Shinji laughed a little.
"Anyway. I want...I guess this is a stupid time to ask you, though."
"Go on," Shinji said.
"I want to be your guardian when all this is over. Until you come of majority." Misato looked down, giving them a very good view of her forehead. "I kind of like having you two around."
"I'd like that," Shinji said. "You've been...I..." He struggled to find the right words.
"There is no one else I would rather live with but you and Shinji," Asuka said flatly. "Though I am going to make you learn to cook."
"Yes, master," Misato said, then laughed. "Okay. Seriously, though, we will get through this. One way or another."
"After all we've fought, this can't possibly be too tough a fight," Shinji said. "I'm sure we'll be just fine."
"We will win," Asuka said firmly. "This time the stars are right for US."
*********
"What a shitty looking place," Touji observed, studying the new island which squatted in the South Pacific, freshly risen from the ocean floor. Looking at it made his head hurt, though; the buildings all looked distorted and wrong, like an entire city built by Escher. Cross-bridges between buildings twisted like mobius strips, but surely you weren't expected to walk upside down. Some of them jutted at extreme angles where they should have fallen down, but somehow they stayed up. Yet surely inside them you'd be constantly trying to walk uphill or to keep the furniture from sliding downhill, right?
Others twisted and bored into each other, like bamboo growing into the back of a tied-down victim of the green death. Some split into branches as you looked up them then fused back together or joined with other buildings.
Hikari and Touji had seen the city in their dreams, but it seemed even more freaky and alien now that they were awake. It didn't seem so alien to Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, who knew it was typical Xothian architecture, designed under the laws of physics which held sway on distant Xoth, where certain key principles differed from Earth; Cthulhu's power held it all together, a tiny bubble of long fallen Xoth on Earth; if he won this day, he would have enough strength to remake the Earth into a new Xoth, where the laws of physics men take for granted would no longer hold sway. If he fell, the inexorable laws of geometry would turn on once sunken Ry'leh and destroy it in a cataclysmic collapse which would smite the hordes of Deep Ones and Xothians who roamed the streets.
"I don't like it," Hikari said.
"Well, some of this would never have passed muster in the old days," Asuka said disparagingly. "You can see that whole district was made with substandard materials and there's little imagination. Just look over there, it's a total imitation of a much superior Fourth Era monolith in the Cytorrian style. It's pretty clear that..." She paused, then looked horrified. "DAMMIT."
Unit01 patted Unit02. "I know, I know," Shinji mumbled.
Misato carefully did not comment. "Asuka, Shinji, Rei, I know you don't want to dredge up Angel memories, but anything you can tell us about this place from them or where our foe is likely to be would be very good, given we don't have a feed from Polaris to guide us."
"Probably that giant ugly as fuck palace," Touji said, pointing to the huge pile of stone in the middle which had five evenly spaced leaning towers. He was pretty sure it should have collapsed under its own weight, given the way it was built. "I think it's a palace."
"Language," Hikari said firmly.
"Sorry, babe," he muttered.
Before they could go look, another building - reddish stone, with veins of purple - collapsed. Five giant blue humanoids erupted out of it, sprouting metal spines from their backs. Red leathery skin stretched between them, forming giant wings. They were Evangelion units, blue and red, with an design traced out in gold on their chests and brows - oval, trailing tendrils at its bottom, and ringed by the words "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh C'thulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
"Dammit, SEELE found the resources to actually make the planned mass-production EVA units," Misato said. "We can assume, however, that they should be weaker than you, since they haven't been fighting Angels."
Touji hoped that was a good assumption.
They were armed with long red-shafted poles, a forest of long metallic blue blades at the end, giant quinta-tridents. The shimmer of AT-fields danced along the blades as the Mass Production Units drew closer. You could read the giant stamps on their backs as they flew up: Unit06, Unit07, Unit08, Unit09, and Unit10.
As they approached, they split off, Unit06 going after Rei, Unit07 after Shinji, Unit08 after Asuka, Unit09 after Touji, and Unit10 after Hikari.
"Do not engage according to their preferences," Misato ordered. "I don't know why they decided to line up against you like this, but we don't want to find out. Touji, teleport behind Unit06 and slice its wings with your Progressive Knife. Then engage it at your discretion if that doesn't work. Hikari, engage Unit07 and keep its attention. Rei, double-team Unit07 once Hikari draws its fire. Asuka, I am giving you a hard task. Take on Unit09 and Unit10 at the same time. Evade, dodge, and so on, attacking just enough to keep them busy. Shinji, try to web up Unit08. Kill it if you can, keep it busy if you can't. Once we have one of these bastards down, we can begin double and triple-teaming them safely. These things are remote controlled, so there is no need for mercy; I don't know how they got DAGON to work, but we have to stop these things without being weakened too much to deal with the last Angel."
The Children saluted, then moved into action.
Unit02 arced upwards, then dove at Unit09 and Unit10, spewing fireballs at them, forcing them to dodge and dive. She chased them downwards, shouting imprecations in German.
Unit01 charged at an angle, parrying a thrust from a trident, then spewing webs over the head of Unit08; it began flailing blindly. Closing, Unit01 grabbed Unit08's right arm and bit down, trying to chew it off; 08 clawed at its own face with its left hand, trying to restore its sight. Its trident flopped uselessly in its right hand.
Touji concentrated, and the world erupted in stars and galaxies; he appeared behind Unit06, slashing with his knife. It turned and forced him back, attacking with considerable skill - but he'd cut one of its wings and, now it tended to wobble tremendously. This kept him alive, as he quickly realized it actually fought with much more skill than he did and had a lot more reach with its spear. But it was unstable and many of its blows went wild.
Hikari cut across the incoming enemy line to charge at Unit07, wishing she was better at this. She had the least experience of any of them, and the least power... which is why she ended up accomplishing her mission of drawing Unit07's fire by getting Unit04's arm impaled on a lance. Unit00 dived on Unit07 and took it from behind; claws dug in and drove tendrils of ice deep into its flesh, as it howled and Unit04 tried to get free from the trident spines. But now the spines were burrowing up 04's arm, following its veins, seeking its heart.
Unit09 broke left, Unit10 broke right - and now Asuka realized she'd charged down into attack range of a squad of Xothians. 'Miniature' versions of their lord, the Dream King, they were about the height of double-decker busses, and armed with Y'glai Crystalline Rods which produced Corgathic blasts. Which is to say, she found herself blasted by a barrage of energy beams, and had to raise an AT-field to defend herself. But now Unit09 and Unit10 were above her, preparing to dive-bomb her.
"HIKARI!," Touji shouted, and teleported Unit03 over to begin hacking at the trident impaling her arm. However, this left Unit06 free to come to the aid of Unit08, by driving its trident into Unit01's gut.
"SHINJI!" Asuka shouted.
"Touji, you just left Shinji vulnerable! Unit04 already has help! Get on Unit06 now! Shinji, form an AT-field and force out the trident! Hikari, do the same thing! Asuka, go full defensive!" Misato shouted.
"And I?" Rei asked from right next to her.
"You obeyed orders. Finish Unit08. Then we can help Shinji," Misato said softly to her. So did Hikari, but I will praise her later, Misato thought. She needs to focus.
Rei nodded and continued to savage Unit08.
************
Maya woke up, feeling soaked to her skin. A few swishes of her hand told her this was because she was, in fact, underwater. Her mouth and nose felt very strange; she quickly realized some sort of gelatinous gunk was filling her mouth, nose, and throat, extending over her face just enough to seal off both passages.
Ritsuko's voice said, "It's alive. It absorbs oxygen from the water and passes it to you, down your throat and into your lungs." Maya turned to look at her; she no longer had to wear the 'breathing' apparatus down here, but she looked very worried.
Maya said, "Amazing. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ritusuko said softly. "Are you?"
"I'm just fine," Maya said, then came over and kissed her gently - it felt very strange, through the gunk - then rested her forehead against Ritsuko's and whispered, "Are we being watched?"
Ritsuko's eyes had widened but now she relaxed. "Yes," she whispered.
Maya could see they were lying on a bed of very soft and comfortable moss, laid out on a smoothly polished floor of coral; the walls were also coral - but more natural, full of holes - and the ceiling likewise. There were curtains, rather than doors, made of many little beads of coral strung together on golden wires. There was a table, carved out of basalt, and 4 wicker-like chairs, sea-green in color. Four gourd-like things, purple with a sort of baby bottle-like nipple, sat on top.
Maya asked, "What are those?"
"Some sort of juice, very nutritious and tasty. You suck it out through the nozzle," Ritsuko said. "Part of the organism extends down to your stomach, so if you drink, it will transmit it there."
"Is it safe?" Maya whispered.
"I think so," Ritsuko said.
Maya drank two of them; it tasted like cocoanut to her, and she rather liked it. She now felt very hungry, though. "Aren't you going to have one?"
"I had some earlier."
"Where are we?"
"In a city of the Deep Ones, with the usual incomprehensible name which sounds like someone sneezed," Ritsuko said. "Or threw up."
Maya laughed at that, and Ritsuko's concerned face briefly quirked to a smile.
Then Ritsuko's expression crashed. "This is where Mother lives. I believe we are under the Baltic."
Two Deep Ones entered, unarmed, and spoke to Ritsuko. Ritsuko replied to them in their sibilant tongue. "Mother wishes us to dine with her," she said to Maya.
"Fine," Maya said. No point in avoiding food. If they wanted me dead, they would have killed me already, she thought.
They walked down a long, wide hallway, from which smaller ones periodically branched. Some areas had porous walls, giving glimpses of other rooms; others had walls built to conceal. Most of what Maya saw looked like various kinds of craftwork - though in one room, Deep Ones knelt and prayed, chanting to a statue of a really big Deep One.
They passed a kitchen, and Maya paused, staring into it through a hole in the wall. There was no fireplace, obviously enough, but she could see a metal box glowing as if very hot. Various fish hung from hooks over it, the water around them boiling, all of this held within a large stone-and-glass container. Two Deep Ones holding carven rods watched it very intently.
"How are they generating that much heat underwear?" Maya asked curiously.
"It's probably best we not know," Ritsuko said. "It's a sign of Mother's importance, one of her ways of showing off, that she can actually have food cooked instead of eating raw."
"She's a bigwig here?" Maya asked.
"She possesses a great deal of lore which gives her a great deal of power," Ritsuko said. "Unfortunately, she's also assimilated, and completely insane. She surrendered to the monster inside her." Ritsuko sounded angry and disdainful, but then she looked at herself, and sighed.
Maya took her hand and squeezed it. "You didn't surrender," she said firmly.
"I am sorry to drag you into this," Ritsuko said.
"I dragged myself in," Maya said. "I will follow you to the bitter end."
Several passing Deep Ones paused and stared at Ritsuko, looking confused; the two escorts shouted at them and they all bowed until their heads nearly touched the floor, then turned and ran off down a side tunnel.
Maya laughed softly, while Ritsuko looked a little embarrassed. "This place would be really neat if we weren't prisoners."
"Don't let your guard down," Ritsuko said. "This place is extremely dangerous."
Maya nodded.
The dining room had more of the wicker-style chairs, with a long table. A female Deep One sat at one end, with two more chairs placed to her right and left. Unlike most of the Deep Ones, she wore clothing - namely a robe, made mostly of seaweed, with various gems and pieces of coral set into it. If you studied it carefully, you could see they formed various arcane patterns; especially the repeated motif of an oval standing on end, with dangling, irregular lines descending from the bottom of it.
More of the gourds sat on the table, next to very fancy (and very wet) cloth napkins, silver tableware, and porcelain plates. "I would have supplied glasses but you can't drink from them here. My apologies," Ritsuko's mother said with a deep voice.
"Mother, this is my assistant, Ibuki Maya. Maya, this is my Mother, Dr. Akagi Naoko."
"You can call me Naoko," Dr. Akagi said with what was clearly supposed to be warmth, though her intonations were strange.
"Then you may call me Maya," Maya said, trying to be polite.
They soon sat down and made uncomfortable small talk. Maya felt incredibly strange; if Dr. Akagi...Naoko...wasn't an inhuman monstrosity, this would be just like she'd imagined meeting a lover's parents would be like.
But Ritsuko's mother was a frog-woman, they were deep beneath the Baltic Ocean, some sort of slime monster was in her mouth and nose and lungs and stomach enabling her to breathe, she was sucking juice out of some alien gourd and...how was coral growing in the Baltic? Isn't it tropical?
"Some species of coral are not dependent on sunlight and algae and can grow in much deeper, colder water. There is, in fact, a community of our people off the Aleutian Islands," Naoko said.
Three covered plates were brought in now; the Deep Ones carrying them pulled off the covers in unison, as if trying to show off. Each plate had a carp, some roast potatos, some kind of white and purple thing which Maya wasn't sure what it was, a small pile of green and purple goo, a pile of sliced carrots, and an apple.
Naoko immediately cut up the potatos and mashed the goo into them, so Maya did likewise, nervously. Ritsuko ignored the goo and began cutting up the carp. "I take it SEELE supplies you with all the surface foods you want?"
"This city has always been in contact with the shores, covertly. Ancient Lithuanians helped to supply us once, then the Teutonic Knights conquered them, but elements within the Knights came around soon enough. Then the Prussians, and now the Poles. Gold will always get you what you need," Naoko said. "You should try the sauce, Ritsuko."
"I don't like sauce on my fish," Ritsuko said a little petulantly.
"If you would try it, you would like it," her mother said.
Maya tried the mashed up potatos. It had a tangy, spicy taste and she rather liked it. "This is pretty good, sempai," she said. "What is it?"
"You always say that," Ritsuko snapped at her mother.
"I'm always right," she said sharply. "You close yourself off from new opportunities too much. How hard was it for you to get her to open up to you, Maya?" Her voice had shifted from hard-edged to soft and friendly when she spoke to Maya, though Maya could see she was twitching a bit.
"I had to ambush her," Maya said. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. She'd half expected to be tied to a wall with runes being drawn on her body for sacrifice by now. Though she could see why the two didn't get along.
"I thought so. Anyway, this is a mix of six or so spices with liquified Shantak brain tissue, marrow, and blood. It's a hassle to bring it over to this side of reality, but only the best for my daughter and her lover," Naoko said, again trying to sound kind, though she looked ominous.
Maya turned a little red at being referred to as such, then wondered what a Shantak was and whether it was safe to eat. "And this?" she held up the purple and white thing.
"Turnip," Naoko said.
"That sounds rather like...," Ritsuko began, sounding angry.
"It is in the style of Tcho-Tcho cuisine, yes, but there is absolutely no human in any of this," Naoko snapped at her. "We are the next stage of human evolution, humanity perfected to live in the majority of this planet, the ocean. We are higher beings, but we do not eat humans any more than you would eat a Neanderthal. Mind you, some of the early Cro-Magnon were not so picky, but they were barbarian thugs and killers." Naoko shook her head, her voice wobbling from anger to civilized. "I want you to join us, not turn into ghouls." She said this as if Ritsuko was a small child who had to be reminded not to eat cat food. "You and your lover, of course."
Ritsuko paused in the middle of eating fish and stared at her mother. "What?"
"She is your lover, correct?"
For a moment, Ritsuko's mouth moved soundlessly. Maya stuffed food in her own mouth. Eating with this stuff was very strange; she could feel it move inside her mouth as she chewed, which was rather creepy. But it all tasted so good.
Even if she didn't know what a Shantak was.
"She doesn't act ashamed of you in public, does she?" Naoko asked Maya curiously.
"I AM NOT ASHAMED OF MAYA," Ritsuko shouted, trembling with anger. "I could never be ashamed of her!"
"Sempai is always very kind to me," Maya said firmly.
"Then kiss her," Naoko said.
"I can't kiss her from across the table," Ritsuko said a little petulantly.
"You have feet, you know," her mother said.
"It's okay, sempai," Maya said. She turned to Naoko. "She gets embarrassed when I kiss her in public, but that's just cute."
Ritsuko said, "I do not get embarrassed." Maya found this to be cute too, though she knew it wasn't true. But that was okay. Maya rather enjoyed embarrassing her sometimes.
"Well, if you're ashamed to kiss your lover in public, I suppose there's nothing to be done. You always were stubborn," Naoko said, then ate some of her own food.
Maya put some of the sauce on her fish and tried it; it was really good. Then, suddenly, Ritsuko was standing over her, bending down with her eyes shut and then they kissed and Maya got some crumbs of fish and sauce into Ritsuko's mouth; Ritsuko tasted a little strange herself, but Maya didn't care, kissing her firmly. For a moment, she thought Ritsuko was crying, but you couldn't really tell as any tears blended right into the water.
Naoko applauded. "See? Not hard at all."
"I hate you," Ritsuko snapped at her mother and stormed back to her seat.
"But I love you and you clearly love her," Naoko said. "Which is why I've brought you here to make you an offer. Your side has lost. NERV's main bases have been destroyed, Dr. Fuyutsuki is dead and only Commander Katsuragi and the Children of Adam survive. But they will soon be defeated by SEELE's own Evangelion units, piloted by DAGON capsules. Then they will let our Lord, the King of Dreams, the Master of our race, devour them and he will take their power and ascend. This world now belongs to us. You cannot hope to defy our Master."
"I will sooner DIE than bow to an alien monster with delusions of grandeur!," Ritsuko snapped, pointing with her fork for emphasis.
"You were always stupidly stubborn," Naoko snapped back angrily, then shook for a few seconds, then forced herself calm, though her voice was tense. She took a moment to gobble down some carrots, then breathed hard until her breathing gradually calmed. "And you bring out the worst in me."
"You surrendered to the worst in you and told me to surrender too," Ritsuko almost hissed.
"So you're offering us protection?" Maya asked, trying to calm them down.
"Yes," Naoko said. "I can, in fact, make you like Ritsuko, so you would no longer need the Abra'crtha and would be safe here. Instead of living under the risk that the priests would select you for the breeding pits, or insist on you being sent to the mines, or any of a variety of other terrible things which could happen."
"You mean..." Maya said hesitantly. "Physically."
"Yes," Naoko said. "It is among the many fruits of research on Adam," she said. "The leadership of SEELE will be undergoing this process once victory is guaranteed and the ability to pass in human society is no longer needed. It is rather expensive and requires hard to acquire materials and supplies that are limited now that Adam is dead, but I am quite willing to expend them to transform you as well, so the two of you can be together forever."
"Forever?" Maya squeaked.
"Forever. We are immortal and never die, barring accident, disease, violence, and the like. Imagine spending an eternity with the woman you love, free of the ravages of time," Naoko said kindly to Maya.
For a moment, Maya lost herself in a fantasy of what that would be like. To be with sempai forever, ferreting out all the mysteries of the universe.
"And what is the catch?" Ritsuko asked, stabbing her carp and cutting it viciously.
"What catch? Eternal life with the one you love and all the mysteries of the universe to explore. You'd be working for me, which I suppose you'd think is a 'catch', Ritsuko," Naoko said, sounding amused. "No signing over your soul, or murdering your friends or whatever you're expecting me to ask of you. Don't you want to be with Maya forever?"
Ritsuko said, "Of course I do! But there's no such thing as eternity!" She pounded her fist on the table. "And you're asking her to give up her humanity!"
"To become more than human. Immortal and ageless, adapted to live in the vast majority of this planet better than any human. You think Ritsuko is beautiful, don't you, Maya?" Naoko asked.
Maya thought the Deep Ones were hideous and inhuman and creepy, though it was oddly easy to almost forget that Naoko was a Deep One. But Ritsuko was beautiful to her, whatever might happen. "Yes," she said softly. She didn't know what to think. She didn't want to spend forever surrounded by inhuman monsters who raped human women to breed more of themselves. It was easy to forget, sitting her and bantering with Ritsuko's mother as if this was a normal 'meet the parents' date. But they were terrible monsters who did terrible things and sacrificed to an alien god who wanted to destroy mankind.
But she could almost forget that, here and now.
Which was probably what Naoko wanted her to do.
She shivered, not sure what to do. Eternity with sempai...but to give up her humanity as the price.
"Can we have some privacy to discuss this?" Ritsuko asked tensely.
"Of course. Yell for me when you wish me to return." Naoko swept out of the room, leaving them alone.
*************
Touji shattered the haft of Unit07's trident, but the head continued to burrow into Unit04, snaking its way up through the shoulder; the will of its pilot and that of Hikari clashing violently, the shoulder of Unit04 pulsing and throbbing and distorting into hideous shapes as energy and wills thrashed wildly inside it.
"HELP SHINJI NOW!" Misato barked at Touji.
"I can't just abandon Hikari!" Touji said, putting Unit03's arms on Unit04 and trying to help her.
Asuka called upon the power of Rahab; and while the two EVA Mass Production Units diving towards her resisted it, the Xothians suddenly stiffened - no longer able to move their arms to aim, their limbs to move, or their mouths to breathe. Their bodies turned leathery and darkened to brown, then grey, until finally they looked like statues of Xothians. But their minds lived on, trapped inside an immortal, unchanging, ageless shell, unable to see or smell or hear or taste or touch, locked in with themselves forever. This was the gift of Ghathanoa. Unchanging immortality. Never to age, never to die, never to know the fading of mind and body. Left alone forever to contemplate eternity, until the stars went out and the universe went cold or fell in on itself to return to the cosmic womb.
In theory.
In practice, Unit09 and Unit10 drove Unit02 into the ground, and several of them were broken into shards, quickly crumbling to leathery grey dust as the mass-production Evas pinned her to the ground with their tridents, howling in triumph.
Unit01 lost its grip on Unit08's arm; but the mangled arm now lay helplessly at its side, flopping wildly as it moved. 08 switched its trident to its left hand and prepared to press the attack which Unit06 had begun on Unit01. Meanwhile, Unit01 grabbed Unit06's trident with one hand, trying to pull it out as the tines began searching through the chest cavity for Shinji's entry plug. Unit01's other arm became a serpent, which now latched onto Unit06's face and began to pump deadly poison into Unit06's head. It began to turn green and to distort as every vein and artery inside it started expanding to several times normal size. Green lines ran down its skin towards its 'heart'... but it was clear the tines would reach Shinji before the poison reached the heart. And now Unit08 drove its trident into Unit01's chest, and its tines began to seek his entry plug as well.
The sun now set. Darkness descended upon them, the stars glittering high above in a pattern long anticipated. And down below them, two great stone doors began slowly moving.
Hordes of Xothians closed on Unit02, armed with appropriately scaled versions of the mass production tridents, like Lilliputians preparing to pin down Gulliver or ants swarming a sleeping man. Unit 02 flailed, trying to force out the tridents as they sought out Asuka's Entry Plug, to pierce it and her.
"TOUJI! HELP SHINJI NOW!" Misato shouted angrily. Then she noticed her skin was paling, and her hair starting to take on a bluish tinge. Her elder sign necklace was shimmering and sparking, and she could see things, flows of energy she was pretty sure no human eye should see. "Rei, I think I'm in trouble."
Rei made no reply, savaging Unit07 as fast as she could with claws and ice blades and fangs at once. It was clear her attention for shielding Misato was flagging. Misato didn't know what this would do but it could not possibly be good.
But she would have to risk it; Rei needed her attention on the battle. Especially since Touji was busy wildly stabbing Unit07 and shouting INSTEAD OF HELPING SHINJI.
Far below, a great stone door fell to the ground, crushing several dozen Xothians. A hideous green glow shone forth, casting shadows and drowning out the stars.
Misato could see the entry plug of Shinji's EVA crack now; three tines broke through, heading for his body, and she stared in horror. "No! SHINJI!" she and Rei shouted in unison.
Asuka howled incoherently, and flames rushed everywhere, turning onrushing Xothians into piles of ash. She tried to blast Unit08 and Unit06, but Unit09 and Unit10 shielded them with AT-fields while driving their tridents home, and now the tines were almost to her entry plug.
Only a few months ago, Shinji would have simply died. Not just because of a lack of power, but because of a lack of will. He had been unformed clay, drifting with the current, not living, but surviving. He had nothing to live for, he was just too weak to end it all. He hadn't chosen to pilot EVA; his father had chosen for him, forced the choice on him. And he had caved in because his entire way of life was based on caving in to all demands that could not be run away from.
That was what SEELE was counting on, broken Pilots, whose wills would snap when it came to the final crisis, so their power could be devoured by docile hunting dogs, who themselves would be eaten by their master, the Dream King, who would reshape the Earth into the veritable eidoleon of now long dead Xoth, the world of his birth. In that world, they would rule, immortal, ageless, and serene.
This was their plan, their dream towards which they had worked for untold aeons, piecing together clues and hints and messages from dreams and prophecies, messages from their masters. They would rule, rule as Kings and Queens, as GODS, sharing in the power of their Master, worshipped by all.
And as the tines touched his flesh, Shinji knew their dreams for delusions. The Dream King did not share power and he cared nothing for his worshippers. They were humans who had put together a web of delusions to give meaning to their lives, to give them hope in a cold and empty world that did not care if they lived or died but would inexorably kill them, however well they might cheat death for a time with machines and the arcane sciences.
Even now, the Dream King's mind flooded into theirs, filling them with ecstasy, as the shields fell away which had protected humanity from the madness inevitable when alien minds touched human ones. But even for the corrupt and warped minds of the leaders of SEELE, the touch of the his Mind, the very call of Cthulhu itself, was too much. A drunkard might consume a lot more alcohol with less effect than an ordinary person, but if he drank enough, he would still die of alcohol poisoning. And so it would be with them; their pleasure would mount until it became pain and then their minds would be scoured away, leaving only fleshy shells to eventually be eaten by fish. Even the Deep Ones would perish, for they were wretched chimera, part Xothian and part human, wretched abominations in the sight of the Dream King; even their memory would be destroyed by him as they perished so that they would not even haunt his dreams with their twisted, hideous, mutated, imperfect bodies. Their faithful service would meet the end of all faithful service--death and eternal nothingness. He would not even remember them.
And no one would remember Shinji, Unit06 promised. Wasn't that what he wanted? Sweet oblivion, never to have to struggle or strive or be forced to do things again? This world was doomed; even now, the Dream King's power was beginning to touch the world, even now, the visions of his glory flooded every mind, even now, humanity was prepared for the slaughter. Did he really want to fight on and have to see all that and know it was his fault? Why not just give up?
The final door shook and cracked and rumbled and a single star slowly crept across the sky, seeking its destined place for all things to find their perfection in the one who had slept in death and now came to life, the King of Dreams and Flesh, the last of the Children of K'kansh on ancient Xoth, who had risen from a hapless child to the final master and avatar of his race.
Bow to him and perish, Unit06 whispered to Shinji. Then you will be free.
The Shinji believed in by SEELE would have given up. He would have caved in and snapped under the pressure and surrendered. That Shinji was a weak and lonely boy with no friends, no family, no hope and no reason to continue to exist but pure animal instinct.
That Shinji was the last and most fatal of the delusions of SEELE and their creations, the DAGON units which drove the Mass Production Evas, which responded now not to SEELE's commands but those of their master, the Dream King. And so it was his delusion too.
That Shinji was dead.
The Shinji who grabbed the tines with his hands, forcing them together into a single long spearpoint, was another Shinji entirely. He didn't really fight for humanity. He didn't fight for faith, for he didn't really believe in anything he couldn't see. He fought for people, not for abstractions. He fought for his family. Asuka. Rei. Misato. Touji. Hikari. All of them here. All of them depending on him. All of them fighting by his side. He would not fail them.
His entire body glowed with an AT-Field, and now it rushed up the spear towards the hands of Unit06. He fought for the dead. His mother, Yui. His father, Gendo. Commander Fuyutsuki. Makoto. Shigeru. Kaji. Anna. Kensuke. And all the others who had perished because of this endless, stupid game of the gods!
They had not died just on Earth. World after world had been put to the test by the Herald of the Outer Gods, the Crawling Chaos, the Blind Ape of Truth. Nyarlathotep. Who put every world to the test, a test that was always failed. A test he believed must inevitably be failed, and every failure reassured him that it was not his fault his own world had been destroyed. That he was not a filthy traitor who sold out his own race for power; that it was nothing but the inevitable way of the world.
Xoth. Celeano. Yuggoth. Alabraxas. M'kare. Shirrioth. Calabnur. Sarnath. The Kingdom of Joy. World upon world destroyed by outside conquest - or destroying itself, by fighting fire with fire, and burning alive as its defenders became what they fought.
The spear now turned into another giant snake, its head next to the hand that weilded Unit06's trident. He fought for all these worlds in his memories, the worlds destroyed by those whose power he bore, that the Earth might not join their ranks. And he fought especially for the dream of the Kingdom of Joy, in whose story he was now entangled.
And now that head vomited spiders and snakes and disgusting creepy crawling things which mixed aspects of crab and snake and bat and cat and dog and wolf and chicken and pig and fish and all the other living things of Earth, and they swarmed over Unit06 and ate it alive, for all animals must kill to continue to live, in the end, all things are the vampires they fear.
And Shinji felt another will beside him, inside him, outside him, moving through multiple dimensions at once and now Unit01 moved of its own accord and seized Unit08's trident, pulling it out of Unit01 and hurling the trident to Unit00, which caught it.
"Through the head, Rei!" Misato commanded, and she felt the trident pierce Unit07's brain, felt the ecstasy of power as she and Rei and Unit00 found its soul and drained it, crumbling it to dust which turned to dull flakes of flesh, that rained down upon the lone, crumbling giant door below, which was now breaking apart into rubble. Misato screamed with pleasure the likes of which she had never known. Her flesh rippled and shifted, barely keeping its integrity and she and Rei lost themselves in the pleasure of victory.
Unit06 was dying now as it was eaten alive and Shinji drank down the power and moaned as the pleasure of victory flowed through him. Vengeance and victory at once.
Unit03 was freed by Unit07's death, and now Unit03 and Unit04 attacked the unarmed Unit08 in unison, mauling it in a crazed frenzy. They held Unit08's spear together; it had repaired itself by their power, and they drove it deep into Unit08 and began to devour his essence through it.
Unit02 now stretched its arms and grabbed her foes, impaling them on their own tridents, which now connected both of them to her. One of the tridents sprouted into feeding tendrils and began to suck the fluids and power out of Unit09. The other turned into black, inky fluid and flowed up into Unit10's brain; Unit10 then turned on and began to eat Unit09 alive, even as the black inky fluid, connected to Unit02 by a slender thread, consumed more of its own flesh, hollowing it out into a mere shell full of inky darkness.
The Dream King emerged. A cyclopean beast with the rough form of a man - though great green greasy tentacles protruded from his chin, acquired when he slew one of Rhan-Tegoth's kin. And great gelatinous wings, stolen from the fallen world of Alabraxas, and long claws on his fingers which once had belonged to Ytur'gna, who had tried to defend Celeano from his hunger. He was larger even than the EVA units, towering over his Xothian kin, themselves large enough to dwarf an ordinary human. And his mind now shone forth unhampered over all the world, even as his defenders fell.
But he was confident, for the Earth was not the first world he had smashed to splinters and remade in his own image in accord with his fantasy of what his own world had been like before he had annihilated it in his quest for power. He was confident, for he had always given death and never tasted it.
He gazed upon the Children as the last bits of the Dagon Units were either devoured or subverted. That did not make him afeared. He feared nothing; all other life was contemptible and only the Stars and the Outer Gods could not be defied and devoured in his experience. His mind rushed against them, but it bounced off their AT-fields.
Across the Earth, heads exploded as he pushed against them and against all of mankind and many others collapsed in agony. Riots erupted across the equatorial belt as already stressed humans slid into primal rage. His rage, riding them. They could not resist his power.
But these before him were not the broken, empty, weak fools he was used to fighting and devouring. They had lost everything, everything but each other. Their dead formed a nearly endless litany, but they had not been broken by death. The memories which haunted them had not devoured them. Rather, they had been forged into weapons by their joint suffering and death and pain, but they had also been forged into a family, a pack, a nakama by the power and the love they shared.
They wanted his heart and THEY WOULD HAVE IT. This ended here and now.
Misato could hardly think. The hunger was upon her and her body kept changing, and it terrified her and it felt so right. These were her children, and she had taught them and she had loved them and she would lead them. But she could feel the instincts of Unit00; it had been prepared for this day. They could all feel it, their EVAs moving without the need for concious thought, guided by a common purpose, a common mind, a common soul.
They spread out around the Dream King as he took to the skies, as his mind pressed upon theirs, as his worshippers and followers clutched their heads and died of ecstasy and agony at once in the streets below as he threw all his strength at them. Without their presence, this would have slain most of humanity in a storm of thought.
But they had formed a pentagon around him and now they held out the lances they had claimed for themselves, Unit02 tossing its extra lance to Unit04, so all could wield one. Lines of light, shimmering AT-Fields rushed out between them, forming a five pointed star and in the middle was the Dream King.
And a woman's voice began to speak the words of an ancient rite and Misato's Elder Sign necklace glowed like the sun, but she no longer needed eyes to see for she could see with her skin and her hair and the visual spectrum is so limited anyway.
Unseen and ignored, screens within the EVAs blinked the message 'CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE INITIATED. Hearthstone: IKARI YUI.'
Five AT-Fields closed in on the Dream King, crushing him ever tighter and tighter, five crossing fields forming an ever shrinking inner pentagon to match the outer, constricting him until his flesh became so dense, it ignited into flame of a kind unnatural to the Earth, but sweet nectar to the Children.
They spoke in unison, allowing themselves to be guided, and Misato spoke too, for she had been there at the beginning, the last witness to the end of the old world and the beginnings of the birth pangs of a new one. And now the final remnant of the old world was under attack.
The Dream King's dreams all turned to nightmares and his power turned in on itself, as the Children began to devour it and to weave it into great throbbing webs of dream, bridging the gap between dream and waking once guarded by Matriel, Atlach-Nacha, whose soul now rested inside Unit00 and Unit01 and the First and Third Child.
His flesh became a doorway of light between dreaming and waking and his mind collapsed in on itself and his final sight before oblivion were once gentle brown eyes through which now he glimpsed the center of the universe where great Azathoth howls and thrashes and burbles idiot melodies to the blind, arrythmic pipings of twisted monstrosities whose job it is to keep the King of Creation from destroying it in his mindless rage and whim.
The universe was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
And that was the last thing he would ever see or realize.
As his body became living flame, a living doorway where dreams and flesh could meet, the Ceremony of Innocence was loosed upon the world.
**************
"Mother cannot be trusted," Ritsuko said flatly. "She's given herself to the darkness. And she wants us to do the same. Sell out the human race for our personal benefit." Her voice was tight with anger. "She let it slip, just a little. Mines, breeding pits...they may not eat humanity, but they'll rape half of it and work the other half to death." She shivered. "And Mother approves of that."
Even an eternity with Ritsuko would be no good if it meant being part of that. "You're right, sempai," she said softly. "I wouldn't mind spending forever with you, but not like that."
"There is no such thing as forever," Ritsuko said harshly. "That's nothing but a delusion." Her voice now softened. "But I would gladly spend the rest of my years with you, Maya. Unless we are lucky, however, that will be more like the rest of my minutes." She sighed. "I am sorry, you would not be stuck here if not for me."
"While there is life, there is hope," Maya said. "If we're going to die anyway, we have nothing to lose by trying to escape."
Ritsuko nodded. She placed herself by the door, holding two of the sharp knives for cutting the fish. "Come in!" she shouted.
Naoko walked in. "What is..."
Then the knives plunged into her eyes.
"I will die a woman instead of a thing," Ritsuko said, pulling out the knives and slashing Naoko's throat with them. Naoko made gurgling noises and slowly fell down, clutching at her throat as blood poured everywhere. Maya stepped forward, but Ritsuko waved her back and kept stabbing until Naoko's blood was rising everywhere in streamers, obstructing vision and spreading out to darken the water.
"It's just like you, Mother, that the one time you do something nice for me, I have to kill you." Ritsuko was shaking and laughing hysterically. "You're a monster. I did the right thing..." She was crying and laughing at once and this scared Maya more than any of the physical transformations ever had. "Damn you, Mother. Damn you."
Maya forced herself past her fear to hug Ritsuko, though Ritusko quickly shook herself loose and now Maya felt some of the blood wash onto her, staining her soggy clothing.
"We can't stay. We must go, even if we don't know where to go."
They started running, but very quickly, a horn blew and increasing numbers of Deep Ones began to chase them. They swam as fast as they could, but the Deep Ones were in their element, abandoning the habit of walking to swim after them. More moved ahead to road block them and they found themselves trapped at a four way intersection.
"This is the end, I'm sorry," Ritsuko said softly.
"There is no one I would rather die with than you," Maya said, swishing around the table knife she'd taken with her, in a manner she hoped was menacing.
"I would rather die and you live but if we must both die, then to die with you by my side is best," Ritsuko said. "I...I love you, Maya."
"I love you too, Ritsuko," Maya said softly, then quickly kissed her, though the goo in her mouth and nose got in the way and it ended up like trying to kiss through jelly. An entire jar of it.
The Deep Ones were approaching, but oddly slowly. Why weren't they finishing this? Ritsuko tried to figure it out, but unless they feared...
They must fear I possess some of Mother's lore and will do something hideous to the first to attack, she thought.
Ritsuko began babbling, half-remembered fragments of words. "Y'nagg Achtir'neh K'ylagh Brazzt Mic'ir'los!" she shouted and waved her hands in a wide arc. Her own veins seemed to ignite and she gave a blood curdling howl of pain, praying she hadn't just killed herself somehow.
Then a voice spoke in her mind, a woman's voice, one she'd known somewhere, some time, hadn't she? BRK'NAK. And the burning in her veins ceased.
And now the Deep Ones staggered, howling and clutching their heads, eyes rolling back as they fell to the ground writhing. Soon were they were still; though clearly alive, as their gills worked busily.
Be not afraid, the voice whispered in Ritsuko and Maya's minds. You have fought valiantly and well and in the new world, virtue will be rewarded as it was not in this one. Now rest.
Exhaustion took Maya and Ritsuko as they stared around in confusion and tried to figure out if they were going crazy. Maya landed on Ritsuko and then there was only silence and the working of many gills.
**************
SEELE had gathered for its moment of triumph. More precisely, they were meeting virtually, each of them esconsced in their own place of power, but projecting their images magically or electronically to a single location, where Keel Lorenz sat at the head of the table enjoying the fruits of centuries of work. He had sustained himself through the lore of SEELE in a variety of ways, defying the passage of time -- stealing bodies, being resurrected by the same ancient alchemy Fuyutsuki had once used to revive Gendo when Gendo had first died, rejuvenating those bodies which had proven most useful by arcane means, whatever worked.
He had even been forced to turn to cybernetics to sustain himself after Second Impact; the alchemical resurrection had brought him back afterwards, but was warped and twisted by the energies he had absorbed, forcing them to cut away portions of his flesh and replace them with metal. When his God triumphed, when the world was remade, then he would be given new flesh. True immortality for himself and all the leaders of Seele. The technicians stood by for the moment of triumph. Finally he would be free of these clumsy, aging, dying shells he had haunted for so long.
He could feel the power of his God in the air, feel the visions which rushed through his mind and those of his compatriots. They sat silently, lost in ecstasy as they experienced visions of their Master's home and his triumph over the Children.
It was the greatest pleasure he'd ever experienced. The greatest imaginable. His body was too dried up for any sort of sexual release, indeed, it just barely functioned, as he'd neglected it in the rush of work needed to get to this day. And after so long, even the arcane was failing him in terms of life extension, and technology could only do so much.
Except then...
There was a presence, a woman. He could see her in his mind's eyes, standing in the middle of the visions his Master gave him, though she could not be seen with his physical eyes. She blazed with light, light that forced him to his knees within his mind. The AT-Field pinned him in place and she stepped into the cockpit of his mind and he knew her.
Ikari Yui, the wife of Gendo, who had died in the first experiments with Unit00. Or so they all had thought. And in the knowing, his mental speaking of her name, she took the mastery over him, totally and completely, casting him down from the seat of his reason, to grovel before her, wicked and withered. For she wielded the Violator's power now, along with that of many other gods. This vision of glory and triumph was only an illusion she had fed them to keep them from being aware of her victory until it was too late.
He tried to rise up but he could not; she held him down with contemptuous ease, and then she took command of his physical form, raising his withered hands into the sign known as the Dragon's Tail descending. Then, slowly, painfully, she forced his lips to move in the ancient formula whose first half had helped to return him from the grave so many times.
OGTHROD AI'F
He grovelled before her on the floor inside his mind as she spoke through him in the world of flesh. "No! Please! Mercy!"
GEB'L-EE'H
With the second word, his body froze in the sign of the Dragon's Tail, but all his allies were lost in imaginary ecstasies, unable to percieve his plight.
YOG-SOTHOTH
The Dread Name of Yog-Sothoth echoed through his mind and through the meeting room, but none could hear it, though his allies felt a nameless dread overcome them, even in the middle of the dream-forged ecstasies of victory which still shielded them from the deadly truth. Unseen by any, tiny bubbles began to rise out of his clothing and his body began to twist and bend, shrinking in on itself, limbs contorting. Several fingers fell off and his visor now burned with tiny stars.
'NGAH'NG AI'Y
The fourth word echoed and the room shook and his body fell to the floor, parts of it swelling hideously, others shrinking and yet others crumbling to dust. The stars blazed in his visor and shone before his vision within the dream, and now all doubt was gone, the ecstasy shattered and he saw the great starry void and the tiny bubbles of light within it, the pleasant dreams of all his ancient allies, all the masters of SEELE, and the strings which connected them and billions of other dreams in a great web, and at its center sat a throne and on the throne sat Ikari Yui clad in glory, wearing the rainment of the stars. Upon her brow was a crown of orichalcum and set into it were stars and planets and galaxies and her eyes blazed with fire and ice.
"Mercy," he begged. "I can serve you well."
Flanking the throne were two men, and he knew them as well and in the knowing, he knew there could be no mercy for him or for any within SEELE. "TRAITORS!" he shouted. "You will..."
And his lips in the physical world betrayed him.
ZHRO!
And with that final syllable, the body of Keele Lorenz, the Ancient of Days, the Eldest of Men, crumbled away into a fine blue-grey powder. A few cybernetic parts sat atop the dust, caving in on themselves as the gravity of a thousand tiny stars tore them apart. And then the lights winked out and there was only darkness, and the agonized howling of the rest of SEELE as fate took them.
DOOM came to SEELE.
****
For in the end, none may resist she who sits upon the throne, the Hearthstone of the Ceremony of Innocence, the Queen of Light and Darkness, the Victor of the Game of the Gods, the new Soul of the Elder Gods.
And she spoke her command. LET THERE BE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.
As she commanded, so it would be, for there were none to resist her, no not one.
And she looked upon her works and judged that they were good.
Goddess is in her heaven...all's right with the world.
***
This is about the first third of the final chapter.
tsukino_kage
Enraged and Suicidal
Ah Bailesu-sama, so it seems you have returned from whatever passes for death on the internet. Given what you write, I hope no dark necromantic rituals were involved 
.
Seriously, what I'm really waiting for is Parallel Lives, or a new installment to the Sailormoon Z Universe (My personal favorite is Dance of Shiva. For an old drama assignment back in high school over 10, count them, 10 years ago, I read an excerpt of it to the class. Really, it was a Catholic school and I just picked the part about the priest saying bad things about the dead because I wanted to dig at the institution a little. It was the rebel in me.)
.Seriously, what I'm really waiting for is Parallel Lives, or a new installment to the Sailormoon Z Universe (My personal favorite is Dance of Shiva. For an old drama assignment back in high school over 10, count them, 10 years ago, I read an excerpt of it to the class. Really, it was a Catholic school and I just picked the part about the priest saying bad things about the dead because I wanted to dig at the institution a little. It was the rebel in me.)
Ah Bailesu-sama, so it seems you have returned from whatever passes for death on the internet. Given what you write, I hope no dark necromantic rituals were involved
Seriously, what I'm really waiting for is Parallel Lives, or a new installment to the Sailormoon Z Universe (My personal favorite is Dance of Shiva. For an old drama assignment back in high school over 10, count them, 10 years ago, I read an excerpt of it to the class. Really, it was a Catholic school and I just picked the part about the priest saying bad things about the dead because I wanted to dig at the institution a little. It was the rebel in me.)
We did finish Sailor Moon Z; it's up on the website.
I've been poking away a bit at a short first person Naru story set two years later, but I don't actually have a good plot idea for it, just scene bits. ^^;;
I may eventually revive Parallel Lives, but at the time I was writing it, it rarely got any response and felt like I was dropping it into the Audient Void.
arthurh3535
Writer
Heh. I think I need a plot synopsis of where everything was before this. I don't actually have time to go re-read it and remember where it was at.
In Slouching Towards Bethlehem:
The Kids moped a lot, then headed for the Pacific to go kick Cthulhu's ass.
Then Deep Ones overran Nerv-Germany, Akane got taken over due to having sworn the Unspeakable Oath to Hastur in her cultist days, and lots of minor characters died horribly.
Fade Out on a Burning Nerv-Germany
Xon
Staff
We've been having some problems. ^^;; Though I can access my website right now, anyway.
consequences
Worst! Derailer!! Ever!!!
First third, well that leaves plenty of time for everything to turn to shit in as-yet unanticipated ways.
Silly Seele, thinking that one on one odds would be sufficient. If they'd brought more to the party, they might have carried the day simply by virtue of repeated stab wounds.
Silly Seele, thinking that one on one odds would be sufficient. If they'd brought more to the party, they might have carried the day simply by virtue of repeated stab wounds.
RazorSmile
ROU Once A Knife Missile
I think I'm going to have to read the first 23 chapters of this now. I'd love to see just how
got deposed.
Nyarlathotep
Y'know, John, I've mentioned before... I'm still waiting on The Summer People. 
Y'know, John, I've mentioned before... I'm still waiting on The Summer People.
Pretty much when I was writing that, there was only one person who ever responded to it, so I eventually lost motivation to continue.
First third, well that leaves plenty of time for everything to turn to shit in as-yet unanticipated ways.
Silly Seele, thinking that one on one odds would be sufficient. If they'd brought more to the party, they might have carried the day simply by virtue of repeated stab wounds.
Well, it's called 'limited resources'. Even mass-production EVA don't come cheap especially since the main source of LCL got destroyed in an earlier episode.
Biles, would you be adverse towards putting up copies of some of your works in our archives?
That was probably me, two pen names ago. It's a shame you're not going to be continuing Summer People. I always found that alternative-Camelot where the legend ended differently to be memorable.
It's also a little disconcerting to think that, when I originally read Summer People and Sailor Moon Z, I was in junior high... and now I (substitute) teach junior high.
Archives?
The alternative-Camelot was a lot of fun.
And I teach people who were not born yet when I was their age. That'll make you feel old. ^^;;
Ben Who Devours
Hater Eternal
Wow...Children of an Elder God is back?
Nice.
You know, I read CoaEG and saw EVA + read the manga...And it was pretty hard to tell which was better (so CoaEG got a little weird
Nice.
You know, I read CoaEG and saw EVA + read the manga...And it was pretty hard to tell which was better
(so CoaEG got a little weird
Y'golonac-Rei, some stuff like that
, but then again EVA did the same so its all good
Hmm, yeah, I could do that.
CoaEG has definitely rocked since Day One. But then, so have a lot of your stories.
Try reposting Summer People here, or Children of Fire, and see what happens... maybe try TFF, too....
Try reposting Summer People here, or Children of Fire, and see what happens... maybe try TFF, too....
tsukino_kage
Enraged and Suicidal
I don't mean Sailormoon Z itself but sequels to it like Black Moon Rising and Dance of Shiva (Which were finished earlier actually
)But thank you for the update.
Good God, it's you!
This means I'll have to get around to reading the few bits I missed- I stopped reading around 22, or so, but even back on the WAR I was reading CoeEG and loving it. Nice to see your return to the internet- and gods, on SB too. *Dances*
This means I'll have to get around to reading the few bits I missed- I stopped reading around 22, or so, but even back on the WAR I was reading CoeEG and loving it. Nice to see your return to the internet- and gods, on SB too. *Dances*