Words from the Author:

This episode is going to be very dramatic from what I can see from the idea I have in my head. Improvising is my bread and butter, so the abuse of it will continue like usual. Taking that into consideration, I might throw in some action, but you all will have to wait and see. I would like to now apologize to all of those who don't like how I went with my story, but I just wanted it to be different from most Eva fics. The whole Shinji and Asuka pairing has been played out too much in other fan fiction stories, although I do approve of that pairing as the one that should happen in the actual series. I actually would have been fine pairing Mari with Nero, but I just decided not to. Sorry if it isn't to your liking. Neon Genesis Evangelion is sole property of Gainax and I do not plan on using this story in any way to gain money or slander the good name of Gainax and their dedicated workers. I'm just doing this to entertain others with my vision of a second season of Evangelion. That is all. Enjoy.

Episode 22: Friend Or Foe? The Return Of The True Fifth Child

The main focus starts off in Gendo's office. Gendo and Fuyutsuki are currently looking at Kaworu, who's at a small distance away from Gendo's desk. Like always, Gendo is sitting at his desk with Fuyutsuki standing to his right as Misato, Ritsuko and Kaji have just entered the room. They're then completely caught off guard by the sight of Kaworu being there while he's looking at them with a calm smile. Kaworu stands towards the left side of the room while Misato, Kaji and Ritsuko are towards the right side. So from Gendo and Fuyutsuki's point of view, Kaworu's on the right while Misato, Kaji and Ritsuko are on the left.

Misato looks at Kaworu with a shocked expression as she yells out, "What the?!" Misato quickly turns her attention towards Gendo while pointing at Kaworu with her left hand. "What's the 17th Angel doing here?!" She then looks back at Kaworu while putting her hand down. "Not to mention the fact that you're alive! Shinji killed you! So how are you...?!"

Kaworu continues to smile while cocking his head slightly towards the right. "Is it not obvious? How are all of you alive?"

Misato's eyes widen after figuring out what Kaworu meant while pulling her head back a little. She then gets very irritated while glaring at him. "So Shinji brought you back too, huh?"

Kaworu contentedly nods and then veers his gaze away from Misato. "Yes, he did. Though he did not do it intentionally." He turns his attention back to Misato, shuts his eyes and smiles. "I just got lucky."

Kaji steps into the conversation as he's standing to Misato's right with concern brimming on his face while his focus is on Kaworu. "Well that aside, what are you doing here? From what I've heard, you were an ally of SEELE before Shinji killed you."

Kaworu calmly glances at Kaji as he responds. "That is true. In fact, I was still an ally of SEELE up until not too long ago."

With her attention still on Kaworu, Misato becomes a bit confused. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Kaworu smirks while calmly turning to face Gendo. "Like I said before, I am going to tell you the purpose for me being here. I am also going to make you an offer that you will surely accept considering how much it will benefit NERV."

Gendo gives Kaworu a curious look as he's briefly in his usual pose until getting up from his chair with his hands placed on the desk and leans forward a little. "I'm listening."

Kaworu momentarily pauses while looking down at the floor and then returns his attention to Gendo with a composed demeanor. "I am here to keep a promise I made to Nero."

Seriousness takes over Gendo's expression due to what Kaworu had said while thinking, "A promise to Nero?"

At the same time, Misato's mildly shocked and then promptly asks Kaworu with concern, "You made a promise to Nero?! What kind of promise?!"

Kaworu turns his attention towards the right to focus on Misato with no real emotion showing. "If Nero defeated me... Then I would join you."

Ritsuko's a bit confused by Kaworu's words while standing at a small distance behind Misato as she watches the red-eyed boy. "Defeat you? Does that mean you two fought each other?"

Kaworu nonchalantly looks at Ritsuko before nodding. "Yes, and we had agreed that if he won, I would join NERV."

Kaji makes a slightly curious expression as he asks with a firm tone, "Did that fight cause the destruction of SEELE's hideout in Canada?"

Kaworu directs his concentration to Kaji with some seriousness displayed and then gives out a short nod at him. "Indeed. That very fight destroyed the entire facility they were hiding in."

After hearing that, Misato's in shock while unable to say anything for a few seconds until suddenly marching up to Kaworu with a firm expression replacing her shock. Once she reaches Kaworu, Misato ruthlessly grabs him by the collar with her right hand and places her face to be quite close to his. "Then you're lying to us!"

Kaworu's eyes widen slightly from surprise due to Misato's statement while slightly confused as his eyes are locked onto hers. "What do you mean?"

Suddenly, tears begin to form while Misato grits her teeth out of anger and then passionately yells out with her grip still tightly holding onto Kaworu's collar, "Don't play dumb! You're telling us Nero beat you when we know for a fact his Eva was almost completely destroyed, and that he died at the end of that battle! Which means you killed him!"

That statement caused both Kaji and Ritsuko to show a hint of sadness on their expression. In Gendo and Fuyutsuki's case, they watch on with indifference displayed. At the same time, Kaworu's surprised even more with his eyes widened as he's completely stunned by Misato's words.

Misato gets a bit more irritated after seeing Kaworu's expression. "What's with that look?! Are you surprised that I figured out you were lying?!" She grins in an evil-like manner. "Yeah... That must be it. SEELE must have sent you here to try to betray us like Nero did." Her expression then changes as she gives Kaworu a criticizing look. "But this time, they don't have to worry about you betraying them. You're an angel, after all. You want to cause 4th Impact, don't you?"

Kaworu continues to be stunned for a moment as everything Misato said had hit him so suddenly that he couldn't respond. But, after several seconds of silence goes by, Kaworu's eyes reflect seriousness while maintaining his focus on Misato's eyes and retorts. "I assure you, I have no intention of doing such a thing."

Misato gets very upset as her face closes in on Kaworu's face even more. "What was that?! You're going to lie to my face again?!"

Sincerity quickly overtakes Kaworu's expression as he lightly smiles at Misato. "I am not lying at all. Nero did defeat me even though the result of the battle is what it is. I made a promise to join NERV because he believed I would be of great help to you. He actually intended coming back with me, but-"

Misato grits her teeth while glaring at Kaworu, which causes Kaworu to stop himself from finishing what he was going to say as Misato clenches her left hand prior to dropping her head with tears starting to fall down her face. After that, the Colonel slowly loosens her grip on Kaworu's collar, eventually releases her grip of it while dropping her hand down, takes a few steps back and says with a sad tone, "I don't know why... But I believe you."

Kaji's a little surprised by what he just heard come out of Misato's mouth as he's watching on from behind her and thinks, "I didn't see that coming. I actually thought for a moment that she was going to punch him."

Fuyutsuki's also surprised for a moment until quickly regaining his composure with his eyes turned towards Gendo. "Ikari? What do you think?"

Gendo's currently looking down at his desk while lost in thought until slowly lifting up his head to Misato and Kaworu with seriousness noted as he says to them, "I've made my decision." He turns his attention specifically on Kaworu and firmly states, "Kaworu Nagisa."

Both Kaworu and Misato look at Gendo in response with curiosity showing on their faces.

Gendo promtply says without changing his tone, "If what you said is true, then I'm willing to give you a chance to prove yourself."

Shock rapidly overcomes Ritsuko's expression as she's facing towards Gendo. "But Commander Ikari! Are you actually willing to take the chance that he could be another spy?!"

Gendo calmly turns his attention to Ritsuko and nods. "Yes, Dr. Akagi. I believe that Mr. Nagisa wouldn't lie about the promise he made to Nero."

Having said that, Gendo immediately gives Kaworu a cold demeanor. "But if I find out that you're lying about that promise and decide to betray us, I'll make sure you regret that decision. Do I make myself clear?"

Kaworu smiles with content noted on his face. "Crystal clear, Commander Ikari. Thank you for giving me a chance."

Gendo nods at Kaworu and then looks at Misato while easing up his facial expression to not appear so cold. "Do you agree with my decision, Colonel?"

Misato nods with good amount of seriousness brimming. "I agree, but the issue is the other children." She then turns her attention towards Kaworu and says to him, "A couple of them won't trust you. And don't think for a second that I'm not still suspicious of you."

Kaworu looks at Misato while emanating a calm demeanor. "I expected that much." He returns his focus towards Gendo. "I will be sure to do my best so you have no regrets in your decision."

Kaji walks up next to Misato with some concern displayed. "I hope you mean that. We've already lost so much. The last thing we need is to be deceived again."

Kaworu turns to face Kaji while lightly smiling. "I do mean it. And I shall prove it to you as soon as possible."

Kaji smiles while casually folding his arms. "I look forward to seeing that." Suddenly, a bit of curiosity arises from Kaji as he asks with his left eyebrow raised, "By the way, the Eva you piloted when you fought Nero... Where is it?"

Kaworu gives Kaji a serious look for a moment and then suddenly smiles with his eyes closed while lightly tilting his head to the left. "I had to leave it behind. It was impossible to bring it with me due to all the damage it had sustained."

Kaji becomes a bit confused before unfolding his arms. "Really? Where did you leave it?" He makes a calm expression while lifting up his left hand next to him as his right hand's in his pocket. "We could possibly go retrieve it. But if we don't, then we'll have a problem with you not having an Eva to pilot."

Kaworu smirks, places his left hand behind his head and says while a tad embarrassed. "That is the thing... I was actually planning on piloting Unit 04."

Concern rapidly overtakes Misato's expression as her focus remains on Kaworu. "But Unit 04 already has a pilot."

Kaworu looks at Misato with calmness taking over his composure and lowers his hand. "I know, however, the Unit 04 you all decided to make a copy of does not have a soul. Just like the original, correct? I can compensate for that since I am an angel, after all."

Ritsuko's quite surprised while looking at Kaworu and asks in a moderately composed tone, "How did you know it doesn't have a soul?"

Kaworu gazes at Ritsuko with a slightly sad expression. "SEELE has their resources as well." He then looks at Gendo with a hint of curiosity showing. "Which reminds me, you all obviously have figured out where SEELE is hiding out now, correct?"

Kaji responds to Kaworu's question with a relaxed expression, "China, right? That's where my source told me considering SEELE has a pretty good relationship with China's government."

Kaworu turns his head to the right to make eye contact with Kaji as a mild smile takes shape. "Indeed." He turns his attention towards everyone with a bit of concern while still smiling. "But be careful with your plan to attack them. SEELE will not fall easily to an outside attack. Nero had the right idea when betraying them since an attack from the inside was the only way to catch them off guard."

Gendo nods while being content with the additional information Kaworu just gave them. "Thank you for the warning. We'll keep that in mind." He then becomes quite serious while straightening his posture to place his hands behind his back. "Now, about your desire to pilot Unit 04..."

With that said, Gendo turns his attention towards Misato. "Let him synchronize with it to see the extent of his synchronization. This is just to know what he's capable of. It will be your decision if you think Nagisa should take Aida's place or not, Colonel."

Worry can notably be seen on Misato's face as she's looking at Gendo and thinks, "Obviously, if Kaworu's synchronization is higher, he should definitely get a chance to show us what he's got."

Misato looks towards Kaworu with sadness dwelling inside her being while thinking, "But Kensuke would be heart-broken if I took piloting Eva away from him. Plus, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have Kaworu pilot immediately. I have to see how the others feel about Kaworu joining and for them to get used to the entire thing."

As Misato's deep in thought, Kaworu's focus is on Gendo while smiling for a brief moment and then notices out of the corner of his eyes that Misato's looking at him. After that, Kaworu looks directly at Misato with a small amount of concern showing. "Is there something wrong, Colonel Katsuragi?"

Misato makes a slightly surprised expression for a moment while being freed from her train of thought. She then sincerely smiles at Kaworu with her eyes closed while waving both of her hands in front of her in a reassuring gesture. "Don't worry about it, Kaworu." She then extends her right hand towards him while lowering the other hand as she's looking at him. "Welcome back."

Kaworu stares at Misato's hand while being a bit stunned at her sudden action. Afterwards, the grey-haired boy smirks while firmly grabbing onto her hand with his right and contentedly looks up at her. "Thank you for accepting me back." He then realizes something while his eyes widen slightly. Right after that, Kaworu leans a bit towards Misato while relaxing his expression and says with a composed tone, "By the way, there is something I have to tell everyone."

Misato was about to respond back to Kaworu with a hint of curiosity being displayed, but she's interrupted when a sudden, large tremor is felt followed by NERV's emergency alarm going off. This surprises everyone in Gendo's office for a moment. Gendo then receives a call from Maya as she tells him that multiple Evas have been spotted at the outskirts of Tokyo-03. After he gets off the phone, he looks towards Misato and the others with a serious look. Without needing to say anything, they understood immediately what he wanted from them. They all then exit the room while leaving Gendo and Fuyutsuki behind.

They quickly get to Central Dogma and see what's happening on the main screen, which displays four Evas that look exactly alike. They're currently progressing through the city as they're causing destruction to the buildings that weren't able to retract in time with a black, Progressive Long-Sword that resembles an angel's wing. The SEELE Evas look just like Unit 01 with the only difference being that they're the color black instead of purple while having green stripes throughout their body. Also, each Eva has a number from 09 to 12 on their forehead that's the color green. *Due to this, they will be referred as SEELE Eva 09, 10, 11 and 12. The reason for this will be revealed at some point in the episode*

Misato stands in her usual spot as she's worried for a moment while watching the enemy Evas on the main screen. She then says with her chin lowered a little as her eyes are still focused on the screen while being very serious, "Looks like our vacation is over." She's then filled with concern and annoyance. "But why do they all look like Unit 01?"

Kaworu walks up to the left of Misato with his hands in his pockets as he's looking at the main screen as well. After that, he gazes at Misato out of the corner of his eyes with calmness being displayed. "Those are SEELE's final Dummy Plug Evas. They were to be used during their last attack on NERV."

Misato looks at Kaworu with a bit of surprise brimming. "Does that mean...?"

Kaworu slowly shakes his head in response due to knowing what Misato's concern is. "There is no need for worry. If this was indeed their final attack, they also would have sent their Unit Evas." He gazes at the main screen again. "And considering that all the losses they have just sustained, it is safe to assume that they have devised another plan of attack." Kaworu then becomes quite concerned while saying with a slightly concerned tone, "But if that is the case, then I have no idea what they could be planning now."

Kaji stands to the left of Kaworu while facing him with a serious expression. "Can you at least tell us why those Evas look like Unit 01?"

Kaworu calmly turns his head to look at Kaji. "As I said before, they were meant for the last attack. Their purpose was to help start 4th Impact just as the Mass Production Series did for the 3rd Impact."

Kaji changes his focus by turning his head to the left to watch the main screen. "But you just said they wouldn't do that without their Unit Evas." He then shifts his eyes to look at Kaworu again. "So they must be using them for some other reason."

Kaworu nods at Kaji with no real change to his demeanor. "Indeed." He then turns his attention to the main screen with suspicion being displayed. "The only question is... What exactly are they planning to achieve with all of this?"

Misato stares at Kaworu while having heard what he said with concern showing on her face and then turns towards Hyuga with a decent amount of seriousness. "How long until the pilots arrive?"

Hyuga responds with his eyes locked onto his screen as he's rapidly typing, "It will take them a while. They have just been retrieved by our agents at their school. It will be about ten minutes until they get here" He turns his chair towards the left to look at Misato with a slightly concerned expression as he had stopped typing. "What should we do until they arrive? We can't afford to take a lot of damage from those Evas."

Misato folds her arms, lowers her head and thinks, "That's a good question. I would normally order to have our defense system buy us time, but that almost never helps against even ONE enemy." She then peers at the main screen while thinking, "There's no way it would do anything against those four while they're together."

Gendo randomly appears at his usual spot with a serious look being displayed. In the meantime, Fuyutsuki's to his right while they're both standing as Gendo says with a stern tone, "Colonel."

Misato quickly turns around to face Gendo with both curiosity and surprise taking over. "Yes, Commander Ikari?"

Gendo states with the same stern tone, "I would like for Nagisa to pilot Unit 04 to buy us time until the other pilots arrive."

Misato's surprised by Gendo's request, not only because he wants Kaworu to pilot, but for the fact that he requested it instead of ordering it. She then becomes a bit concern while responding, "But, Commander! You just said not too long ago that we need to have Kaworu tested first! Even though we know he's quite capable from past experience, we can't just send him out in Unit 04! And we have to take into consideration what affect it will have on the other pilots if they show up, and see him..."

Gendo interrupts Misato by yelling out with intensity, "Colonel!"

Due to Gendo's sudden outburst, Misato's taken back while being stunned for a moment as she doesn't shift her attention away even a little from him. After gaining Misato's attention, Gendo continues to say with intensity while maintaining his composure, "Listen very closely because you need to understand something. We are in a predicament that can't be avoided. None of the other pilots are here. We are being attacked and the only way we can insure our survival is to trust Nagisa with Unit 04. We have already accepted him back, and even though we wanted to test him out first, we currently don't have that luxury anymore."

At the same time Gendo says that, Misato's in shock while still looking at Gendo as he talks. Also, Kaworu and the others are paying close attention to Gendo as he now says, "I have requested for you to allow Nagisa to pilot. If you have a reason other than the ones you just mentioned OR involving the pilots' reaction to him being here and piloting Unit 04, state it now. If not, do your job, Colonel!"

Misato pauses for a moment, stunned by everything Gendo had just said and then regains her composure while taking in a deep breath. After doing that, Misato turns towards Kaworu with seriousness showing. "Kaworu. Can you pilot Unit 04...?"

In response, Kaworu looks at Misato while being slightly surprised and then snaps out of it so he can nod at her with a light smile. After seeing Kaworu do that, Misato takes a step towards him with determination radiating. "I wasn't finished... Can you pilot Unit 04..." She places her right hand on the middle of her chest while extending out her left arm towards the side. "And honestly tell me that you will protect everyone with your life?!"

Kaworu's even more surprised by this statement from Misato while pulling his head back a bit. Right after that, the grey-haired boy confidently smiles at her and takes a step towards her. "If you allow me to pilot Unit 04, without a doubt, I will protect everyone with my life."

Misato stares Kaworu down while thinking, "I believe him..." She then smiles with content radiating from her and thinks, "Nero really convinced him to protect us... He can now rest in peace." Misato quickly turns her attention towards the others in Central Dogma and says with a commanding tone, "Then let's get Unit 04 ready!"

Kaji smiles as he thinks, "That's my girl." He then turns to face the others, does a fist pump with his right hand and yells out with a mildly joyful tone, "You heard her! Now get to it!"

Central Dogma's personnel all nod in agreement and quickly get the necessary preparations ready for Unit 04 while Gendo watches on with a pleased demeanor. He then sits down in his seat and gets into his usual pose while calmly watching the others work.

Fuyutsuki smiles while looking at Gendo out of the corner of his left eye and thinks, "Though that was unusual for him, it was exactly what Katsuragi needed to hear."

Misato returns her attention towards Kaworu again and orders with a commanding tone, "Get going, Kaworu. It won't take long to have Unit 04 ready."

Kaworu calmly nods at her in response and then quickly turns away from her. He runs off towards the back of Central Dogma and exits without another word being uttered. Misato watched Kaworu leave with her body facing towards the main screen and now focuses back to it while thinking, "All I need from him is to stall, but... There's the possibility he'll do more than just stalling." She then smiles while being quite pleased.

With that thought completed, Misato and the others in Central Dogma keep a close eye on the four SEELE Evas that continue to destroy everything in sight while still being concerned about why these Evas, that were meant for the final assault, are already making their grand appearance. Meanwhile, Kaworu quickly gets his plugsuit on in the boy's changing room, which is the same plugsuit he faced Nero with, and heads towards the cage after putting on the brain-waive transmitters.

Before Kaworu reaches Unit 04, Central Dogma's personnel were able to successfully configured it to Kaworu's mentality with the help of previous documentation they had on Kaworu during the last time he synchronized with an Eva. Once Kaworu reaches Unit 04, he gets in the entry plug with calmness being displayed on his face as he sits and waits to be launched. After a couple of minutes pass, Central Dogma finished the preparations to launch Unit 04 and quickly sent the silver Eva to be located at a safe distance away from the four Evas while facing towards them.

After gaining some footing due to some aftershock from the launch, Kaworu has Unit 04 step off the launch pad while still being quite close to it. Then, the launch pad rapidly retracts into the ground, and with it leaving, five buildings surface from the ground one after the other. Each one opening up to reveal a different weapon.

Kaworu looks at his options from behind himself and decides to make Unit 04 grab onto the first building that's towards Unit 04's left with its left hand. The weapon Kaworu had chose was an Eva-sized, fully automatic ACR gun. The silver Eva then quickly points the gun at the four enemy Evas while being placed close to Unit 04's face to take aim. After that, Kaworu watches the four Evas as they stopped wreaking havoc and thinks to himself with a profound level of calmness, "I highly doubt this will do anything, but I would like to see how they would react. Pending on what they do, I can analyze their capabilities to a small extent." He lets out a small smirk while saying to himself, "It is better than nothing."

Misato's voice suddenly comes through the intercom with a stern tone being present while sounding a bit sad, "Kaworu. Any action you take is your decision. Lately, I haven't been as useful as I used to. So all I can do is watch over you and believe in you."

Kaworu nods while still being focused on the enemy Evas and responds with his usual polite tone. "It is alright, Katsuragi. You can rely on me."

Misato smiles to herself while watching the main screen that's displaying Unit 04's image and nods to herself from being pleased with Kaworu's answer. She then makes a determined expression as her arms are crossed and yells out with a commanding tone, "Then show those bastards how it's done!"

Kaworu nods in response to Misato's order and quickly opens fire on the four enemy Evas. As a result, SEELE Eva 11 suddenly dashes towards the right while firmly holding onto its sword in its right hand. Also, SEELE Eva 10 takes a few quick steps forward and deploys a large, black A.T. Field that effortlessly blocks the bullets.

Seeing that causes Kaworu's eyes to widen out of shock while thinking, "A black A.T. Field...? I did not know those Evas can produce such a thing."

Suddenly, SEELE Eva 11 had glided towards Unit 04 with its Prog Sword over its head while holding onto it with both hands and gets ready to swing it downward. In reaction to SEELE Eva 11 appearing, Kaworu's a bit startled, but quickly regains his composure while making Unit 04 leap backwards and barely dodges the enemy's sword. As Unit 04 dodged, SEELE Eva 11's sword hits the ground, but unfortunately for Kaworu, it isn't discourage as it immediately picks up its sword towards its right side and dashes towards Unit 04 again.

Misato sees the enemy Eva's action and shouts with worry brimming, "Kaworu! Deploy your A.T. Field!"

Kaworu quickly retorts to Misato's command with calmness while landing his Eva, "That will not work." He then leans forward to push on the controls, which results in Unit 04 swiftly ducking as SEELE Eva 11 was swinging its sword in a sideways angle from Unit 04's left and misses due to Kaworu's quick reaction to the attack. Although once again, SEELE Eva 11 isn't discourage as it gains some footing with its left foot to the ground and turns the swords blade towards Unit 04. It then swings the sword towards Unit 04's right this time as it's still ducking down.

Misato yells out again, but this time with irritation in her voice, "I said deploy your A.T. Field, Kaworu!"

Kaworu ignores Misato's command while making Unit 04 drop its gun to the ground. Unit 04 then swiftly sways backwards with its left leg lifted off the ground and successfully dodges. After that, Kaworu promptly makes Unit 04 disconnect its umbilical cable and elegantly jumps to the air with the help of its right foot pushing off the ground and its A.T. Field to help it go higher up into the air. At the same time, Unit 04 does a multiple revolution back-flip.

SEELE Eva 11 quickly stops its momentum, turns its attention to the airborne Unit 04 and then bends its knees. After that, the enemy Eva suddenly jumps up to pursue Unit 04 while pulling the sword behind its head with the right hand firmly holding it. Kaworu then sees the enemy heading towards him as he makes Unit 04 face it and mutters, "This Eva is quite difficult to deal with. No matter what I do, it continues to follow me and try its best to land a blow on Unit 04."

Suddenly, Misato's voice comes through the intercom with urgency and panic, "Kaworu! Behind you!"

Registering Misato's cry, Kaworu hurriedly turns his head to the left to look behind himself and is a bit startled when he sees that SEELE Eva 12's above him while descending towards Unit 04. As SEELE Eva 12 descends, it aims the point of its sword's blade down towards Unit 04 while holding the sword upside down. It then pulls the sword over its head with both hands and quickly swings it down to strike Unit 04 with intensity.

Kaworu's a bit stunned for a moment while watching SEELE Eva 12 head towards him. He then does a quick double-take to look at SEELE Eva 11 and sees it's about to come into contact with Unit 04. After doing that, Kaworu quickly thinks on his feet and makes Unit 04 produce its A.T. Field, but not to block. He does this to make Unit 04 push-off the A.T. Field with its hands, so that it can successfully dodge the duo attack by going to the left.

Misato smiles out of content by what Kaworu just did, thinking, "Perfect! Now they'll attack each other! They're bound to cause the other some decent damage." She's then promptly surprised while her hope of the two enemy Eva's attacking each other dies. This is due to both Evas suddenly stopping in mid-air as their blades were inches away from striking each other's head. They then slowly move away from each other a little and face towards the direction Unit 04 went. This causes Misato to quickly uncross her arms and yells out in disbelief while taking a step forward, "How the hell?! Are they...?! Are they actually flying?!"

Ritsuko watches from the middle of the MAGI system while being in shock due to what she's witnessing. She then lightly grits her teeth with irritation brimming as she thinks, "I don't believe it! SEELE actually created Evas that levitate and fly without wings!"

With that said, Ritsuko tightly clenches her hands and asks underneath her breath with her irritation notably increasing, "What advancements have they made while we spent our time repairing the Evas and recreating previously destroyed Evas?!"

Meanwhile, Kaworu lands Unit 04 onto the ground while being at a small distance behind the buildings that have weapons in them. He then looks towards the buildings and makes Unit 04 quickly dash towards them. Fortunately, the silver Eva reaches the buildings with no interference and effortlessly jumps over them to be in position for Kaworu to choose a weapon since the opening to the buildings is in the front.

After giving his options a quick glance, Kaworu has Unit 04 grab the weapon in the middle building with both hands, which is a Progressive Chainsaw. He follows this action with shifting his attention back towards where the two airborne Evas are located, above Unit 04. To his surprise and concern, Kaworu quickly realizes that they are no longer there amidst thinking, "They are gone." His eyes instantly widen as he hears a humming sound coming from his left and then quickly looks towards that direction.

Then, without warning, the buildings that held the weapons while being to the left of Unit 04 are suddenly demolished. As they crumble, SEELE Eva 12 appeared through the rubble and collides its right shoulder into Unit 04's stomach while causing Unit 04 to let go of the Prog Chainsaw. This results in it grabbing a hold of Unit 04 while both Evas fly over the ground's surface and head straight towards SEELE Eva 10 since it stands in front of SEELE Eva 09. As SEELE Eva 10 observes Unit 04 being brought towards it, it gets itself ready to strike with the Prog Sword in its left hand.

Misato's greatly concerned as she watches Unit 04 being forcibly carried towards another enemy Eva and shouts out with a distraught tone, "Kaworu!"

Kaworu overhears Misato's cry with his hair shadowing his eyes as he says softly to himself with a smirk, "Good lord, Katsuragi. You told me you would have faith in me, and yet, all you do is unnecessarily worry about me." He then reveals his eyes to show them filled with determination and says happily in a low volume, "Well, at least I now understand a little bit more of what it means to have someone care about you." Kaworu chuckles.

Right as SEELE Eva 12 reaches SEELE Eva 10 with Unit 04 in its grasp, Kaworu makes Unit 04 forcibly break SEELE Eva 12's hold by grabbing a hold of its arms with both hands and pulling them open. After doing this, Unit 04 pushes SEELE Eva 12 away and this causes it to go towards the right from Unit 04. Kaworu then makes Unit 04 harshly land on the ground while the momentum sends its back towards SEELE Eva 10.

In response to Unit 04 still heading towards it, SEELE Eva 10 pulls its left arm back with the right hand on its wrist while getting ready to thrusts the point of the sword's blade into Unit 04's back. Kaworu sees this with a slightly serious expression while narrowing his eyes as he leans forward. SEELE Eva 10 then thrusts its sword towards Unit 04 and right when the sword was about to pierce its back, Unit 04 suddenly jumps up and does an arching back-flip while dodging the attack.

Although Kaworu had no time to take a breather because when Unit 04 faced towards the ground after flipping backwards, SEELE Eva 09's face miraculously appears right in front of Unit 04's face. After doing that, the enemy Eva swings its sword in a left diagonal angle while holding it in its left hand.

Misato hurriedly yells out in a panic while pulling on the top of her hair with both hands, "Kaworu! For the love of God, use your-!"

Kaworu quickly cuts her off while smiling with a hint of enjoyment. "I know, Katsuragi!" He then deploys Unit 04's A.T. Field and it suddenly pushes SEELE Eva 09 into the ground while causing the ground to crack underneath it with some smoke rising up from it.

Misato lets go of her hair while still having both hands near her head as she's quite surprised. The Colonel then smiles while feeling relieved that he was able to counter the enemy Evas attack. After that, Unit 04 lands on the ground behind SEELE Eva 09 as the enemy's still lying on its back with the smoke having already dissipated.

After seeing Unit 04 land on the ground, Misato moves her arms to fold them together while smiling in a curious way. "Now tell me, Kaworu... Why didn't you deploy the A.T. Field when I first ordered you?"

Kaworu replies to Misato's question while focusing on the down enemy Eva while SEELE Eva 10 turns to face him, "The reason is that my synchronization at the time was not high enough for the A.T. Field to be effective."

Misato's confused by what she just heard while thinking, "His synchronization wasn't high enough?" She then turns her body to face Maya and asks, "What's Kaworu's current sync ratio?"

Maya immediately turns her chair to the right to look at Misato while being quite astonished. "His sync ratio... Is over... 125%!"

Misato's eyes promptly widen as she pulls her body back a little and then quickly regains her composure while taking a step towards Maya. "Has Unit 04 gone berserk?!"

Maya slowly shakes her head while still being astonished. "No, Colonel." She then turns her head at her screen with a moderately serious expression. "It's been gradually increasing from 85% the moment Unit 04 reached the surface."

Surprise completely overtakes Misato's face as she thinks, "Amazing... He can make Unit 04 reach that synchronization without making it go berserk." She then turns her attention back to the main screen while thinking, "That would explain why we didn't receive notification of Unit 04's timer for its reserved power. When a pilot's synchronization goes over 100%, it reaches within itself for uncertain amounts of power to continue to function."

With that thought completed, Misato lowers her head a little while still looking at the main screen and says underneath her breath, "Now that I think about it... What Kaworu's doing isn't much different from what Nero did with Unit 03. Even though it still went berserk, Nero maintain so much control that it appeared like it didn't even go berserk. But that power can't possibly last forever."

Hyuga suddenly yells out while interrupting Misato's train of thought with a composed tone, "The other pilots have already arrived! Asuka and Shinji are in position, but..."

Misato looks at Hyuga with a bit of concern. "What is it?"

Hyuga turns his chair to the left to look at Misato with a slightly sad expression. "Kensuke's causing a bit of a scene since his Eva isn't there. Currently, the other children that aren't going to be piloting are trying to calm him down."

Sadness overtakes Misato's being due to what Hyuga just said and then says firmly while giving him a serious look, "Notify the children that don't have an Eva to pilot to come here immediately. That includes Kensuke."

Hyuga nods in response and then turns his attention back to his screen. After seeing Hyuga redirect his focus, Misato looks at the main screen with some concern while thinking, "I'll have to do my best to calm Kensuke down and tell him that we'll talk about Kaworu's involvement later." She then gets irritated a little while thinking, "Although, Asuka's going to be the most difficult to keep calm. She'll want answers right away."

While Misato worries about the children's reaction, Kaworu patiently waits to see what will be the enemies' next move. At the moment, all four had regrouped while being a small distance in front of Kaworu as their facing towards Unit 04. As he's watching them, Kaworu thinks to himself with a pretty high level of concern showing while firmly holding onto the controls with his back against the seat, "My sync ratio is at the point where it can successfully nullify their A.T. Field, however, these Evas are well equipped with those swords that can penetrate the A.T. Field if it is not strong enough. They can also fly like Unit 06, but their speed are not in the same league. With that in mind, I can now fight more seriously."

Kaworu pauses for a brief moment as he makes a suspicious expression with his head lightly tilted to the right and mutters, "There is something that has been bothering me though... The Dummy Plug that is used for those Evas are the ones with my mentality, but by the looks of it, they are performing in an odd manner..." Kaworu then suddenly realizes something as he pulls his head back a little and says softly to himself, "Could it be..."

In the meantime, Aoba turns his attention to Misato with some concern showing. "Colonel, Katsuragi!"

Misato instantly turns her head to look at Aoba with curiosity brimming and says with a composed tone, "What is it?!"

Aoba states with concern remaining, "Unit 01 and 02 are ready, but it seems like there's a problem with Shinji!"

Misato gets quite worried after hearing Aoba say that and asks with a firm tone, "What's the problem?"

The others in the facility focus their attention on Aoba with concern while Gendo and Fuyutsuki look on with no real emotion. Aoba then answers Misato's question with a bit of sadness taking over, "For some reason, Unit 01's not responding to Shinji..."

Misato gasps a little while thinking, "No! It can't be!" She then turns her attention towards the screen and shouts out in worry, "Shinji!"

As Misato let out her cry, Shinji's revealed to be in the darkness of Unit 01's entry plug while being curled up into a ball. At the same time, paleness can be seen on Shinji's face while softly saying to himself, "Again... I can't do anything..." Shinji then buries his head into his arms and lap while saying in a slightly louder volume, "Mother... Won't respond... I'm trying to talk to her, but she won't say anything. Is it because I forgot Nero...? Is it because I let him die...?" He grits his teeth momentarily and then yells out to himself in distress, "Why?! Why won't she talk to ME?!"

With Shinji in his current condition, Misato is very worried as the other children, who aren't in the position to pilot enter Central Dogma while still wearing their school uniform. Leading them, Kensuke marches up to Misato while she's looking at him with a hint of concern due to her expecting what's about to come out of his mouth. Once Kensuke reaches Misato, he says to her with an upset tone, "Misato! What's going on?!"

Kensuke looks up at the main screen and sees that Unit 04 is out in the battlefield without him. This causes him to become even more upset as he turns back to face Misato and says while pointing at the main screen with his left hand, "Who the hell is piloting my Eva?!"

Misato gives Kensuke a sad look while facing him and says with a somber tone, "You see... Kensuke..."

Mari suddenly interrupts while stepping in front of Kensuke and looks at Misato with a lot of worry emitting from her person. "Never mind that! What's wrong with Shinji?! I heard you yell out his name from the facility's intercom!"

Kensuke looks at Mari from behind her with irritation. "Mari! I was here first!"

Mari turns her head to the left and retorts with a harsh tone. "Like that matters! I need to know what's wrong with Shinji!" She then turns to face Kensuke while placing each hand over the other and puts them over the center of her chest and says with a sad tone, "He's been hurting since Nero died. He kept blaming himself for not remembering and he thinks he's a terrible person." Mari turns her attention back to Misato with her hands down to her sides and asks with a distraught tone, "So what's going on with Shinji?!"

Misato's consumed with sorrow as Mari stares at her intently while waiting for a response. Misato then turns her head away from Mari and says with a sad tone while staring at the floor that's to her right, "Unit 01 isn't... Responding to him..."

Mari's in shock as a result of what Misato just told her as are the other children who are looking at Misato and Mari. Suddenly, Kaworu's voice comes through the intercom with a calm tone. "Katsuragi, is the channel to communicate with other Evas active?"

After hearing Kaworu's voice, Rei's overcome with surprise as she thinks to herself while standing between Hikari and Touji, "That voice..."

Misato quickly looks towards the main screen that still displays Unit 04 and the enemy Evas with concern resonating within her eyes. "Yes, but why do you want to know? Do you want to say something to Shinji?"

Kaworu responds with his eyes focused on the enemy Evas while he leans a bit forward, "You shall soon see the purpose of my question."

Due to Kaworu's response, Misato becomes a bit curious while thinking to herself, "What other reason could there be?"

Kaworu opens up the channel and says towards the enemy Evas with a mild smile, "Good afternoon, gentlemen. It has been roughly two weeks since our last encounter."

As a result of Kaworu's statement, everyone in Central Dogma are surprised while watching the main screen. Kaworu then waits for a response while thinking with a calm smile, "I know it is you guys who are piloting. This means Keel's technological team have finally accomplished it. They have accomplished..."

Before Kaworu had the chance to finish that thought, a sudden voice comes through the intercom from SEELE Eva 09 and says with an arrogant tone, "Someone sure is smart! And I'm actually surprised that you did what Keel was afraid you would do! You joined NERV and became a traitor once again, Tabris!"

Suddenly, a male voice from SEELE Eva 11 comes through the open channel and says with a calm tone, "This explains why Unit 04 has been able to keep up with us. It's inconceivable that Kensuke Aida would have been able to do so well against us by himself."

Misato becomes very upset while yelling out, "Not again! And to make it worse, two Evas have a pilot!" Concern then takes over while Misato utters to herself, "I bet the other two have pilots too."

Mari steps in after hearing what Misato said due to them being next to each other and says with a serious tone, "That's not all. I recognize that voice."

Misato and the others immediately look at Mari with curiosity and concern due to her statement. "You do?!"

Mari responds while being a bit irritated. "Yup. I've met him a long time ago and I really don't like him or any of those old guys." She then tightly clenches both hands into fists while narrowing her eyes. "If he's piloting an Eva, which I have no clue how the hell he's even doing that, then the other three must have members piloting too."

Confusion can now be noted on Misato's expression after hearing the last part Mari said and asks with a hint of concern, "Members?" Her eyes instantly widen out of realization while giving out a small gasp and then says with horror, "You don't mean-?!"

Kaworu suddenly cuts in to answer Misato's question while firmly staring the enemy Eva's down, "Yes, Katsuragi. Your suspicions are correct. The four pilots of those Evas are... Members of SEELE."

A man in his late 50s chuckles while sitting inside an entry plug with dozens of plugs attached to his naked body as he's focused on Unit 04. The man even has a couple of plugs installed into his face as there's a number "09" engraved into his forehead while his back is against the seat. He then says to himself with a demented smile, "It doesn't matter that they know we're piloting the Evas... All that matters is that we accomplish our goal..." His face fills with intensity. "And I will make sure our goal is accomplished no matter what the cost! I swear on my position as the 9th member of SEELE and on my name! The name of Fujitaka Giichi!"

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...

Brief Statement:

Sweet! I finally finished this episode! Seriously, I have been slacking off for a LONG time when it comes to writing. Fortunately, I'm working my way back into it, but I'm still going to be a bit sluggish. Now I know you guys have some questions and most likely the next episode will answer them. First things first, I'm just letting you all know in advance that I won't be giving much description on the SEELE members that are piloting the Unit 01 look-alike Evas. They just vary too much, but I will give you names to differentiate while revealing what number each one is and I'll reveal how they're able to pilot Evas at some point. So look forward to that. Thank you all for those who have continued to read my story. You guys are awesome.

That's it. Talk to you all later.