Words from the Author:

What's up, everyone? I think it's finally time for me to bring all of you some high level action after having to go through roughly four episodes without it. There was actually some instances I thought I might not get to this point of my story, but luckily, I managed it and I'm seriously happy I did. Well, onto what you all are here for! Reminder, Neon Genesis Evangelion is Gainax's property. I don't own anything from the series, manga and movies. Please support them and pray for an actual 2nd Season! Enjoy.

Episode 29: Prelude To Everything

The episode starts from where the previous one left off with Unit 08 effortlessly levitating in the air while facing towards Unit 06 that's roughly three miles away. At the same time, Unit 01 continues to lie its back onto the ground after having been sent flying, complements of Unit 08, while Shinji seems to be a bit dazed by what had happened. As Nero and Zahn confront each other, the destruction being inflicted on the other areas of Tokyo-03 are starting to deplete for some unknown reason.

That fact alone causes Nero to become a little concerned as he takes multiple, quick glances towards his surroundings while being sure not to lose sight of Unit 08. "That can't be good." He then focuses his full attention on the gold Eva while opening a private channel so that Zahn doesn't hear him. "How are the others, Misato?"

Misato's image appears on the left side screen with a composed demeanor. "They're trying to pull themselves together. Once they do that, I think you guys should regroup."

Nero nods with some discontent taking over, cracks his fingers one by one while having them lowered to his sides and slightly leaning forward. "I would've normally agreed, if it wasn't because of that lack of noise."

Confusion can now be seen on Misato's person. "What?"

Nero takes in a deep breath while readying himself. "Just check on everyone again. I'm going to have all my channels open so anyone can contact me when needed." His eyes then narrow without deviating from Unit 08 and softly says to himself, "Because things are about to get insane."

Misato heeds Nero's request without hearing the last thing the boy had said and hurriedly makes her image show on Asuka's upper right screen with an unwavering expression. "I'm back, Asuka. You sure you're alright?"

Asuka turns her gaze to Misato with her back rested on the seat while frustration shows itself. Meanwhile, Unit 02 gets on its feet after having been sent flying about five miles and collided into a couple of the ruined buildings that had been made from the attack. "Yeah, but that son of a bitch is going to pay for making me look bad!" Unit 02 then faces towards the direction Unit 08's located while being fairly close to the east part of the city since that's the direction it had been sent. Asuka can barely get a good look of the gold Eva, but at least knows where it is as anger joins the red-head's frustration. "I got you in my sights!"

Suddenly, Hyuga, who's sitting at his post, receives a notification from his screen that causes horror to overtake his face and yells out to Misato with his head turned to the left, "Incoming on the 2nd Child's position from above!"

Misato snaps her attention to Hyuga with a stressful look. "What was that?!" She then veers her focus to the main screen that's showing Unit 02. "Asuka, heads up! Literally!"

Asuka responds to Misato's warning by instantly throwing her head back to gaze at the sky and then is surprised to see that almost a dozen, cylindrical-shaped, yellow missiles are aimed straight at her while yelling out in panic, "Mein Gott!" Unit 02's A.T. Field then hurriedly appears above the red Eva and temporarily blocks the missiles. Though for some odd reason, they didn't blow-up on contact and that forces Asuka to shout out in disbelief, "The hell?!"

Maya yells out of nowhere with her eyes on her own screen while being very shocked, "High nuclear activity is coming from the missiles! Unit 02's A.T. Field might not be able to withstand it if that many were to explode at once!"

Misato rushes up to Hyuga's right and plants her right hand on the surface next to the Lieutenant and desperately screams out with her eyes on the main screen, "Get out of there, Asuka!"

Then, without Unit 02 being able to react, the missiles brightly shine a yellow light and self-destruct while Asuka lets out a distressful gasp. Right after that, Unit 02's engulfed by a giant, yellow and white explosion that extends to about a mile perimeter. This results in a powerful tremor that intensely shakes the ground, which everyone in NERV feels, and a shock-wave that reduces any nearby buildings that were still standing into rubble.

In the meantime, Shinji, who has finally managed to pull himself together while Unit 01's still lying on the ground, and Nero quickly look towards their left due to hearing the giant explosion. An immense amount of fear can be noted on both children's faces after witnessing the explosion as Nero shouts with concern adding to his expression, "Asuka!" He then turns Unit 06 towards that direction and tries to advance in the attempt to aid the 2nd Child.

Unfortunately, Zahn makes his Eva fly to Unit 06 from its right with impeccable speed, wraps both arms around it the moment Unit 08's close enough without losing any speed at all, and carries it against Nero's accord while making Unit 06 unconsciously release its grip on the Lance of Longinus. This results in the lance crashing onto the ground as both Evas quickly brush pass Unit 01's left, which causes Shinji to snap his head to look behind himself while being very surprised. At the same time, Nero holds onto the entry plug's walls while turning his gaze to the right with a profound amount of annoyance brimming. "Damn it, Zahn!"

Zahn playfully replies to Nero's outburst with a smile on his face as Unit 08 keeps its hold on Unit 06 and continues to advance in the air. "You know better to take your eyes off me, Nero. NERV has made you soft."

Nero glares at Zahn with his annoyance mildly decreasing. "That's a matter of opinion." Unit 06 then produces a small shock-wave with its A.T. Field to make Unit 08 release its hold. Once that happens, Unit 06 swiftly flies off to the gold Eva's right in the attempt to head towards the direction where the explosion had occurred while completely ignoring the fact that the Lance of Longinus is no longer in its possession as Unit 08 had been pushed back a little by the shock-wave.

Sadly, that doesn't do much to stop Zahn as he yells out with an amused smirk right before having Unit 08 pursue Nero's Eva, "You can't get rid of me that easily!" The gold Eva quickly catches up with Unit 06 and blocks its path once again while having both arms extended towards the sides.

Nero lightly grits his teeth after being made to stop his advancement and stands upright while taking another deep breath. "I knew you were persistent, but this is borderline annoying."

Zahn softly laughs with both hands now behind his head. "Too bad. You've been paying too much attention to those little friends of yours." He cocks his head to the left with a maniacal look taking over. "It's about time you focus on me and just me."

Nero drops his head down with his eyes shut and sighs while thinking, "Obsessive, bastard." He then looks up at Unit 08 with intensity arising.

As Nero and Zahn continue their confrontation, the scene changes to the southern part of Tokyo-03 while going back in time about five minutes before the explosion had occurred. Both Units 00 and 04 are there at this very moment while having received a bit of damage from crashing into the ground. They're now on their feet right after the two pilots were first checked on by Misato before she had gone to talk to Nero while a building with an Umbilical Cord had been sent for Unit 00 since it's the only Eva that needs one due to there having not been enough time to develop an S2 Engine for it. The reason another Umbilical Cord had to be sent was because the one Unit 00 had attached snapped under the intense force of Unit 08's A.T. Field while the blue Eva was soaring through the air. Both Evas now face towards the opposite direction from the center of the city, which was where they once were, and focus on the buildings that are ahead of them.

Rei briefly scans the surroundings by turning her head from left to right with a stern demeanor while Unit 00 stands in front of the building that the Umbilical Cord is connected to as the 1st Child's hands are tightly holding onto the controls. "I believe our separation was meant for something."

Kaworu nods in agreement while calmly watching Unit 00 out of the corner of his eyes with Unit 04 standing to the right of Rei's Eva. "I agree." He then turns his attention to look ahead of himself. "We must be careful, Ayanami."

Rei responds with her eyes on Kaworu's image that had appeared on the right side screen just now. "Indeed." She then has Unit 00 turn to the left to face the opposite direction to get a better look of the area that's behind her.

After that, all the buildings that were nearly half a mile in front of Unit 04 are unexpectedly sliced in the middle, and within seconds, becomes nothing but a heap of rubble with smoke accumulating. That immediately gets both children's attention with Unit 00 doing a full 180 degree rotation to face that direction as the blue-haired girl leans forward and sees six shadows behind the smoke, which causes her to show a moderate amount of concern on her person. "Nagisa."

Kaworu replies without veering his eyes from the smoke and the six figures behind it. "I know... It's them."

Then, the smoke clears to reveal the six SEELE Evas standing side by side with each holding onto their wing-like Progressive Swords in their right hand. They all face Units 00 and 04 with an upright posture while standing in ascending order from left to right, which means at the left end stands SEELE Eva 02 and the right end stands SEELE Eva 08 from Kaworu and Rei's point of view without including a SEELE Eva 04 in the count due to the SEELE member that would have piloted it having been killed by Keel.

The pilot of SEELE Eva 02 *Toshima*, who's leaning forward slightly as he's both completely nude and has countless cords implanted into his body, says with a serious expression, "Hmm... It seems fate has allowed us the opportunity to avenge our fallen comrades."

SEELE 06 *Kenzo* selfishly replies to Toshima's statement while being also nude and covered in cords since without them the SEELE members wouldn't be able to pilot their Dummy Plug Evas. "Forget that nonsense!" He smiles in an evil way. "Avenging those idiots for dying is a waste of time!" Kenzo then swiftly swings his left arm to his side while having it extended and says with arrogance brimming, "We're just here to set-up our plan!"

Having said that, Kenzo brings his left arm towards himself to tightly clench his hand next to his left cheek. "And killing the reincarnations of Adam and Lilith is just a bonus!" He then cocks his head back, grasps onto the controls with his left hand and confidently laughs.

At the mere mention of their connection with Adam and Lilith, sadness overtakes Rei's expression as she slouches her posture a bit with her gaze down towards her lap while thinking, "I had forgotten about that." She turns her eyes to the right to look at Unit 04 and thinks, "We continue to have more and more in common."

A sudden explosion follows the completion of that thought and that causes both children to hurriedly deviate their focus to look behind themselves while also looking towards their left, which is the direction that the explosion's located. Worry can be promptly noted on Rei and Kaworu's expression while SEELE 07 *Nakatsu* arrogantly comments from the right end of the enemy Evas, "Seems like someone's in trouble." He then chuckles in a sinister manner.

Kaworu mildly glares at SEELE Eva 07 with a small amount of annoyance showing while lightly gritting his teeth and then turns his attention back to where the explosion had occurred. In the meantime, Rei's concern maintains itself as she thinks with her head turned to the left and hands on the controls, "That direction..." Her eyes then slightly narrow while thinking, "I believe that was where Asuka was sent." Even more concern takes form as she drops her head down and mutters, "I do hope she is alright."

With that thought completed, the focus goes to Unit 05's location as it had a pretty hard time getting back to a vertical base due to the difficulty that comes with the Eva having four legs. After finally achieving that, Mari takes notice that she's currently at the western part of the city while seeing every single building in the area having been leveled.

That causes the 6th Child to make a scrutinizing expression with her eyes narrowed and softly says, "I have a really bad feeling... For this place to look so desolate, there has to be a really strong Eva nearby." She then casually looks towards her left to the direction that the explosion had occurred a few moments ago as Unit 05 stands sideways while facing south. After doing that and seeing the explosioncontinue to plague the west part of the city, Mari softly says with a nonchalant tone, "And whoever's over there is going to have their hands full."

As Mari keeps her eyes on the explosion that's now starting to die down, what appears to be an arrow-shaped, pink beam flies right in front of Unit 05's face and barely grazes it. Right after that, the beam collides into the ground, which results in a large amount of smoke to be created while Mari frantically snaps her head to the right since that's the direction the beam had come from. She promptly sees that there's a pink Eva with the number "09" on its back gradually walking towards her that has the same figure as most of the NERV Evas.

The pink Eva stops not too far away from Unit 05 as it can be noted that its head is smoothly shaped back with sharp edges on each side and has eight, green orbs on its face in a criss-cross pattern to represent its eyes. *This Eva will be portrayed as the Unit 08 from the 3rd Rebuild movie, but changed the number since I gave it to Zahn's Eva.*

Then, Vanessa's voice comes through an open channel and says with a serious tone, "Well look who it is... How long has it been, Problem Child?"

Irritation appears on Mari's person as she slouches forward quite a bit and replies with sarcasm in her voice. "Vanessa... How lovely it is to see you again... And in MY other Eva to boot."

Vanessa raises her left eyebrow with skepticism showing while leaning towards the main display screen as she sits on the entry plug's seat. "You lost the rights to this Eva when you ended your agreement with Lord Keel." A confident smile takes over as Vanessa rests her back against her seat. "It's mine now. Completely armed and dangerous."

In response, a somber look displays itself on Mari's face while the 6th Child straightens her posture. "I can see that. What was that anyway?"

Vanessa's confidence continues. "It was an A.T. Arrow." Unit 09 then lifts up its right arm in front of itself and reveals that it's firmly holding a pink, metallic bow with a violet, glowing thread. "As you can guess, this lets me manipulate my Eva's A.T. Field and use it as a weapon. Just like Nero did when he betrayed you guys." Vanessa giggles in a malicious way as Unit 09 casually lowers its right arm.

Astonishment quickly overtakes Mari's expression after hearing Vanessa's statement while hurriedly torquing her body forward. "That's insane! If that has the same power Unit 03 had when it Transcended, then I'm really in deep shit!"

Vanessa finds amusement in Mari's dismay while giggling again, but with the back of her right hand over her mouth this time. "Poor, Mari..." She then lowers her hand to grab onto the controls and cocks her head to the left while saying with a taunting tone, "Thinking of throwing in the towel? No one would blame you. Though it won't do you any good since I'll be killing you no matter what."

Having said that, Vanessa throws her head back with both eyes closed while having it straightened and lets out a proud laugh just for a few seconds until Mari unexpectedly joins in by hysterically laughing. That immediately grabs Vanessa's attention with surprise clearly showing on her person as she's looking at Unit 05. "Why are you laughing, Problem Child?! Have you lost it after having realized your demise isn't too far away?!"

Mari continues to laugh hysterically a little longer with her head down while her hair shadows her eyes. After that, the European slightly raises her head to look at the main screen with a profound amount of confidence and determination overflowing from her being. "What kind of crack have you been doing since we last saw each other?"

With that said, Mari calmly shuts her eyes while mildly turning her head to the left and shrugs with both hands partially raised up to her sides. "Sure, I'll admit I was caught off guard by what that thing is capable of..." Mari pauses briefly to open her eyes while putting both hands down and turning her gaze to Unit 09 with a cool smile. "But after thinking about it a little, I have my doubts of how strong it actually is."

Vanessa becomes quite curious while cocking her head to the right this time with her left eyebrow raised. "Really? Well, I'm going to put those doubts to rest and kill you in a flash."

Mari giggles a little while fixing her glasses into place with her right hand and then firmly grabs onto her controls again. "Give it your best shot, whore."

Vanessa grits her teeth out of frustration and then makes Unit 09 swiftly raise its right arm up again while aiming it at Unit 05. Afterwards, the pink Eva grabs a hold of the bow's glowing thread with its left hand and retracts it backwards while an A.T. Arrow instantly forms within the bow. Vanessa then fiercely shouts out with intensity resonating in her eyes, "Be careful what you ask for, slut!"

Those are the last words spoken before the scene changes again and concentrates on the eastern part of the city as the explosion that engulfed Unit 02 has left a large cloud of smoke. At the same time, a beige and yellow Eva that's about two times the size of the NERV Evas with much heavier plating as armor is slowly descending from the sky above the cloud of smoke. It can be noted that the enemy Eva's head is shaped to be similar to Unit 05's head while also sort of resembling Unit 06's facial features without the visor and has the words "Production Model 10" on its arms, which obviously reveals what Eva it is.

After a few seconds of descending, Unit 10 stops at a fair distance away from the smoke as Casey, who's clearly the Eva's pilot, rests her back onto the seat with her right leg crossed over the left, both hands behind her head and says with a laid back tone, "Is that it? I was actually expecting more of a challenge." She then turns her head to the right while looking towards that direction and scoffs due to her disappointment. "And she's the girl who took my Nero's heart away from me. What a joke."

Then, out of nowhere, multiple, high-powered shots are fired from the smoke and rapidly head towards Unit 10. This doesn't frighten Casey at all though as she calmly turns her gaze towards the incoming shots while Unit 10's A.T. Field effortlessly deflects them. After that, Casey cheerfully smirks while uncrossing her legs and leans forward to get a better look at the main screen with both hands now down. "Well, well... Good to see that you're still alive. It really would have been too boring if you died so easily." She then giggles.

Asuka responds through the intercom with a frustrated tone after the smoke fully clears and showed that not much damage was dealt to Unit 02 while holding an automatic rifle in its right hand, which the rifle had been sent to the red Eva by a building that's to its right. "Shove it! That cheap attack would never take down a prodigy like me!"

Casey giggles again with her head slanted to the right and says with sarcasm in her voice, "Oh, really? YOU are a prodigy?" She straightens her head while menacingly smiling. "Now that's so funny, I almost forgot to laugh!"

Asuka grits her teeth while pure anger displays itself on her expression as she shouts out with her body torqued forward, "Hundin!" Unit 02 then aims the rifle with both hands and launches a flurry of shots towards Unit 10.

Casey maintains her menacing smile while Unit 10's A.T. Field shields it from the shots once again. "Talk about pointless." Then, multiple hatches on the beige and yellow Eva's body promptly open up while immediately releasing numerous, cylinder-shaped missiles from all directions towards Unit 02.

Asuka's eyes widen briefly as she now knows where exactly the missiles that had attacked her came from and then quickly pulls the controls towards the left to make Unit 02 dive that way while being able to dodge the missiles. This results in all of the missiles that had just been launched to crash onto both the ground and the building while creating another explosion, which pushes Unit 02 a bit farther to the left than the 2nd Child had intended.

After that, Asuka snaps her head up to gaze at Unit 10 after having it lowered momentarily with intensity resonating within her eyes as Unit 02 stands upright while it can be noted that it had loss its grip on the rifle. "This is starting to remind me of that damn Eva that looked like the Mass Production Series. It's so easy to just attack from a far and not fight me straight up." She then shouts out with annoyance in her voice, "Are you going to stay up there all day, huh?!"

Casey shakes her head in disbelief with her eyes closed. "I can't believe my ears..." She then looks at Unit 02 with an arrogant smirk appearing. "I thought you were a PRODIGY, 2nd! Should you really be having a hard time if that was true?!"

Anger joins in with Asuka's annoyance as she swings her left arm towards the side. "Who said I was having a hard time?!" The red-head brings her left hand up next to her cheek while clenching with a sinister smile now showing. "I just didn't expect my opponent to be such a coward, that's all!"

A scowl suddenly displays itself on Casey's expression as her left eyebrow's raised. "W-What was that?"

In response, Unit 02 widens its stance while Asuka puts her left hand down and says with a taunting tone, "Awe! Did someone not like what I said?!" She turns her head to the right with her eyes shut while stating in a mocking tone, "Not only are you a coward, but apparently, you're also a cry-baby." Asuka then giggles a little.

Casey pulls her head back with a profound amount of rage arising as she gives Unit 02 a dirty look. "You are SO dead." She then throws her body forward while pushing onto the controls, which forces Unit 10 to fly towards Unit 02 as Casey shouts out with anger, "You're going to regret pissing me off!"

Asuka instantly opens her eyes and turns her head to focus on Unit 10 with a determined smile. "As if!" Suddenly, both Unit 02's pylons open up, and once Unit 10 gets close enough, shoots out the spikes that reside in them towards the enemy Eva.

Casey gives off a fake laugh and then declares with a boastful tone, "That was so predictable, 2nd!" Unit 10 then lets out another barrage of missiles from its body while the beige and yellow Eva continues to rapidly descend. Right after that, all of Unit 02's spikes collide with the majority of the missiles that had been launched and blow-up as a few of them pass through the explosions and head towards Unit 02.

Misato's voice quickly comes through the intercom with urgency being present. "Asuka! You don't need to dodge! Just use your A.T. Field! It should hold up like last time! Then we'll send you a few weapons to counter with!"

Asuka sternly nods with her eyes locked onto the incoming missiles. "Got it!" The red Eva then expands its A.T. Field a few seconds before the missiles make contact with Unit 02 and don't explode upon impact like before, but the reasoning for that is different this time.

Casey reveals that fact right when Unit 10 appears behind Unit 02 while her Eva levitates a little above the ground and states, "You really think I'm going to keep doing the same thing over and over?! You really are a joke!"

Asuka veers her gaze towards the left to look behind herself with a distraught expression. "How did she-?!"

Before Asuka has the opportunity to finish what she's saying, Unit 10 releases several more missiles from its body, and with no chance for the 2nd Child to react, hits the red Eva's back while each missile blows-up on impact, which sends Unit 02 falling forward. At the same time, the 2nd Child lets out a pain filled scream with both eyes shut and body sent forward just like her Eva. As that happens, the few missiles that had been blocked by Unit 02's A.T. Field break through it due to the red Eva being unable to maintain it and collide onto Unit 02's head while also exploding.

Having witnessed all that had occurred from Central Dogma, Misato frantically shouts out while everyone else watches on with horror being displayed, "Asuka!"

While Misato's outburst resounds within Central Dogma, Casey giggles while making Unit 10 gradually back away from the smoke that has been caused by her most recent attack as it's still levitating in the air. "That's the end of her." She then turns her head to the right to gaze towards the center of Tokyo-03. "I should go see Nero and tell him that he made a terrible decision in choosing such a weakling to be his girlfriend."

Asuka sharply retorts with notable frustration as Unit 02's slowly revealed to have been quite damaged, but still in one piece while no longer holding the rifle due to it having been obliterated in the explosion. "You seriously have some nerve in calling the Great Asuka Langley Soryu weak!"

Casey's overcome with surprise as she rapidly snaps her head to look at Unit 02. "What the?! How are you still alive?!"

Asuka scoffs at Casey's reaction with her posture still bent forward. "Like I said before, dummkopf! Your cheap attacks aren't going to beat me!"

Hearing that declaration causes Misato to softly laugh with her arms crossed and head slightly tilted to the right. "Typical Asuka."

Then, Unit 06 and Unit 08 become the main focus as Nero makes his Eva retrieve the Lance of Longinus from the ground by swiftly flying where it was lying. After doing that, Unit 06 flies back towards Unit 08 with the lance in its right hand as the enemy Eva awaits for the attack that will come while levitating. Unit 06 then thrusts the lance at the gold Eva once it's within range, but unfortunately and surprisingly, Unit 08's A.T. Field that has the Tree of Life etching on it blocks the strike, which instantly shocks the 7th Child as he lets out an involuntary gasp.

Zahn smiles at the sound of Nero's gasp while cocking his head to the left. "You should really know better, Nero. Did you forget what exactly I am?" Unit 08 then lifts up its left arm and points it at Unit 06 with its hand open. After that, the gold Eva's A.T. Field pushes forward, slams right into Unit 06's face and sends it flying backwards to an immense distance while Nero yells in distress as he desperately tries not to lose his balance on the platform. Unit 06's back then crashes onto the ground while still keeping its grip on the lance as Nero's momentarily not able to regain his composure due to him having fell down.

Meanwhile, Shinji saw what had just transpired about a quarter-mile to the right of Unit 08 with concern on his person as his attention is towards the downed Unit 06. "Nero!" He's about to manipulate the controls in the attempt to aid his brother, but then out of nowhere, Unit 01 feels an intense pressure onto its body and quickly falls to its knees, which causes a loud thud sound to be made. Afterwards, Shinji throws his head back to peer up at the sky and is overcome with surprise as he sees Unit 07 right above it in a horizontal angle with both hands extended out to Unit 01 so it can use the Crusher System.

Evan stares down at Unit 01 with his hands on the controls and discontent showing as it can be seen that there's a metallic component installed onto both edges of his forehead. "What the hell were you trying to do? A weakling like you shouldn't try to get involved when the big boys are fighting."

Shinji keeps his eyes on Unit 07 as he responds with some concern in his voice. "Where did you come from?!"

Evan chuckles in a menacing way. "What a stupid question. Does it really matter where I came from?" He then shouts out with a vicious tone while the Crusher System on both arms conduct electricity between every antenna and is about to fire a shock-wave, "What you should be worried about is surviving!"

Suddenly, the Lance of Longinus comes flying towards Unit 07 with impeccable speed, although Evan sees it and barely makes his Eva ascend enough to have the lance miss by going under Unit 07. Right after that, the brown and red Eva positions itself vertically to face the direction the lance came from while the pilot gazes at Unit 06. Nero then comments with Unit 06 being on its left knee while having its left hand planted on the ground and right arm extended forward, "I like the improvements on Unit 07, Evan. To be able to fly really does come in handy in this battle. If not, then you would have been in big trouble."

Evan cracks his neck while slanting his head to the left with discontent still being present and his back momentarily against the seat. "Hmph! Like I need you to tell me that!" He then leans forward with aggravation adding in. "This is so like you! Talking down to people!"

Unit 06 stands on both feet while Nero scratches the back of his head with his right hand in a confused manner. "I didn't think I was talking down to you just now." The 7th Child then lowers his right hand with a somber look taking over. "Anyway, I can assume you're using the amplifier this time, right?"

Evan's image promptly appears on the upper screen of Unit 06's entry as he's pointing at the metallic components that's on his forehead with his right hand. "Does this answer your question?"

Nero's eyes immediately dull as he nods with his right hand on his waist. "Unfortunately..." He lowers his head to take a deep breath with his eyes closed for a moment and then raises his head up to look at Evan again. "You really do whatever it takes to gain strength even if the power is artificial and dangerous. At least Lucas never stooped so low as to do such a thing."

Evan grits his teeth with anger arising and then yells out with an upset tone, "What did I tell you about saying that retard's name?!" Unit 07 then points both its arms towards Unit 06 while electricity begins to conduct again.

Right as the Crusher System's ready to launch a shock-wave, Zahn intervenes by saying with a commanding tone while giving Unit 07 a fierce glare, "And what did I tell you about getting in the way when I'm fighting Nero, Evan?!"

Evan quickly stops Unit 07 from using the Crusher System as his eyes turn to the left to look at Unit 08 with fear showing. "U-Uhh... W-Well..."

Zahn's image displays itself on Evan's left side screen while having a cold expression, which quickly grabs Evan's attention as his fear greatly increases. After that, the yellow-eyed boy states with his arms now crossed and standing upright, "Don't forget how easy it would be for me to kill you. And Lord Keel wouldn't have any problem with me doing that, so just stay out of the way!"

Evan's stunned briefly and then turns his head away from Zahn with frustration taking form. In the meantime, Nero calmly watches on from where Unit 06 has been standing for the past few minutes while thinking, "Sadly, Zahn actually would kill Evan if he gets involved. That's how much he's obsessed over me." He then turns his gaze to Unit 01 and quickly opens up a private channel to Shinji. "Hey, Shinji."

Unit 01 continues to be on its knees as Shinji hears Nero calling him and looks at Unit 06. "What is it, Nero?"

Nero replies to Shinji's question with his focus back on Unit 07 and 08. "I'm going to leave Unit 07 to you. It's going to take everything I got to keep Zahn busy. It's bad enough I'm not allowed to Transcend Unit 06." He then looks at Unit 01 out of the corner of his eyes. "But be careful... Evan's using an amplifier that more than doubles his sync ratio with the Eva, however, it does put a huge strain on his brain. All you really have to do is-"

Before Nero gets the chance to tell Shinji what he must do, the 3rd Child notices Unit 08 swiftly flying towards Unit 06 with an extreme amount of speed and screams out with a distraught tone, "Nero, watch out!"

Nero hurriedly snaps his head to his right, which is the direction Unit 08 is advancing from, and sees with his eyes widening that the gold Eva's left hand is inches away from Unit 06's face. The hand then makes contact with the face and the pure force sends Unit 06 flying once again while Nero shouts out with annoyance brimming, "I'm really getting tired of this!" Unit 06 quickly arches its body to do a back-flip while successfully stopping itself from going any further backwards and plants its feet onto the ground.

Zahn chuckles after having Unit 08 land on the ground right where his Eva had levitated when it sent Unit 06 flying and mutters with a confident tone while looking at the 7th Child's Eva, "Impressive as always, Nero." He then licks his upper lip.

Nero has his body slouched forward a bit as he stares at Unit 08 with a serious expression while thinking, "I never imagined to be so out-classed by Zahn. After fighting Kaworu, I realized there would be a difference in capabilities between the two of us, but with Unit 06, I thought I could keep up with him." He drops his head before shutting his eyes as he lightly sighs, quickly straightens his posture after doing that and returns his gaze to Unit 08 with a half-hearted smile displayed while saying to himself in a whisper, "Oh well... I just have to do my best to beat him without Transcending because if I do that, what Kaworu had told me all those weeks ago would happen... And that's the last thing I want."

After saying that, Nero briefly chuckles with his head cocked to the right and his eyes turned away from Unit 08 again. "Though it will be really tough considering Zahn's barely holding back against me. I can see it as clear as day." He focuses his attention back to the gold Eva, clenches both his hands that are lowered to his sides into fists with determination brimming and leans forward a little. "So let's get as serious as possible, Adam."

Once again, the scene veers off while going several minutes back in time to Unit 00 and 04 as they continue to face the SEELE Evas. Not much movement has been done as both Rei and Kaworu take into consideration how they're outnumbered while trying not to fall into a sudden attack unleashed by the enemy. Surprisingly enough, none of the SEELE Evas had even tried to launch an attack as there's an unsettling silence.

Kaworu intently watches the SEELE Evas while tapping his right hand's fingers on the control handle and thinks, "The odds are painfully stacked against myself and Ayanami, however, if I can think of a strategy that will take down a handful of them at once, things will certainly tilt to our favor."

Then, Rei softly states with her image being displayed to Kaworu's left as she's looking at him, "Nagisa, what do you suggest we do?"

Kaworu stops tapping his fingers while diverting his attention to the left and makes eye contact with Rei. "I am not entirely sure what method will work. As you could recall, Soryu and I mostly improvised in the previous battle."

SEELE 05 *Mr. Mitori* interjects into their conversation with a stern tone while having his arms folded and back resting on the seat. "Don't expect that to work with us. We learned from our former members' mistakes. Anyway, neither of you two is our main objective, so you two will be the equivalence of entertainment until we get our order from Keel."

Both Rei and Kaworu's eyes instantly widen as they snap their focus towards SEELE Eva 05 with some concern being displayed. Kaworu then regains his composure with seriousness taking over while asking, "What is the meaning behind those words, Mr. Mitori?"

SEELE 03 *Isao* quickly cuts in with mild aggravation in his voice as his Eva continues to stand towards the left of the line that the enemy Evas are in. "You really talk too much, Mr. Mitori. They didn't need to know that."

Mr. Mitori scoffs at Isao's comment while looking at SEELE Eva 03 out of the corner of his eyes. "Like it really matters. One way or the other, they're individual existence will be coming to an end." He then laughs softly in a malicious manner.

After having heard Mr. Mitori's words, both curiosity and concern are noted on Kaworu's face with his eyes narrowed as he thinks, "Individual existence...?" Realization then strikes Kaworu as his eyes widen with horror arising while whispering to himself, "They couldn't be?! Are they planning on implementing Instrumentality?! How would they be able to manage it without a Medium?!" Kaworu slowly lowers his head, places his right hand over his mouth with a stern look overtaking him while in deep thought. "There is still the option Keel neglected to tell me, however, that should not be sufficient after considering who's destined to cause 4th Impact..."

In the meantime, Rei sees Kaworu's expression, which cause a little bit of worry to take form, and asks with a gentle tone, "Is everything alright, Nagisa?"

Kaworu removes his hand away from his mouth while turning his attention towards Rei with a small amount of surprise due to him not expecting her question and then smirks in a reassuring way. "Yes, Ayanami. There is nothing to worry about." He locks his eyes onto the SEELE Evas with both hands firmly grasping the controls and says with some confidence brimming, "Whatever they have planned, we shall prevent no matter what the cost..." Kaworu then glances at Rei while sincerely smiling. "Of course, that does not include us sacrificing ourselves. I prefer to live as long as possible to see what life has in store for me. Don't you agree, Ayanami?"

Rei slightly blushes due to the look Kaworu's giving her while hesitantly nodding. "Indeed."

Nakatsu suddenly involves himself into the conversation while SEELE Eva 07 swiftly flies towards Unit 00 as it's holding the Prog Sword with both hands and over the enemy Eva's head. "If you two are done with your little pep-talk, then get ready to die!"

Kenzo chuckles out of amusement while watching SEELE Eva 07 from the left side of the line and then mutters, "There he goes. Jumping the gun like always."

Shock appears on Rei's person as she frantically looks at the incoming Eva while being unable to react quick enough. Fortunately, Unit 04 steps in front of Unit 00 while deploying its A.T. Field right before SEELE Eva 07 swung its sword and ends up colliding in the A.T. Field with a loud, chiming sound resounding throughout the area. After that, Nakatsu shows irritation on his face with his posture bent forward and grumbles, "Such a nuisance..."

Rei looks at Unit 04's back with amazement being displayed at first and then lightly smiles. "Thank you, Nagisa."

Kaworu sharply responds with a serious expression as he doesn't takes his eyes off SEELE Eva 07. "You are welcome. Now, Ayanami... Due to your limited mobility, contact Colonel Katsuragi to send you long-range weapons so that you can attack from a far. I will handle the hand to hand combat for the time being." He then turns his head to the left to look behind himself with a cool smirk. "Are you alright with that plan?"

Rei's a little surprised for a moment, but quickly composes herself while firmly nodding. "I have no dispute with your plan."

Kaworu's delighted by Rei's response and then refocuses his attention with intensity establishing itself. "Good. Now, hurry! Unit 04's A.T. Field won't hold for long!"

Right as those words were spoken, Unit 04's A.T. Field does give out due to the Prog Sword still having the capability to quite easily penetrate it, but not to the extent that the Lance of Longinus can usually achieve, which explains why it took several moments for the sword to break through. After that, the silver Eva elegantly dodges the descending sword by hopping towards the right, and as it's in the air, the left pylon opens up. This results in the sword crashing into the ground as Nakatsu looks at Unit 04 with his irritation greatly increasing.

Meanwhile, Kaworu makes Unit 04 grab onto the Prog Knife handle that's sticking out of the pylon with its right hand while slightly turning his Eva to the left as it continues to be in the air so it can throw the short-bladed weapon at SEELE Eva 07. Unfortunately, Kenzo decides to include himself into the fray and has SEELE Eva 06 suddenly appear to Unit 04's right while levitating in the air. At the same time, SEELE Eva 06 is holding the Prog Sword in its left hand while being in a reverse position and swings it at Unit 04's head. "You mustn't forget that you're dealing with more than one of us, Tabris!"

Some surprise can be noted on Kaworu's face as he's looking at SEELE Eva 06 out of the corner of his right eye and then unexpectedly smiles with content. "Likewise, Kenzo."

With that said, a barrage of shots come straight at SEELE Eva 06 from its right and many of them are able to make contact before the enemy Eva was able to deploy its A.T. Field. After that, the SEELE members all turn their attention to where the shots came from and see that Unit 00 is holding a single-handed gatling gun in its right hand while holding a chainsaw in the other hand. Not only that, Unit 00 somehow managed to distance itself far enough to be almost half a mile away from SEELE Eva 07 while having connected a different Umbilical Cord thanks to one of the three buildings that's behind it after Rei had requested NERV's assistance.

This angers Kenzo to a large degree as Kaworu has Unit 04 harshly land on the ground with its right hand now lowered while keeping a tight grip on the Prog Knife. After that, the grey-haired boy thinks while being quite pleased, "Ayanami certainly does not waste time in following orders." Kaworu then takes into account the Prog Chainsaw that Unit 00's holding in its left hand and this makes him smile again while thinking, "Excellent. This time I might actually be able to use that tactic. Though it is quite childish."

Having finished that thought, Kaworu soon sees that SEELE Eva 07 rushes towards Unit 00 by means of flight while still holding onto its Prog Sword with both hands as it's pulled to the enemy Eva's left side. This results in urgency being displayed on Kaworu's person as he shouts out with a concerned tone, "Ayanami!"

Rei's attention focuses on the incoming Eva with posture bent forward quite a bit as Unit 00 releases a volley of shots, but sadly, it has no effect due to SEELE Eva 07's A.T. Field being too strong. SEELE Eva 07 then quickly gets close enough to Unit 00 and swings the Prog Sword in a left, horizontal angle, which ends up penetrating the blue Eva's A.T. Field with ease while at the same time slicing the gatling gun in half. Shortly after that, the gatling gun blows-up, which knocks Unit 00 backwards a bit, and then SEELE Eva 07 tries to follow up with another attack with its Prog Sword by swinging it the other direction this time.

Due to being too far away and knowing that SEELE Eva 06 would interfere if he were to make his Eva advance, all Kaworu can do is yell out with a stern expression taking over his face, "Use the chainsaw, Ayanami!"

Without even thinking about it, Rei does what Kaworu says and pulls onto the controls to make Unit 00 lift up its left arm to block the swing with the Prog Chainsaw, although the 1st Child did that without the chainsaw's blade rotating like it normally would. After that, Nakatsu becomes very annoyed while trying to have his Eva overpower Unit 00, but seems to not be able to do that. "What is this?! How could NERV have any weapon that can withstand our blades?!"

Kaworu chuckles while resting his back against the seat. "It is very simple, Nakatsu. I had mentioned in the previous battle against your deceased members about that chainsaw's destructive power." He calmly shuts his eyes with his head down. "Of course, to be able to have such destructive power, it must have great durability." Kaworu then lifts his head back up to gaze at SEELE Eva 07's back with a confident smirk appearing. "So great, that it is on par with your swords."

Before Nakatsu has an opportunity to retort to Kaworu's words, SEELE Eva 06 thrusts its Prog Sword towards Unit 04 while once again aiming for the silver Eva's head as Kenzo shouts out with an arrogant tone, "Thanks for the pointless explanation for a weapon that you don't even have in your possession!"

Unit 04's A.T. Field wasn't able to block the attack in time, however, Kaworu being who he is came up with a fast solution by weaving his Eva's body back so that it's successfully able to dodge the blade. Astonishment immediately shows itself on Kenzo's face as his eyes veer to look at Unit 04 while trying to have SEELE Eva 06 deploy its A.T. Field in case of a counter-attack. Unexpectedly, Unit 04 doesn't even try to launch an attack and instead bends backwards even more to plant its left hand on the ground while its legs are lifted up into the air.

That results in a spring, hand-stand backflip that's used to gain separation between Unit 04 and SEELE Eva 06, which has the silver Eva now at a respectable distance away from the enemy, although it isn't that far while Kaworu's Eva maintains its grasp on the Prog Knife that's in its right hand. Afterwards, Kaworu answers back to Kenzo's previous statement while lightly smiling. "That may be, however, that does not necessarily mean I am helpless in this battle." He chuckles for a moment and then states with confidence increasing. "On the contrary, even without a destructive weapon like that chainsaw, I will be sure to protect what is important to me!"

Meanwhile, Nakatsu was a little distracted by the small exchange between his companion and Kaworu as his head is turned to look behind himself, which gave Unit 00 the chance to activate the Prog Chainsaw's blade. Right after that, a lot of friction is created against the Prog Sword's blade and forcefully recoils the enemy Eva's weapon. Nakatsu then frantically snaps his head to look at Unit 00 again with shock. "What the hell?!"

Rei doesn't waste much time as Unit 00 firmly holds onto the chainsaw with both hands and swings it in an upward angle. This attack manages to breakthrough SEELE Eva 07's A.T. Field while grazing its chest since Nakatsu was fortunate to have his Eva back-up enough so there wouldn't be complete contact as Kenzo thinks with his teeth slightly grinding together, "Little brat!"

After having witnessed what just transpired, Mr. Mitori whistles in amazement with the palm of his right hand underneath his chin and left hand tucked within his right arm while SEELE Eva 05 continues to stand where it had since the SEELE members first made their appearance. "That was a close one. That chainsaw almost killed another one of our members."

Isao sighs while closing his eyes and dropping his head in mild aggravation. "Though I shouldn't be saying this, it would have served him right for jumping the gun and underestimating these kids." He then looks back and forth between the two Evas that are facing off. "There really is no need in them fighting. It's like what you said earlier, Mr. Mitori. All we have to do is wait for Keel's orders. It really is just us killing time with Adam and Lilith's former vessels."

Toshima joins into the conversation with his Eva at the very end of the left side while speaking in a composed manner as he's staring at the ceiling. "Indeed. It is just a matter of time before NERV's futile efforts will become apparent to them..." He then directs his attention forward with a serious look establishing itself. "And humanity will finally repent for their sins."

Right when Toshima had said that, Keel's voice comes out of nowhere as he says to every member through a private channel. "Well said, Toshima."

Instant surprise can be seen on every member's face as they all look upward while replying in unison, "Keel!"

Both Rei and Kaworu hear what the SEELE members had said with concern showing. After that, Sekime leans forward with both hands on the controls and curiously asks, "Is it already time?!"

Keel simply responds. "Indeed. Now stop messing around. There is no more time to waste." The private channel then goes off.

A few seconds pass by after Keel's words were heard and then every SEELE Eva suddenly launch one by one while quickly heading towards the center of the city. This fact greatly worries both Kaworu and Rei as they watch the enemy leave without any warning at all. Kaworu then briefly contemplates to himself about the reasoning that they had just left all of a sudden with his head lowered while muttering, "They had just said Keel's name... He must have contacted them... But why...?"His eyes then widen out of realization as horror plagues his expression and snaps his head up. "Unless my suspicions were correct?!"

Overhearing Kaworu's outburst, Rei looks at his image with mild curious. "Nagisa?"

Kaworu turns his focus to Rei with a stressful demeanor. "We need to hurry, Ayanami! I do not know how, but I believe 4th Impact will be commencing soon!"

Rei's promptly overcome with worry and dismay as she lets out a distraught gasp.

Not much afterwards, the focus diverts back to the center of Tokyo-03 while Unit 06 desperately tries to hold off Unit 08 as both Evas soar through the sky and attack each other when it suited them, although the gold Eva's attacks have more of an effect than Unit 06's. At the same time, Shinji watches on with Unit 01 still on its knees as a sense of helplessness starts to eat away. This is due to the 3rd Child having done nothing at all since the beginning of the battle, and even if he wanted to aid his brother, Unit 07's standing to the right of Unit 01 as Evan's intently keeping an eye on the purple Eva in the case of Shinji trying to involve himself again. Little does Shinji know, there's another purpose to why Evan is staying so close to Shinji because if it wasn't for that, Unit 07's pilot would have tried harder in ending the 3rd Child's life.

Shinji continues to watch the two Evas clash for several more seconds and turns his head to the right to look away with sadness dwelling within him while thinking, "What should I do?! Nero said he'll leave Unit 07 to me, but...!" He then peers at Unit 07, who's pointing its left arm at Unit 01's head to be ready to launch the Crusher System at any sudden movement from the purple Eva, and thinks with his sadness rising, "How am I going to do that?! That Crusher System's really strong and that Eva can fly!"

After thinking that, Shinji returns his gaze to Unit 06 and softly says to himself, "Does Nero really believe that I can win the way I am right now? The only way I think I could is by Transcending my Eva, but..." He suddenly remembers what happened during his fight with Nero and how he almost caused 4th Impact by himself. This causes Shinji to tightly shut his eyes in fear while thinking, "No! I can't take that chance again!"

Nero shouts out with intensity as Unit 08 hits Unit 06's chest with a dropkick and sends it flying backwards once again, "Damn it! Can I really not keep up?!" The indigo Eva stops itself from going any further back with its limbs extended towards the sides as Nero passionately yells out while shaking his head with his eyes closed, "It doesn't matter! I can't give up! Not when I found a place to be happy!" Nero looks at Unit 08 with a profound amount of seriousness and determination being displayed. "I rather die than give up!"

Shinji's eyes quickly open with a dumbfounded look overtaking his face as he turns his attention to Unit 06 and mutters, "Nero..." A large amount of courage then burns within Shinji's being as he takes a deep breath and turns his head to the right so he can look behind himself. After that, Shinji sees that the Lance of Longinus is planted onto the ground after it had missed Unit 07 earlier and thinks, "I don't want to give up either! I don't want to sit in the sidelines like last time and do nothing to help!"

With that thought completed, Shinji looks at the controls and forcefully pulls them back with all his might, which results in Unit 01 hastily getting back to its feet with the use of its hands, while turning around to start running towards the lance. Evan didn't actually think that Shinji would attempt such an act so he's quite surprised for a moment and then points Unit 07's left arm at Unit 01's back with some anger showing while the Eva stands in a sideways stance with its left foot forward. "Dumb ass!" The brown and red Eva then releases the shock-wave that reaches towards Unit 01 in a matter of seconds.

In response, Unit 01 side steps to the right while continuing to head towards the lance as the shock-wave misses, although it reached far enough to hit the ground that the Lance of Longinus was planted on. This causes the lance to be sent flying into the sky just as Unit 01 had made it to the spot that it was located while forcefully stopping itself from running any further. Shinji then throws his head back to look at sky while at first waiting for the lance to descend towards the purple Eva.

Unfortunately, Evan has no plans of letting Shinji get a hold of the lance and quickly makes Unit 07 crouch down a little. It then launches itself from the ground and flies towards the airborne lance with incredible speed as Evan shouts out, "You have to be dreaming if you actually think I'll let you get the lance!"

Shinji frantically glances at Unit 07 as its soaring through the sky and then displays determination on his person. After that, Unit 01 briefly gets on all fours, and with all the strength the 3rd Child can muster while valiantly screaming, the purple Eva jumps into the sky with outstanding agility just as Unit 07 was about to grab onto the Lance of Longinus with its right hand. Then, at the last moment, Unit 01 snatches the lance from Unit 07's reach with both hands and continues to ascend through the sky while even doing multiple, corkscrew spins.

In the meantime, Unit 07 stops its advancement and levitates in an upright position as Evan looks up at Unit 01 with disbelief overtaking his expression. "He...! He just did the same thing Nero always does!" Anger then resurfaces, but to an even greater extent this time as Evan screams out, "How dare you try to make me look like a fool?!"

Evan's about to make Unit 07 go after Unit 01, but stops as he sees the purple Eva stop spinning and pulls its right arm back. What really surprises Evan about this sudden action is that Unit 01 isn't even aiming at Unit 07. Instead, the purple Eva's facing towards the direction where the other two Evas are located and throws the lance towards them right after Shinji passionately yells out, "Catch, Nero!"

At the same time, Unit 08 had just penetrated Unit 06's A.T. Field with its left hand and is about to strike Nero's Eva with a closed right fist until the Lance of Longinus came to Unit 06's left with incredible velocity. Unit 06 swiftly catches the lance with its left arm extended out while content rapidly appears on Nero's face. "Thanks, little brother!"

Immediately after that, Unit 06 thrusts the lance's blade right towards Unit 08's right fist and the impact of the two colliding is so strong that both Evas are sent flying backwards. Both pilots let out a distressful yell while having lost their balance and had fallen onto their backs. Their Evas then crash into the ground while receiving a fair amount of damage and causing a small crater to be made from the destructive force of the crash.

While that happened, Unit 01 lands onto the ground, which causes it to crack a little as Shinji looks at where Unit 06 had crashed with an immense amount of worry. "Nero! Are you okay?!"

Due to being so caught-up with his concerned for his brother, Shinji isn't able to react to Unit 07 rapidly descending from the sky, placing its right hand onto the back of Unit 01's head and forcefully face-planting the purple Eva onto the ground, which results in it breaking apart quite a bit. This causes Shinji's body to torque forward so much he hits his forehead off the control panel and gets knocked out while slouching towards his right. Simultaneously, Evan stares down at the downed Unit 01 with a look of disgust emitting as Unit 07 stands tall over the purple Eva's body. "That's for trying to act like him."

Suddenly, Evan notices that there are six shadows around his Eva and Unit 01 that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. This compels the young man to hurriedly look around himself for a moment with a bit of urgency, cocks his head back to look up at the sky and sees that the six shadows belong to the SEELE Evas as they're levitating above him without showing any signs of movement. After that, Evan smirks in a sinister way with his head now tilted slightly to the left while still cocked back. "So it's time, huh?" Evan then turns his attention back to Unit 01 with his head straightened. "And we got you right where we want you, 3rd."

Meanwhile, Unit 08 lies on its back without moving at all as Zahn is also on his back with his hair overshadowing his eyes. He then starts to laugh softly for a few seconds until the volume in his laughter begins to rise up to the point of Zahn sounding hysterical while placing his left hand over his face. After laughing for several moments, Zahn shouts with excitement in his voice as his right eye can be seen between his middle finger and ring finger, "That's more like it, Nero!" He promptly sits up with his left hand down and his gaze up. "That attack with the lance had a lot of kick into it! Unlike that first pathetic one!" Zahn places both hands on his cheeks while licking his lips in ecstasy. "I want more! I want you, Nero! I want everything you got!"

Keel's voice interrupts Zahn's rant from within the boy's mind with a cold tone. "There is no more time for that, my son. I have already called upon the members and they're in place."

Zahn puts his hands down a little while looking towards his lower right side with curiosity radiating. "Is that why you used the private channel to contact them while I was busy fighting Nero?"

Keel responds with no change to his tone. "Correct."

Zahn sighs while dropping his head down with his eyes closed and then gets back on his feet, which Unit 07 imitates. After doing that, the white-haired boy sets his sights onto Unit 06, who's still lying on the ground at a considerable distance, and softly says with sadness resonating, "Right when I was having so much fun with him." He takes a deep breath with his eyes closed again, looks towards the right while having the still downed Unit 01 be his main focus and smirks in a deviant way. "Oh well... What can you do?"

As Zahn finished talking to himself, Nero gradually regains his composure with his right hand lightly caressing the 7th Child's head as he continues to lie on his back for a bit. He then sits up with a pained expression on his face as he tries to shake the haziness that currently clouds his mind. Once he finished doing that, Nero slowly opens his eyes while looking at his body and mutters with a mildly strained tone, "That really hurt."

With that said, Nero rises to his feet with Unit 06 doing the same while keeping a hold on the Lance of Longinus that's within its left hand's grasp. After that, the black-haired boy briefly situates himself with his head down until hearing a loud humming sound come from a small distance away and then turns his attention to look ahead of himself since that's where the sound's coming from while quickly lowering his left hand with concern brimming.

Nero soon sees that Unit 08's levitating off the area it was standing on with large gusts of wind being blown away from beneath the gold Eva due to the excessive power that it's using while casually floating in the air. The 7th Child continues to watch Unit 08 for a few more seconds and then makes a serious expression while thinking, "Why do I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?"

Uni 08 swiftly turns towards its right and faces towards that direction, which causes Nero to look towards that same direction with curiosity being displayed. He's then overcome with shock after seeing that Unit 01's standing in a motionless manner with its head tilted back after being forced to its feet by Unit 07. The six SEELE Evas have Unit 01 surrounded in a hexagon formation with Unit 07 levitating above the purple Eva in a horizontal position while facing towards it as all seven Evas are about a quarter-mile away from Unit 01.

Unit 06 hurriedly turns to face towards Unit 01 as Nero takes a step forward with urgency showing and shouts out, "Shinji!"

At that very moment, the six SEELE Evas start to emit an ominous black essence with the green stripes on their body brightly glowing while the "X" on Unit 07's face starts to glow as well, but red. A powerful shock-wave is then created and spreads out to an immense distance. This results in the ground that the shock-wave comes into contact breaking apart, the few buildings that were still standing near by to be leveled and Unit 06's A.T. Field being hit by the full extent of the shock-wave, which causes the Tree of Wisdom of Good and Evil etching to be displayed.

Nero does his best to hold his ground with both arms lifted up in front of his face while still being able to see the Evas that are ahead of him with some discomfort being noted on his face. "What the hell is this...?! Such a strong shock-wave!" His eyes then widen out of realization with horror adding to it. "Wait! This is an Anti-A.T. Field, isn't it?! Then that means-!"

Zahn cuts Nero off with an amused tone while gazing at Unit 06. "You never disappoint, Nero. Though you are slower than usual." He looks in front of himself with determination while slightly bent forward. "They really have hindered your capabilities!" Unit 08 then promptly flies off towards the eight Evas with astonishing speed.

Nero follows Unit 08's advancement with a lot of concern showing and then makes Unit 06 chase after the gold Eva by also flying with the lance still in the Eva's left hand as desperation consumes the black-haired boy's being. "No!" He frantically shakes his head with his eyes shut while yelling out with panic in his voice, "No, no, no! They can't possibly use him!" Nero then looks up ahead while still chasing after Unit 08. "Not like this! Please, God!"

Unit 08 shortly passes by SEELE Eva 06 since it's the Eva that's closest and suddenly stops in front of Unit 01 as Zahn analyzes every aspect of the purple Eva with a menacing look on his face. "I would have prefered doing this with Nero, but you're much easier, Shinji." He then chuckles.

Right after that, Unit 06 tries to go pass the same SEELE Eva, but ends up running right into an extremely large A.T. Field that has a Tree of Life etching appear in front of each Eva as it surrounds all six SEELE Evas and Unit 07 like a hexagonal dome that has a black strip continuously flowing up along the A.T. Field. This greatly startles Nero as Unit 06 grabs onto the lance with both hands, pulls the weapon over its head and thrusts it with all the strength Nero can put.

Unfortunately, the giant A.T. field has no problem blocking the strike, which causes Nero to be immediately overtaken with despair as his eyes have widen and softly says, "No... The Lance of Longinus... Can't get through this one either..." He then pulls the lance back over his Eva's head again and stabs the A.T. Field, but still no result. This fact completely terrifies Nero as desperation begins to overflow and makes his Eva repeatedly strike the A.T. Field from different angles, although none of them are doing any good.

While doing that, Nero hysterically shouts out while repeatedly torquing his body back and forth to continue his attempts of getting through the humongous A.T. Field, "This can't be happening! I can't let this happen! Not to Shinji! NOT AGAIN!"

Zahn mildly tilts his head back while having it turned a little to the left and looks at Unit 06's unsuccessful strikes through the A.T. Field with a crazed expression. "It's no use, Nero! No matter how hard you try, you'll fail to protect the person who actually determines whether you live or die!" The arrow-shaped visor that represents Unit 08's eyes starts to shine an intense purple color while a matching halo suddenly appears above its head.

After that, Zahn shuts his eyes with both arms raised up towards his sides while fully cocking his head back and laughs in a maniacal way. Having laughed like that for several seconds, the white-haired boy opens his eyes and gazes at the ceiling with a sinister smile while calming himself down a little. "Time's up, Lilins..." He looks ahead of himself with both arms lowered and excitedly screams out, "There's no more time for you or this world!"

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...

Brief Statement:

Just to say, I'm not too happy with how this episode turned out as a whole since it felt kind of vague to me while writing it. I still hope you all were able to enjoy it to some extent. I'll do my best to make the last few episodes awesome! So like always, look forward to that. Also, my reason for having Vanessa pilot the pink Eva portrayed as the Unit 08 from the 3rd Rebuild is because I wondered how cool it would be if both that Eva and Unit 05 would face off with Mari piloting one of them, of course. Hope all of you liked what I did with that.

That's it. Talk to you all later.