Words from the Author:

Not going to waste time with pointless chatter. Neon Genesis Evangelion's owned by Gainax and all other respective owners. That's all there is to it. Enjoy, everyone.

Episode 30: Enlightenment in the Form of Uncontrollable Agony

The scene starts off all the way down at Terminal Dogma where Lilith once was held with Gendo standing in front of the pool of LCL that's between him and the giant cross that restrained the 2nd Angel in the past. The Commander simply stares at the cross from behind his glasses while having his arms folded together with a stern demeanor. Then, footsteps can be vaguely heard from a distance as they head towards Gendo. That fact doesn't really seem to concern Gendo for some unknown reason until the person who's walking towards the Commander is revealed to be Kaji. He's calmly gazing at Gendo's back with both hands in his pockets as this meeting between these two individuals takes place moments before Unit 01 was surrounded by the enemy Evas.

Kaji stops his advancement not too far away from Gendo with a firm expression. "I'm here, Ikari."

Gendo responds without taking his eyes off the giant cross. "Indeed. Though I had hoped for the 6th Child to had come in accordance with my plan." He drops his head down and focuses his attention onto the floor. "But that clearly won't happen since she's busy fighting for who she loves."

Kaji lightly chuckles with his eyes shut. "Did you really expect anything less?" He opens his eyes to focus on Gendo again with a content smirk. "You would do the same."

Gendo turns his head to the left and looks at Kaji out of the corner of his eyes. "Hmm." The commander then returns his attention towards the giant cross and asks with a cold tone, "You know what is happening up there, don't you?"

Kaji sharply nods with seriousness being displayed. "Yeah. It's the final battle. And the children are fighting with everything they have." Mild curiosity suddenly adds in as Kaji slants his head to the left a little. "Why aren't you taking command and supporting them?"

Gendo responds without even moving an inch. "Because I am unfit to support them. What they and everyone in NERV are fighting for is the opposite of what I desire."

Kaji walks up next to Gendo's left and narrows his eyes as he gives the commander a scrutinizing look while slightly leaning forward with his hands still in his pockets. "So you continue to wish for something as selfish as that." He closes his eyes while straightening his posture with his head tilted back. "I kind of figured that you hadn't let that go. Even after everything you said." Kaji then opens his eyes to calmly gaze at Gendo with no change to his posture. "You really are the worst, Ikari."

Gendo nods and then replies with an emotionless tone. "I can not deny or even choose to deny the obvious truth. I want to be with the only person who has ever loved me, and hoped that Shinji and Nero would have supported that desire so we could all be a family..." He turns his head to Kaji. "However, that will not be happening. They chose a world that's filled with so much pain instead of a world they could have made it into anything they wanted."

Kaji sighs while briefly rolling his eyes and then looks at Gendo with a light smile. "Of course. It may seem glamorous to live in a world where you control everything and never feel any hardships, but when you come to the realization that nothing is real, then what's the point? What meaning would there be to living?"

Gendo lifts up his left hand to fix his glasses into place while maintaining his eyes on Kaji. "That is a matter of opinion, Mr. Kaji." He then puts his hand down as he faces Kaji with a firm demeanor. "All I have ever cared about was achieving happiness. The only person who had given that to me was Yui. Without her, even if I were to try to be a family with Shinji, Nero and possibly Rei, there would be emptiness in us being together."

Mild annoyance shows itself on Kaji's face as he narrows his eyes again. "That sounds like an excuse. You're just afraid you won't do well as a father... But you owe it to your two sons and daughter to at least try."

Gendo chuckles with his head lowered a little while still keeping his eyes on Kaji. "So they told you."

Kaji responds with a small amount of amusement in his voice while turning his head to the right to divert his gaze from Gendo. "Not really. It was actually pretty obvious that Rei would be seen as Shinji and Nero's sister by everyone. Especially after taking into consideration how she's composed of their mother's DNA."

Gendo lifts his head back up with no real emotion being displayed. "That's similar to what they told me." He then sets his sights on the giant cross once again and softly says, "I was foolish when I told them that she wasn't a part of our family. If I can consider Nero to be a separate being, why can I not see Rei as the daughter Yui and I always wanted?"

Concern quickly appears as Kaji cocks his head to the right. "What did you just say about Nero?"

Gendo takes in a deep breath and then veers his attention towards Kaji. "You always do what you can to discover the truth, correct? Here's an opportunity for you to know the entire truth. The truth behind Shinji and Nero."

Kaji's a bit confused by Gendo's words while straightening his head. "The truth behind Shinji and Nero?"

Gendo replies without hesitating. "Yes. This truth mainly pertains to one of them being dependent on the other." He then makes a serious expression while facing towards the giant cross with his eyes locked onto it. "And don't be mistaken... The one who's dependent is not Shinji."

With that said, the scene changes to focus on Unit 01 still being within the formation of the six SEELE Evas and Unit 07 while Unit 08 stands in front of the motionless purple Eva. All Evas except Unit 08 continue to emit an ominous glow from their bodies while Unit 06 desperately tries to penetrate the humongous A.T. Field that has countless Tree of Life etchings that now have started to glow a gold color like similar to Unit 08's armor with the modified Lance of Longinus. At the same time, about two miles behind Unit 06, Rei and Kaworu appear in their Evas with an immense amount of concern being shown due to the sight of Unit 01's current situation as Unit 00 hastily connects another Umbilical Cable to itself to replenish the power it had lost in the short journey to the center of the city with the Prog Chainsaw in the blue Eva's right hand.

Kaworu continues to be concerned while leaning forward with both hands on the controls and says to himself, "It is commencing." He then looks at the shining, gold Eva with a bit of suspicion arising. "That Eva... It must be the key to Instrumentality."

Having overheard what Kaworu had said, Rei appears on his right side screen with a serious expression as Unit 00 is standing to the silver Eva's right. "The key? What do you mean?"

Kaworu briefly glances at Rei and then returns his attention towards Unit 08 with some dullness taking form on his face. "That Eva has been labeled as the True Evangelion by Lorenz Keel, the head of SEELE. It is the only other way to enforce the 4th Impact without the need of the Lance of Longinus." He slightly lowers his head while narrowing his eyes and maintaining his focus on the gold Eva. "Of course, it needs the being that is the equivalence of the Lance of Longinus as its pilot."

Rei's confused by Kaworu's words while mildly squinting her eyes. "The equivalence..."

Misato joins into the conversation after hearing everything that had been said while having her image appear on both Rei and Kaworu's upper screen. It can be noted that a lot of worry is being displayed on her person as the Colonel's standing to Hyuga's left with her posture bent forward and hands planted on the area in front of her. "What's that suppose to mean, Kaworu?! What exactly is that gold Eva's pilot?!"

Kaworu gives Misato a sad look while resting his back onto the seat and then hesitates a little before answering her question with his head turned towards his lower left side. "He... He is no ordinary person." He then turns his head to make eye contact with Misato. "His DNA comes from two sources just like any human. Although, one of the sources is not human. Actually, it is not even a living creature."

Misato's eyes widen out of disbelief while thinking, "Impossible..."

Kaworu takes in a deep breath as he diverts his attention to Unit 08 one more time and then exhales. "Keel always neglected to tell me about that pilot, however, I managed to find out what he is. He is a being composed of Keel's cells and..." He closes his eyes, lets out a soft sigh and then gazes at Misato while having his head lightly tilted to the left with some sadness overtaking his person. "The cells of the Lance of Longinus. Simply put, he is a humanoid Lance of Longinus."

Fuyutsuki's overwhelmed by what he just heard while standing at Gendo's post with an upright posture and thinks, "A humanoid... Lance of Longinus...?"

Misato's disbelief instantly spikes as she shouts out, "What the hell?!" She snaps her head to the left to look at Ritsuko. "Is that even possible?!"

Ritsuko stands to Maya's right and looks at Misato with a profound amount of despair radiating from her being. "I've never heard of such a thing! It shouldn't be though!"

In response to Ritsuko's statement, Kaworu gently drops his head while looking towards his lower right corner and comments with a somber tone. "Whether you think it is possible or not makes very little difference." He then lifts his head up to resume watching what is transpiring ahead of him. "It does not change what will be happening to Shinji. He will once again become the catalyst of Instrumentality."

Misato's completely horrified by what she just heard and then focuses back on the main image that's showing Unit 01 still surrounded by the enemy Evas while thinking, "Shinji..." She then looks at Unit 06 and sees it doing everything it can to break through the gigantic A.T. Field. After that, Misato straightens her posture with her hands lowered to her sides while having them clenched and says with a stern tone, "There's no way we'll let that happen without a fight!" She then directs her attention onto the two children that are still displayed on separate panels of the main screen. "Kaworu, Rei!"

Rei and Kaworu lock eyes with Misato while immediately taking notice of the intensity that's resounding in the Colonel's eyes. They then nod with determination brimming due to knowing what Misato wants from them without her even saying and quickly refocus their attention towards Unit 06. After doing that, Unit 00 suddenly disconnects the Umbilical Cable and quickly sprints towards the giant A.T. Field with Unit 04 following not too far behind while leaving a small amount of gust as both pilots show urgency in their expression.

Meanwhile, Nero gradually starts to slow down in the repetitive strikes, which causes frustration and panic to rise, while saying to himself in between small gasps due to how much strength he had exerted with his head lowered as his eyes are shut, "I... Can't do it... I'm not strong enough to save him as I am right now..." He then stops trying to penetrate the A.T. Field while keeping the tip of the lance on it and lifts up his gaze towards Unit 01 as his eyes begin to water. "Shinji... I... I..."

As Nero wallows in his despair, Unit 07 maintains itself levitating above Unit 01 and Unit 08 while facing towards them with all of its limbs outstretched to opposing sides. Evan then lightly chuckles out of amusement while gazing at Unit 06 out of the corner of his eyes and says to himself, "How does it feel, Nero? To feel so useless... It sucks, doesn't it?" He grins in a maniacal way.

At the same time, Unit 08 floats in front of Unit 01 with the halo and visor still emitting a purple glow while the seven Evas that surrounds them begin to brightly shine like the Tree of Life etchings. The gold Eva then plants both hands onto Unit 01's face as Zahn's doing the same thing with a sadistic smile on his face. "Now, awaken." Zahn's yellow eyes suddenly light up with a crazed look taking over.

Not even a second after that occurring, Unit 01's mouth opens up while yelling out a loud roar, which created a shock-wave within the giant A.T. Field as the purple Eva's eyes instantly turn red. Then, Shinji begins to stir after having been unconscious for several minutes with his back resting against the seat as mild aggravation is displayed on his face. Afterwards, the 3rd Child slowly opens his eyes, stares at the brightness of the sun that's beaming down on him with a vacant expression and mutters, "What... Is this...?"

A shadow of a person promptly blocks Shinji's vision of the sun after he had said that while levitating at a small distance away from him. The shadow attempts to reach out to the 3rd Child as if swimming towards him, which results in it getting closer and closer with each passing second. It's then revealed after a few seconds that the person swimming to Shinji is Zahn, who's completely nude, his white hair is gently fluttering and has a malicious smirk while his eyes are shining a little. At the sight of this mysterious person, Shinji tries to back away from Zahn and shouts out with his eyes reflecting a profound amount of terror, "W-Who are you?!"

Zahn chuckles out of amusement as his hands are mere inches away from coming into contact with Shinji's face and then replies with a gentle tone. "Oh, Shinji. There's no need for you to be afraid. I'm just the one who will enlighten you this time." He grins in a sinister manner.

Shinji's terror drastically increases as the white-haired boy's fingers lightly touch the 3rd Child's face, which makes him quickly shut his eyes while squirming a bit. After that, Zahn rests the palm of his hands on both Shinji's cheeks and seductively says with a feminine voice that sounds very much like Mari's, "Shinji, why don't you look at me?"

Immediately recognizing the voice, Shinji hurriedly opens his eyes while looking ahead of himself with surprise displayed, and instead of seeing Zahn, it's Mari who's now floating in front of him. The 6th Child then kindly smiles at Shinji while caressing his left cheek with her right hand as it can be noted that Mari's naked just like Zahn was, which results in Shinji being stunned for a moment. After that, the brown-haired boy snaps out of it as concern surfaces and leans toward Mari a little with both hands on the seat. "What are you doing here, Mari?!"

Mari stops caressing Shinji's cheek and pulls herself to be closer to the brown-haired boy while sitting on his lap. "Are you really that surprised? I would never let you fight alone." She briefly pauses as her eyes glisten with sincerity and then says in a caring tone, "I love you, Shinji."

Shinji starts to breathe heavily and mutters, "Mari..." He happily smiles. "I love you too."

Mari smiles as well and closes her eyes while leaning forward to press her lips against Shinji's. The 3rd Child kisses Mari back with his eyes shut again while taking both hands off the seat so he can grab onto the girl's shoulders that way he can add more passion to the kiss. In the middle of kissing one another, Mari snaps her eyes open and reveals that they have turned into the same yellow color like Zahn's eyes while there's a devious expression on her face. After that, Shinji's eyes open up with an immense amount of worry overtaking him as endless screens appear around the two individuals with the word "Warning" while the inside of the entry plug goes dark with a tint of red due to the warning signs.

While that transpires, multiple shock-waves suddenly expand from Unit 01 and collide into the monstrous A.T. Field as the gold Eva that continues to float in the air has its forehead planted against the purple Eva's head with both hands firmly on Unit 01's face. Seeing this causes both Unit 00 and 04 to stop their advancement while not being too far behind Nero's Eva. A stressful look then arises onto Rei's expression as the 1st Child snaps her head to the left. "Nagisa!"

Kaworu responds without taking his eyes off what's happening in front of him with quite a bit of concern showing. "We were too late in acting. Shinji has already fallen to their control."

Having heard Kaworu's words, a hopeless look overtakes Misato's face as she stares at the main screen and softly says to herself, "No..."

In the meantime, Unit 01 suddenly develops two, long A.T. Wings from its back that are the same ones that had appeared at the beginning of 3rd Impact while the Door of Guf begins to take form in the sky above Unit 07, who continues to levitate above the two Evas below it. All of this occurring causes Nero's eyes to widen from panic as he pants heavily while dropping his head down with his eyes tightly shut, lowers both his arms to opposing sides of his body and gritting his teeth. After that, the 7th Child throws his head back with an upright posture, which Unit 06 imitates while holding onto the Lance of Longinus in its left hand, and passionately screams out, "God, damn it!"

That outburst resounds out through every open channel, which results in every single person hearing him and makes Asuka veer off her attention from the beige Eva that's not too far in front of her to peer upward with a hint of concern showing while keeping her hands on the controls. Elsewhere, both Unit 05 and 09 stop maneuvering around one another after also hearing Nero's scream while Mari looks towards her left since that's the direction the black-haired boy's located with equal concern brimming.

After that, Nero makes an unexpected decision to have Unit 06 swiftly throw the lance behind itself and it crashes onto the ground that's right in front of Unit 04. This completely surprises Kaworu as he gazes at the lance for a moment and then hurriedly turns his attention to Unit 06 with worry adding in. "Nero... You cannot be thinking..."

Then, Nero says with a somber tone with his hands tightly clenching once again and head down to resume staring at the platform, "Asuka, Mari... You're most likely fighting either Vanessa or Casey. If you are, be sure not to hold back against them." He slowly pulls his head back with a sad smirk taking form. "I hate to admit it, but I can't save them. So please, do me that small favor."

After hearing Nero's request, both the 2nd and 6th Child are momentarily stunned while maintaining their focus on the direction they're looking. At the same time, Vanessa and Casey show discontent due to not being pleased by what Nero had said as Casey drops her head down with her hair covering her face while her body shakes a little. In Vanessa's case, she lifts up her left hand to grasp onto her hair's bangs and lightly grits her teeth while thinking with her eyes focused onto her right, "Nero..."

Meanwhile, Nero turns his head to the left to look behind himself and sees Unit 04 as it's still standing next to Unit 00. Afterwards, the 7th Child displays sincerity in his demeanor while saying with an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, Kaworu. I have no choice. But if you can do me the favor of keeping Rei safe, I would really appreciate it."

Rei's eyes widen due to Nero's words having caught her off guard while panic rapidly consumes Kaworu as he torques his body forward. "Do not do it, Nero!"

Misato's image reappears to Kaworu's right screen with a grand amount of worry. "What is it, Kaworu?!" She then quickly diverts her attention to Nero, which has her image appear on the black-haired boy's left side screen. "What are you going to do, Nero?!"

Nero hastily snaps his head to once again look at Unit 08's back while both ignoring Kaworu's plea and Misato's question. After that, the black-haired boy takes a deep breath and firmly shouts out with his eyes locked onto the ceiling of the entry plug, "Adam! Initiate Instrumentality!"

Suddenly, the entire entry plug is overcome with countless monitors that say the words "Instrumentality Commencing" in white while the entry plug is taken over by darkness, which causes Misato's image to no longer be seen. Then, all three cross-shaped gems that are on Nero's plugsuit simultaneously crack and quickly shatter into dust-like fragments. While this transpires, the red visor of the indigo-colored Eva lights up with multiple orange beads of light accumulating on it as all of its body armor breaks off and crash onto the ground below Unit 06. This reveals what would be considered the skin of the Eva as every part of it starts to glow a bright white color similar to the silver Unit 03 had produced when being taken to a 400% synchronization, however, with a hint of indigo that's like Unit 06's armored plates.

In response, Evan frantically pulls his body forward to get a better look at what's happening to Unit 06 with disbelief. "He can't be serious!"

That being said, Nero wraps his arms around his torso as his black hair lightly flutters upward, hurriedly bends forward with his legs buckling and tightly clutches his body while continually gasping due to the extensive amount of pain rushing through his body. "Shit! So much for me being used to pain! This is far worse than anything I've ever felt!" The 7th Child grits his teeth in the attempt to persevere through the excruciating pain, however, falls to his knees while letting out a few agonizing groans and then mutters, "But that doesn't matter...! I can't run away from this...! I have to..."

Then, right in the middle of Nero talking to himself, the silver cross on his back shines through the black plugsuit as Unit 06's head is overcome with the same white that's emitting from its body except the visor, which continues to be red with the orange beads of light being emitted. A pair of A.T. Wings then rapidly extend out from both of the indigo Eva's wrists while a white halo appears above Unit 06's head.

Seeing that from Central Dogma, Maya softly says to herself with astonishment as countless notifications are displayed throughout the facility while having her hands hover right above the keys of her station, "Those wings..."

Ritsuko promptly responds to Maya's simple statement with a stern tone while staring at the main screen, "It seems they're characteristics that apply to Evas piloted by Nero. This proven by the fact that Unit 03 also produced wings just like those after exceeding a 400% sync ratio."

Misato pays no mind to what Ritsuko had said due to being too immersed into what's happening right before her eyes while thinking with an awestruck expression, "He said for Adam to initiate Instrumentality. Does that mean...?"

Nero continues to feel the full weight of the pain that's surging through his body with his head now planted onto the front end of the platform and breathes heavily. "I understand why Kaworu warned me not to do this, but screw it! I'll save you..." He quickly pulls his head off the platform, straightens his posture to be upright without getting off his knees and passionately screams out with his eyes shut, "I'll save you, Shinji!"

At the moment of that declaration's completion, the cross on Nero's back instantly dissipates, freeing the 7th Child from the scar he had for nearly a year and then opens his eyes to reveal that they have turned into a glowing blue color like it has before, but with a hint of silver this time. After that, a loud, angelic screech escapes from the sealed mouth of Unit 06, which sends shivers down both the two NERV pilots that aren't that far behind it and everyone in Central Dogma.

Not long after that, Misato asks herself with her eyes glued to the transformed Unit 06 while clearly baffled by it, "That Eva... What is it exactly to make that sound?" She takes a small gulp as she slowly grasps her cross that continues to dangle from her neck with her right hand and says to herself, "It reminds me of that day... 15 years ago..."

While Misato dwells in her thoughts, Fuyutsuki doesn't deviate his attention from the enormous screen with a cold look on his face and mutters, "Nero's willing to go this far for the sake of his brother." He then glances behind himself with a hint of sorrow showing. "If you were only here to see it, Ikari."

Nero soon gets to his feet with a slouched posture and head lowered while lightly breathing. It can be noted that the black-haired boy's hair keeps fluttering a little as the entire entry plug now displays the surrounding area, which results in the plug no longer being dark. After a few seconds of no movement from him, Nero suddenly pulls both arms far enough back that they're behind the 7th Child's person, and then in one elegant motion, throws both arms forward with his now blue eyes gleaming brightly while looking ahead of himself. Having mimicked this action, the still glowing Unit 06 thrusts the palms of its hands onto the gigantic A.T. Field, and on contact, both pairs of the A.T. Wings on the Eva's wrist instantly disintegrate while the enormous A.T Field completely breaks apart in less than a second.

Disbelief appears on Evan's face as he torques his body forward with his focus remaining on Unit 06. "No fucking way! He just destroyed our A.T. Field all by himself!" He then realizes something and hurriedly directs his attention to SEELE Eva 06 and shouts out with a harsh tone, "Kenzo, don't let him get pass you! We can't let Nero interfere!"

Without replying to Evan's orders, Kenzo desperately pushes his Eva's controls forward, which makes SEELE Eva 06 quickly advance towards the Transcended Unit 06 after dropping the Prog Sword clearly due to lack of thinking on the part of the pilot and stretches out both arms towards Nero's Eva while still emitting that ominous, black essence. However, Unit 06 unexpectedly disappears while leaving an after-image that the enemy Eva goes right through with shock overwhelming Kenzo's being. This causes all who are watching to be dumbfounded as Unit 06's right hand is lightly planted on top of Unit 08's left shoulder not even a few seconds after evading SEELE Eva 06's attempt to attack it and elegantly floats next to the Gold Eva while facing towards Unit 01.

Having sensed something next to his Eva, Zahn slowly shifts his gaze to Unit 06 with his lips pressed against Shinji's and both hands resting on the 3rd Child's face while thinking with horror taking form, "Nero?!"

No time is wasted after that as Unit 06 instantly forces Unit 08 off Unit 01 with just its right hand while not having used much effort at all and sends the Gold Eva flying towards SEELE Eva 06. Luckily for SEELE Eva 06, Unit 08 barely missed colliding with the black look-alike of Unit 01, although continues to soar through the air to the point of going right by Unit 00 and 04.

As that occurs, Zahn's doing his best to keep his footing within the entry plug until his Eva comes into contact with multiple buildings that's several miles away and crashes into them, which results in countless impacts to be heard while numerous big clouds of smoke appear.

Kaworu being witness to what had just happened is speechless while looking behind himself with both hands slightly holding onto the controls. In Rei's case, she's also peering behind herself at the smoke that has replaced the buildings that once stood in that direction and mutters, "Unit 08..."

In the meantime, Ritsuko finishes what Rei was saying in a low volume with her eyes locked onto the main screen showing where Unit 08 had been sent flying to while quite bewildered. "It was overpowered for the first time... By Nero."

Nero promptly reverts his attention to Unit 01 after seeing Zahn's Eva crash with a dull expression. That doesn't last long though due to the 7th Child gradually reaching out towards the purple Eva with both arms, and soon after that, Unit 06 wraps its arms around Unit 01 while resting its head on the Eva's right shoulder. Once the normally Indigo Eva does that, Nero appears inside Unit 01's entry plug and is gently embracing Shinji in a similar manner as Unit 06 with his arms around the brown-haired boy's neck while placing his chin on Shinji's right shoulder.

Sadly, Shinji doesn't react to Nero holding him as the 3rd Child's aimlessly staring at the ceiling in a type of trance-like state while lying on the seat without moving an inch. At the same time, the Door of Guf that's in the sky greatly increases in size to the point where it expands over the entire city, which quickly grabs everyone's attention.

After that transpired, Nero gazes at Shinji out of the corner of his right eye with a somber look while his body begins to tremble and whispers in a somber voice, "I really am sorry, Shinji. I was suppose to protect you... Instead, I let something like wanting to be happy make me forget why I even exist." He lets out a soft sigh while momentarily deviating his eyes to the left and then concentrates on Shinji again. "I can't change what's going to happen next... But I'll make sure to be by your side this time for this."

Right after those words were spoken, a second pair of wings suddenly extend from Unit 01's back beneath the first two while all four wings rapidly engulf both Evas and imprisons them into an oval-shaped sphere that's the same color as the purple Eva's A.T. Wings. Then, the sphere shoots up into the sky while brushing pass Unit 07 with a powerful force of wind hitting the brown and red Eva, which causes it to be flung to the left side as its pilot frantically tries to hold onto the controls with a short yell escaping his mouth.

At the same time, NERV's personnel and all of the other pilots watch the oval-shaped sphere go straight into the Door of Guf. Not long after that, the large gateway of multiple colors is hastily absorbed into the sphere and becomes overcome with the same colors the Door of Guf normally produces while gradually increases in size. While this happens, Tokyo-03 begins to experience countless tremors with the ground relentlessly shaking to the point that it makes it difficult for everyone in Central Dogma to maintain their balance.

Misato stumbles forward because of the fierce shaking and plants her hands next to Hyuga's station while being to the Lieutenant's left. Having done that, the Colonel hurriedly sets her sights on Hyuga with a profound amount of stress showing. "What's happening?!"

Hyuga replies without diverting his attention from his monitor as it reads out numerous pieces of information. "The readings on both Unit 01 and 06 are through the roof! They've far exceeded a 400% synchronization!"

Maya joins in with panic slowly arising from within her while looking at Misato by leaning against her seat since Ritsuko's still standing to her right. "Not just that, we can't monitor the condition on either of the pilots anymore! It's like we've been cut off from them!"

Misato quickly turns her focus to Maya with horror adding to the stress being displayed on her face while lifting her left arm up in a small gesture. "You can't be serious! Wouldn't that mean...?!"

Ritsuko barely keeps her footing due to her holding onto Maya's station with both hands while analyzing the information on the 2nd Lieutenant's monitor and then gives Misato a sad look after the intense shaking seems to have stopped for the time being. "It's unfortunate, but yes. Both of them have lost their ego border." She veers her attention to the giant screen that currently shows the multicolored sphere continually grow bigger and bigger. "They're the Mediums of the 4th Impact now."

Aoba snaps his head to Ritsuko and asks with distress emitting from his person, "Can there actually be two Mediums?!"

Kaworu answers Aoba's question after his image takes form on an upper, left corner of the large screen with a stern demeanor. "No, there cannot. Only one person is necessary and possible to initiate Instrumentality."

Misato puts her left arm down while gazing at Kaworu with concern overtaking her expression. "Then what's going to happen?! Who's going to be the Medium?!"

Kaworu deviates his focus from the left side screen that shows everyone in Central Dogma and sets his sights on the the still growing, multi-colored sphere with unmeasurable sorrow while softly saying, "I do not know... But whomever it is, let us pray for both Shinji and Nero's safe return." He then lowers his head while clenching down hard onto the controls with both hands. "If not, humanity and all those we care for will no longer be."

Meanwhile, Unit 08 finally emerges from the rubble of the buildings that had ended up falling on it due to the collision as Zahn's on his feet with his right hand planted on the right side of the entry plug to help the white-haired boy balance himself. As the yellow-eyed boy does this, it can clearly be noted on Zahn's face that he's filled with anger due to what had just happened to him as he looks up at the giant sphere and says with a menacing growl, "Nero...!" He quickly removes his hand from the entry plug's wall to lower it to his side, curls both hands into fists and screams out with anger resonating in his eyes, "How dare you get in my way?!"

Having let out that outburst, Zahn's about to make Unit 08 launch off the ground in the attempt to pursue both NERV Evas that reside within the multi-colored sphere until Keel's voice comes out of nowhere and intervenes with a stern tone, "Stop, Zahn."

Right as he hears Keel's voice, the white-haired boy's taken over by surprise and pulls his body back a bit while gazing towards the right out of the corner of his eyes. "Lord Keel?"

Keel replies with no change to his tone. "There is no need to persist. Once again, we've missed our opportunity to have control of Instrumentality."

Zahn lightly grits his teeth while lowering his attention to the platform he's standing on and mutters with a disgruntled demeanor, "All because of Nero."

Keel hears Zahn's words and responds in a reassuring manner. "Indeed, however, that doesn't mean all is lost. You did leave your influence in the 3rd Child. His judgement has greatly dwindled. There is still hope. Until then, there is someone I wish to see one last time and settle some very personal business that's been a long time coming."

Zahn cocks his head back while taken back for a moment, however, regains his barring and smiles in a malicious way. "Sounds like fun."

Unit 08 softly levitates off the ground to a small distance, faces towards the same spot on the ground that Zahn's Eva was standing on and then flies right at it while the gold Eva's entire body suddenly shines the same shade of color as its armor. After doing that, right when Unit 08's about to make contact with the ground, it's completely annihilated to form a seemingly, bottomless, monstrous-sized crater so both Zahn and his Eva can make their way through with evil intentions in the mind of the yellow-eyed boy while heading to a specific destination without any of NERV's personnel even realizing that occurred. With that, the scene suddenly focuses onto the Chief of the 1st Branch as he's tending to Lucas at the same bench that Nero had been not many days earlier while wearing his uniform. In addition, it can be noted that it's night-time in comparison to Tokyo-03 due to the time zone difference with the street in front of the Chief being lit-up by light-posts while the elderly man's currently on break from his duties as head commander of the 1st Branch, or at least head commander to those who stayed.

The Chief puts a bowl of cat food on the sidewalk with the use of his left hand for Lucas to quickly begin eating, places the cat food can that was in his left hand next to his person and slouches forward while sitting on the bench. Once he does that, the elderly man gives Lucas a faint grin as the kitty doesn't stop eating and gently says, "Even though you're munching that down, I know you still miss him." He shuts his eyes while letting out a small chuckle before pulling his head back far enough to look at the sky. "Me too."

Then, Sgt Falcon casually walks up to the Chief from his right with both hands in his pocket while also wearing his own uniform. "I knew you'd be here, Chief. I kind of figured it was time to feed Lucas."

The Chief straightens himself enough to make eye contact with the sergeant while maintaining his grin. "I did promise Nero, after all. Anyway, this little guy has such a big appetite that he got to eat a lot." He returns his attention to Lucas, who has just finished eating prior to jumping onto the Chief's lap and snuggled against the old man. Afterwards, the Chief sets his sights onto the young man next to him with a bit of a firm expression displayed. "How's everything going? Is Tokyo-03 doing well?"

Sgt Falcon replies with a nonchalant demeanor while facing towards the street. "As far I know, everything's fine. The satellite feed gave us Tokyo-03 in a peaceful state, but that was over half an hour ago." He then pulls out his right hand from his pocket while turning his head to the Chief and holds his cellular to show it to him. "However, if anything were to happen, I'd be notified immediately." The sergeant shifts his focus from the Chief again and analyzes his cellular. "You should really get yourself one of these."

The Chief mildly scoffs at Sgt Falcon's words, shakes his head in disagreement with his eyes shut and then watches Lucas sleeping on his lap. "I can never get accustomed to those things. If I were to get one, I would end up leaving it at home without even realizing I have it."

Sgt Falcon laughs a little while gazing at the Chief out of the corner of his eyes until directing his full attention towards the man with a hint of curiosity. "So how are you going to wish Nero a happy birthday?"

A pure smirk rapidly appears onto the Chief's face as he begins petting the still sleeping kitten with his right hand while resting the other hand on the bench. "I'll just wait for him to come back so I can say it. It shouldn't take him too long."

Sgt Falcon's about to make a remark to what the Chief said, however, unexpectedly receives a call on his cellular that caused immense alarm to take form on his person while snapping his attention to hiscellular. He doesn't waste any time in answering, goes through a quick conversation with whoever's on the other line while showing horror on his face and promptly hangs up after saying in an urgent manner, "We'll be on our way." The sergeant then puts his cellular back into his right pocket and hurriedly establishes his focus on the elderly man. "Chief!"

The Chief quickly states without deviating his attention from Lucas with a coldness in his eyes. "So they decided to launch the final attack on their birthday, huh?" He lets out an aggravated groan while dropping his head a bit with his eyes closed. "That damn Keel..."

Sgt Falcon does a slight gesture with both hands after pulling them out from his pockets while overrun by panic. "We need to hurry! It seems Instrumentality's already starting!"

The Chief continues to pet Lucas' head while locking his gaze onto the Sergeant. "You hurry on then. I'll catch up."

Sgt Falcon's puzzled by the lack of emotion emitting from the Chief while lowering his hands. "Sir, why are you acting so cool at a time like this?"

The coldness within the Chief's eyes suddenly disperses while a caring smile takes over and stops petting Lucas without removing his hand from the kitten's head. "Because I'm sure, no matter what, Nero will keep his promise." He then chuckles out of amusement while tilting his head a little to the left. "Anyway, I'm too old to be rushing all the way over to headquarters."

Sgt Falcon's quite bewildered by the Chief's statement until a confident look arises as he sharply nods. "Right! Then, I'll go ahead!" The sergeant swiftly turns away and runs off towards the same direction he originated from.

The Chief momentarily stares at Sgt Falcon leave before resuming his focus onto Lucas with vacant eyes and whispers to the kitten, "There is no need to worry, is there? Nero will definitely be back. That's the way he's always been. He makes people worry about him and then returns without a care in the world." He shuts his eyes once again while lowering his head. "That's just how he is."

That being said, Terminal Dogma soon becomes the focal point with Kaji and Gendo having felt the ferocious tremors from the oval-shaped sphere's creation, which had interrupted their conversation that had taken an unexpected twist.

Kaji briefly stares upward with concern showing until establishing his attention back to Gendo while trying to compose himself and returns both hands into his pockets due to him taking them out as a reaction to the tremor. "Seems like they've stopped."

Gendo retorts with coldness in his voice while looking up at the darkness that's above the two men. "I doubt it'll be for long. I have a good idea what caused such vicious vibrations." He then shifts his focus onto Kaji. "I have felt them before. They're more or less the same as the one's that occurred during 3rd Impact."

Kaji's concern hurriedly returns as he takes in a small gulp. "So that means..." Before finishing that sentence, Kaji shuts his eyes and slowly shakes his head in a calm manner. "No, I won't say it." He opens his eyes with determination brimming. "I believe in them. Whatever happens, they'll come back to us."

Having heard Kaji's statement, Gendo returns his gaze to him and finally unfolds his arms while being quiet for several seconds. After that, Gendo faces towards the huge cross again and places both hands behind his back. "Shall I continue with what I was going to tell you or do you wish to go up and join the others?"

Kaji replies with a confident grin. "What did I just say?"

Gendo momentarily turns his head to the left to look at Kaji and then reverts his attention to the large cross. "If you insist."

Kaji sharply nods. "Now tell me, what did you mean by Shinji not being the one who's dependent?"

Gendo takes in a deep breath before answering Kaji's question. "I meant that Nero is dependent on Shinji."

Kaji becomes fairly irritated by Gendo's words. "That's not the answer I'm looking for, Ikari. I want to know in what way he depends on Shinji. When it comes down to it, Nero's the exact opposite of a dependent person."

Gendo responds after turning away from the giant cross to face Kaji with a somber look on his face. "It may appear that way, however... Without Shinji, Nero wouldn't be alive. He would die."

Shock immediately overtakes Kaji's expression as he quickly takes both hands out of his pockets while maintaining them lowered. "What?! What are you talking about?!"

Gendo removes his right hand from behind himself to briefly fix his dark-tinted glass with his right hand while saying without hesitating, "What I am talking about is that I have deceived you all yet again." He then returns his right hand behind his back. "Nero and Shinji are not brothers."

Kaji frantically takes a step forward with disbelief now emitting from his person while mildly bending his posture forward. "Then that means-"

Gendo cuts Kaji off before he finished what he was going to say by effortlessly shaking his head in a calm manner. "No. Nero isn't a clone either. He's a being created from another. A missing piece."

Kaji instantly realizes what exactly Gendo's implying with that statement as he takes a step back after straightening himself. "You can't be serious."

Gendo somberly nods while lifting his left hand up, takes off his glasses to display the pure seriousness that his eyes currently reflect and puts his arm down. "You've already figured it out, I assume. Nero isn't Shinji's brother nor his clone... He's a severed fragment of Shinji. In other words, he's Shinji's other half. A stronger, more confident, more independent half. Nero's the strength Shinji lacks... Or should I say, the strength he was forced to live without."

Silence drowns the entire area of Terminal Dogma due to Kaji being completely stunned by the truth of Nero as the scene reverts to Unit 02 desperately running around to dodge the seemingly endless amounts of missiles that relentlessly fly down from the sky out of the now levitating Unit 10.

As she keeps up her assault on the 2nd Child's Eva, it can be noted that Casey has become very eccentric as she's driven by immense anger. "You, bitch! Nero would have NEVER said anything like that about me and Vanessa! What the hell did you do to the man I love?!"

Unit 02 doesn't stop running as peers up at the enemy Eva with annoyance being displayed. "The only thing I did was fall for him! And you're just jealous that he actually loves me and not you!"

Casey pulls her body to be upright as she tightly grits her teeth with her anger overflowing. "You...!" She then torques her body forward while letting out a fierce yell as even more missiles are released from the beige and yellow Eva to come down onto Unit 02.

Unfortunately for Asuka, the direction Unit 02 had been running is blocked off with multiple missiles crashing in front of it, which causes Asuka to pull the red Eva back from the big explosion created by the missiles. This results in Unit 02 being in a highly dangerous situation due to Asuka's reaction since it's no longer running and has eight missile perfectly locked onto the red Eva. Moments before Unit 02's hit by the missiles, Asuka locks her attention onto them, and while thinking on her feet, elegantly makes her Eva do a hand-stand back flip to push her far enough to avoid the direct impact of the missiles, however, the red Eva is uncontrollably sent flying until crashing face first into the ground because of the shock-wave that the explosion of the missiles made, which the crash added minor damage to what Unit 02 had already sustained.

After seeing Unit 02 crashing onto the ground, Casey giggles in a sinister way while brimming with confidence as she's composed herself quite a bit after having straightened her posture again. "I still can't believe he chose you over us. When it comes to love, I guess Nero's stupid. Just like he was with that dumb Rivka girl." She then lightly leans forward with intensity showing. "Now he's going to have to deal with losing another girlfriend because of his bad tastes!"

Having heard Casey's heartless words, especially about Nero's dead girlfriend who gave her life for him, Asuka gradually turns her head to the left while bent forward, glares at Unit 10 from behind herself and faintly says with pure hatred emitting from her face, "You're dead...!"

Casey barely overhears Asuka's threat and arrogantly laughs. "Bring it on!"

With that said, focus goes to Mari as she's softly gasping for air after being successful in dodging every one of the A.T. Arrows sent by Unit 09, which apparently were a lot by the looks of the destroyed buildings and ground that surrounds the two Evas. After that, the 6th Child grins without deviating her attention from the opponent that's before her as both Evas are in position to react to whoever decides to launch an attack and says with an impressed tone, "Alright, I admit it. That Eva's really strong. But of course, it was originally designed to sustain my awesomeness." She giggles.

Slight irritation appears on Vanessa's face as she tilts her head to the right with her eyes narrowed. "I hate that stuck-up attitude of yours. I really did all I could to not break my promise with Nero, but sometimes, I seriously wanted to kick your ass."

Mari scoffs at Vanessa's statement while leaning forward. "Then, you should be thankful to him! If you even laid a hand on me, I would've German Suplex you straight down to hell!"

Vanessa retorts with a hint of sarcasm in her voice while still sounding irritated. "Yeah, right! I'd like to see you try!"

In response to that challenge, Unit 05 charges right at Unit 09 with great agility while Mari passionately shouts out, "Careful of what you ask for, you skank!"

While watching the brown and green Eva advance, Vanessa makes her Eva raise its right arm that continues to firmly hold onto the pink, metallic bow that shoots the A.T. Arrows and rapidly releases a flurry of arrows with the use of its other hand pulling back the violet, glowing thread. Luckily, Unit 05's able to swiftly evade the storm of arrows and shortly reaches the pink Eva while being ready to thrust its left javelin. This doesn't bother Vanessa at all as she makes no attempt of dodging the attack and results in Unit 05's javelin coming into contact with Unit 09's A.T. Field, however, is unsuccessful in penetrating it. After that, the pink Eva puts both arms down while its pilot softly laughs out of amusement before saying with a narcissistic tone, "Didn't even have to worry about dodging."

Determination can be seen on Mari's person as she fiercely shouts while pulling onto the right control, "Shut it! If you think this is all I got, then you're sadly mistaken!" Unit 05 promptly thrusts its other javelin onto the A.T. field while the 6th Child puts all her strength into pushing both controls with her head now lowered and eyes shut. "A.T Field to max capacity!"

Right after that, Unit 09's A.T. Field begins to be neutralized, which immediately grabs Vanessa's attention, although still seems to be very calm with her back resting against the entry plug's seat while grinning in a menacing manner, "Look at how much effort you're putting just to get through MY A.T. Field." Unit 09 then aims its bow at Unit 05 from nearly point-blank distance and pulls back the thread while a powerful A.T. Arrow slowly takes form within the bow. "Now watch me get through yours without breaking a sweat."

Mari hurriedly cocks her head up to look at Unit 09 and the arrow that's about to be launched out with despair appearing on the brown-haired girl's face. Not even a second afterwards, the pink Eva releases the arrow as it shatters Unit 05's A.T. Field, and on contact with the chest of Mari's Eva, a small explosion happens that causes the 6th Child to throw her head back while letting out a pain-filled scream. Though suffering, Mari doesn't waste much time in regaining her barring, glares at Unit 09 while torquing her body forward to resume her attack and is able to stab the enemy Eva's torso with both javelins.

Vanessa's greatly overcome with pain while tightly grabbing onto her own torso as a few small gags escape her mouth due to one of the javelins piercing the Pink Eva's stomach region and the other one being right above it. Then, Vanessa sets her sights onto Unit 05 while burning with rage as she tries to catch her breath. "You fucking slut! I'll get you for that!"

Mari giggles a little while breathing heavily and mutters, "Tit for tat, whore."

That said, Units 00 and 04 become the main focus with NERV's staff giving all their attention to those two Evas while leaving the other two Children to their own battles since there's still seven enemy Evas in that area. Fortunately, both Rei and Kaworu have a small window of opportunity to regroup due to the enemy being distracted by the ever-growing sphere that's taking up the sky, however, they can't waste much time because at any moment the fighting will resume.

In the meantime, Kaworu briefly stares at the seven Evas that are roughly couple of miles away and then veers his gaze down to the Lance of Longinus as it continues to be planted onto the ground in front of the silver Eva. After that, Unit 04 grabs onto the lance with its right hand while mildly twirling it in a semi-flashy way until the weapon unexpectedly transforms back to its original, helix-like form. This caught Kaworu by surprise as his eyes momentarily widen and then relaxes his expression while thinking with a composed demeanor, "It resumed its previous figure... So it really does change shape in the hands of the pilot of Adam and Lilith." He then turns his attention to Rei and gently says, "Ayanami, we will most certainly have to fight those seven as we await Shinji and Nero's return."

Before Rei has the chance to reply to Kaworu's statement, Misato sternly interrupts with her image still being displayed on the other side screen. "Kaworu, Rei. Look at that brown and red Eva."

Both Children do as their told and hastily watch Unit 07 unexpectedly fly up into the air. It then soon positions itself in front of the multi-colored sphere as Evan coldly stares at it and thinks with a laid back posture, "Knowing you, Nero... You'll find a way to get out, and when you do, I'll be here waiting to kill you. I won't let Zahn take that honor away from me."

At the same time, all members of SEELE are peering at Unit 07 and the sphere as Kenzo speaks with aggravation in his voice after slamming his right fist onto the right control while looking at it. "Damn it! We were so close! If only I had been just a bit faster."

SEELE Eva 08 faces towards Kenzo's Eva as Sekime reassures his colleague. "Your frustration is justifiable, but I believe things can still go our way. Keel has yet to tell us to retreat or anything of the sort." He then diverts his attention towards the other SEELE members. "We can safely assume Zahn had enough of an affect on Ikari's son."

Isao joins in and firmly nods while searching his surroundings by just turning his head. "Indeed." He then finds where Unit 00 and 04 are located, which causes a smirk to appear until saying with a hint of content, "We still have someone to pay back for his treachery."

All of the other members promptly establish their gaze onto Unit 04 while the six SEELE Evas face towards the very direction of the silver Eva and nod in agreement to what Isao had previously stated. Kaworu takes notice of the sudden attention from the SEELE Evas and adjusts his grip on the controls. "Here we go. They are about to initiate their attack." He looks at the lance and thinks, "It would be best not to use it since we need to be well-balanced to be able to perfectly use my strategy... Plus, I believe the Lance of Longinus would instantaneously reject any Eva that may try to use it other than the True Evangelion's pilot and vessels like myself." The Fifth Child then reverts his attention onto Rei while planting the Lance of Longinus back onto the ground. "You remember the plan, correct?"

Rei nods with some uncertainty showing after witnessing Unit 04's actions, but maintains her focus on Kaworu's question. "Yes, you wish for me to tell you as quickly as possible the number on the Eva's forehead I am fighting, however, I must be combating only one." She then slants her head to the left with not much change to her expression. "I just do not understand exactly what your strategy is, Nagisa."

Kaworu faintly grins while trying not to laugh. "To me, it is a bit childish, at the same time, something you are quite familiar with." He tilts his head back while focusing on the entry plug's ceiling. "Now that I think of it, I was considering to use it with Soryu, but that may have not worked since we are not compatible." The grey-haired boy then resets his gaze onto Rei. "My strategy is bound to be more effective with you. Just trust me, Ayanami. My plan will become clear once we are in perfect position." He smiles at her with his eyes closed again.

Rei hurriedly deviates her eyes downward to look away from Kaworu and plants both hands on the center of her chest due to her feeling pain in that area once again while thinking, "If he insist, I will trust him." She then glances at Kaworu in a shy manner while removing both hands from her chest and gently grabs the controls so she can be ready for battle after setting her sights onto the SEELE Evas.

At that very moment of both Children establishing their attention onto the enemy, SEELE Eva 06 is the first to jump into the air after picking up its Prog Sword that was still on the ground and goes straight towards the two NERV Evas while Kenzo shouts out with significant determination, "I'll take this chance to redeem myself! Die, Tabris!"

As SEELE Eva 06 draws near Unit 04, it positions the left arm that holds the Progressive Sword a bit behind itself with the the black Eva's right hand placed ahead of itself to be ready to do a full, powered swing at the silver Eva. Kaworu doesn't waste any time as he blurts out before attempting to have Unit 04 dodge by jumping into the air, "Now, Ayanami! Disperse!"

Having heard Kaworu's order, Rei acts by disconnecting Unit 00's Umbilical Cable while dashing to the right with a good grip on the Prog Chainsaw. Meanwhile, Unit 04's in the air and was able to dodge the charge of SEELE Eva 06, however, was immediately cut off from trying anything as SEELE Eva 07 flies right at the silver Eva with SEELE Eva 03 following not too far behind in the air. While making their advancement, Nakatsu proudly states with a large amount of intensity while getting ready to make his Eva swing the Prog Sword within both its hands as the blade's pulled above the black Eva's head, "Did you really think we would attack one at the time, Tabris?! We won't hesitate to use our numbers advantage!"

Not long after those words were spoken, Kaworu happily smirks while softly saying to himself with a sturdy posture, "That is what I was expecting." An A.T. Field then appears behind Unit 04 as the silver Eva plants both feet on it while being in a sideways position with its right hand mildly touching the A.T. Field before hopping off it in a burst of speed. This allows Unit 04 to shift its body position enough to drive both feet to the face of SEELE Eva 07, which in turn, sends the Eva backwards and into the still approaching SEELE Eva 03.

Both enemy Evas promptly hit the ground while SEELE Eva 06 turns around after having some difficulty stopping due to its own moment and then once again attempts to attack Unit 04 in the same way it had tried earlier with Kenzo passionately yelling. In response, after landing on its feet while stumbling a little, Unit 04 directs itself to face the incoming attack as both pylons open up to reveal the handles of the Prog Knives. The silver Eva then hastily draws the two Prog Knives as Kaworu's overflowing with confidence. "What do you think is better, Kenzo? An excessively big, heavy sword... Or two small, swift knives?"

Kenzo angrily shouts out as his Eva's a few seconds away from reaching Unit 04, "Go to hell!" SEELE Eva 06 then swings its sword in a horizontal angle, however, is blocked by both Prog Knives while an outstanding shock-wave is released from the colliding weapons, which causes some of the ground to break off.

Afterwards, Kaworu does everything he can to resist the immense force of the shock-wave until it subsides since he knows Unit 04 will be uncontrollably launched off the ground if he doesn't while thinking with an amused smile, "If you only knew what true hell was like, you would not make such ignorant statements." He then peers to the left to see how Unit 00 is doing, sees that she has just been surrounded by the other three SEELE Evas and becomes very concern as he thinks, "Ayanami... Please do not try to fight them all at once. Just single one of them out enough and give me the signal. That is all we need to be victorious in this battle." Kaworu returns his focus to SEELE Eva 06 as the shockwave's no longer present and stays locked with the enemy Eva.

While that transpires, Misato continues to watch on with both hands on her hips while fairly worried about both Kaworu's unknown plan and the disadvantage that the two Children are in. "I really hope whatever Kaworu's plan is will actually work. I remembered him wanting to try something with Asuka, but they never got around to doing it."

Ritsuko sets her gaze onto Misato with a firm expression as her person faces towards the giant screen while both hands are in her lab coat's pockets. "Me too, however, if his strategy doesn't work, what do we do?"

Misato glances at Ritsuko and resets her attention onto the image that shows Unit 00 surrounded. "I really have no idea. Let's just wait and see. It all depends if Rei can just get one alone." She then slightly drops her head without taking her eyes off the grand screen and thinks, "We're counting on you, Rei. Give it your all."

With the completion of that thought, Rei currently checks out each one of the SEELE Evas while bent forward and thinks, "It has been almost thirty seconds. I cannot spend too much time deciding how to act, I know what I must do. Even if it means I will be doing something reckless, I need to isolate one before reaching a minute and keep the chainsaw intact." She takes a deep breath before muttering to herself, "I have to do it now." The blue Eva then sprints in the direction of SEELE Eva 05, who's in front of it, and does so with the Progressive Chainsaw lowered to Unit 00's right side while held by both hands.

Skepticism can be noted on Mr. Mitori's face as he slants his head to the right with his back against the seat. "My, My... You sure are being aggressive, Ayanami. Not something that would be expected from someone like you, however..." Then, just as Unit 00 got close enough to SEELE Eva 05 and swings the chainsaw upward, the enemy's A.T. Field blocks the assault with no effort at all while even forcing the Prog Chainsaw to bounce off it in the same direction it came, which causes Rei's Eva to stagger forward in a very precarious position.

Rei looks up with fear in her eyes as SEELE Eva 05 lifts its right arm into the air and prepares to cut down on Unit 00 while Mr. Mitori finishes what he was going to say. "That shows lack of better judgement. Something apparently a cheap clone like you will forever lack."

The scene deviates seconds prior to SEELE Eva 05 bringing down its sword and reverts to Terminal Dogma roughly a few minutes early. Kaji tries to comprehend what Gendo had just told him until marching up to the Commander while pulling both hands out of his pockets and stops an arm's length away from Gendo with a serious look. "How did this happen?! When?!"

Gendo's eyes dull as he lightly clenches onto his now folded glasses with the hand it's in. "There's no logical explanation..." The Commander then pulls his left leg back to stand sideways with his head turned to the cross as he stares at it. "We had believed the doctor who helped with Yui's childbirth was simply mistaken about their being two instead of one and accepted his guess of them having been too close together for the mammogram to display properly..." He faces towards Kaji again while locking eyes with him. "However, Yui knew from the beginning that Nero wasn't actually his own person. It's the reason she named him Nero. A name originally representing a powerful person, but she said strength instead. Shinji's strength."

Kaji becomes very upset while bringing his right arm up to himself before swinging it to the side. "That doesn't make any sense! It's impossible!" He then raises that same arm ahead of himself in a mild gesture with his hand open while trying to compose himself. "What proof do you even have to support that?"

Gendo clears his throat before answering. "No physical proof exists other than Nero being alive. Though I believe that's enough proof because of how long he's been able to survive."

Kaji lowers his right arm to the side with confusion taking over while narrowing his eyes a little. "What do you mean?"

Gendo continues to speak without removing his focus from the man in front of him. "Mr. Kaji... You may find it hard to believe, but in both fights Nero was in against Shinji and the 5th Child, he actually died."

Kaji's momentarily stunned by Gendo's statement while slightly pulling himself back until regaining his barring and leans towards the Commander a bit. "Hold on a second! What are you talking about?!"

Gendo's body begins to vaguely tremble with the thought that's going through his mind before responding to Kaji's question. "To Nero and all of us, they may have seem like near-death experiences, however, the truth is... Nero had died, and minutes later, returns to life."

Kaji's dumbfounded with his eyes wide open as the Commander keeps talking while gradually ceases his trembling. "I wasn't entirely sure until Nagisa told us about him still living. That's when I realized no matter what, Nero will continue to exist as long as Shinji lives." Gendo then drops his head down while maintaining his gaze on Kaji. "Which means, the moment Shinji dies... Nero will too."

After hearing that, sadness resonates within Kaji's eyes as he shifts his attention down to the floor and thinks, "Nero..." He places both hands on his waist and reverts his focus to Gendo with a hint of curiosity showing while sadness continues to dwell within. "Does Nero know what he is?"

Gendo nods without hesitating. "More than likely. He may not know he died and came back to life several times, however, Nero indeed knows his life is linked to Shinji's. That is why he is dependent on him. In addition, it's plausible that Nero knows he's a part of Shinji, even though we never directly spoke in reference to it."

Kaji looks away from Gendo again by turning his head to the right with his eyes narrowed and thinks, "So when Nero betrayed us, he knew real well that killing Shinji would result in his own death. He was pretty much ready to commit suicide if he wasn't defeated. But he changed his mind towards the end of the battle... Could he have finally found value in his life before almost killing Shinji? If so, is he living for Asuka and our sake... Or..."

Gendo interjects in Kaji's train of thought after crossing his arms and walking to stand next to the former double-agent's left with his eyes on the cross for another time. "To be honest, I think Nero was happiest believing he's a brother and not just a missing piece. And ignoring how terrible of a father I have been, I couldn't help but to see Nero that way."

Kaji's profoundly surprised by Gendo unexpectedly opening up to him and then happily grins. "That's the first time you actually sounded like a true father." He promptly sets his sights onto the gigantic cross. "By the way, Nero still is your son."

Gendo quickly snaps his head to Kaji with a questionable expression. "Because he's a part of Shinji?"

Kaji shakes his head without looking at Gendo at first. "No." He then veers his attention to the Commander. "Because of what you just told me. That's why." Kaji faces towards Gendo while removing his hands from his waist and puts them back into his pockets. "You love your kids. All three of them. With all your heart."

Gendo can't utter any words as he's in complete shock at the truth that he had yet properly acknowledge. Then, right as the Commander was able to say something, a sudden explosion occurs that greatly shakes Terminal Dogma. Both men are a bit off-balance due to not expecting that and turn around to see behind themselves since that's where the explosion happened as soon as they're steady. After doing that, they're overcome with horror and disbelief at the sight of Unit 08 descending from above through a huge hole on the ceiling, compliments of the continuously shining gold Eva.

Kaji hurriedly takes a step forward while still consumed with disbelief as his hands are once again out of the pockets, but lowered. "An Eva?! What's it doing here?!" He diverts his attention to the ceiling. "And why didn't any of the alarms go off?!"

Having overheard Kaji's stress induced outburst, Zahn chuckles in a maniacal manner as his Eva stops shining and says with a conceited tone while extending his right arm to the right in a light gesture, "I guess you weren't a witness of what I'm capable of at the beginning of this final confrontation." He lowers his arm while standing sideways with his right foot forward and keeps his eyes on Kaji. "Here's a little secret so keep it just between us."

Right after saying that, Zahn bends towards the direction Kaji's located while still standing sideways with his right hand placed on his right leg's lap and says in a whisper, "My A.T. Field allows me to go undetected from high-tech machinery. That's how I was able to get the drop on your pilots. You either see me or you don't." The white-haired boy returns to his voice's usual volume and states in a taunting way, "And if you don't, you're screwed!" He winks in a playful manner, even though neither men saw him do that.

Gendo joins into the conversation with a cold demeanor. "You must be the humanoid Lance of Longinus that the old man dedicated so many years trying to create and that so-called True Evangelion."

Zahn's greatly delighted to hear those words from Gendo and chuckles again. "Seems like my reputation precedes me! After all, I am the most superior being in the world!"

Gendo arrogantly smiles while putting back his glasses on with the use of his left hand and puts it down afterwards. "More like a disappointment if you ask me. Can't even overcome someone of the likes of Nero. How could you possibly be the most superior being in the world?"

That statement strikes a nerve as Zahn doesn't waste time fixing his posture and faces towards the two men with a menacing, anger-filled glare. "You're really going to regret saying such a foolish thing."

Keel's voice intervenes before Zahn got the opportunity to lose control and says with a firm tone, "Do not let Ikari's mind-games affect you, my son."

In an instant, both men are overwhelmed with shock after hearing the Chairmen's voice and even share a quick glance at one another before resetting their attention onto Unit 08. In the meantime, Keel lets out a small laugh due to Kaji and Gendo's reaction. "Surprised, Ikari? Well, you haven't seen anything yet."

With that said, Unit 08's chest plates start to open up from the center and slowly reveals a fully, mechanized Lorenz Keel, who's entirely nude with his lower body residing within the gold Eva's chest. After that, Keel straightens his body due to him being tucked into a space fitted for him in Unit 08's chest and gives Gendo a devilish grin with his brown eyes surrounded by black staring down at the Commander. "It has been such a long time, Ikari. Did you miss me?" He slants his head to the right.

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...

Brief Statement:

Damn... Took me FOREVER to finish this episode. But I finally did it and I'm going to try to hustle on writing the next episode. Extreme battles are up ahead so brace yourselves and look forward to them.

That's it. Talk to you all later.