Chapter 25: Retribution

Chapter 25:
Retribution

 

THE LANCE OF LONGINUS behaved like it had in North Africa, as if someone had incurred its wrath. The lance descended from its altitude, tip first. Its current length was 305,000 kilometers, almost forming a perfect ring. Now, it did a violent, ninety-degree turn, coming straight down on Yomotsu Hirasaka Island.

“The Lance of Longinus changed its trajectory?!”

It happened right after Misato received word of an unknown force destroying the spatial lens.

That was cause enough for celebration, but fear quickly followed. The lance would now punish the one responsible, and the Earth right along with them!

Was it Shinji? He was the first person Misato had thought of when she heard the news. How?!

She glanced at the enemy—the enemy she herself had invited—Seele.

“The lens should be impervious to physical attacks. They would be ionized and reconstituted on the other side of it. So how…?” Kaji furrowed his eyebrows.

“This is quite a predicament. Perhaps we could discuss it in the command center rather than here.”

 

The Lance of Longinus came down upon Shinji like divine retribution.

<<Above you!>>

<<The lance is coming!>>

Toji and Asuka shouted at Shinji, who’d managed to climb out of the deep fissure.

Eva-01 Final Model looked overhead, still unsure as to what was going on.

A chill ran down his spine. Shinji remembered his last encounter with the lance. It had traveled at a blinding speed of ninety kilometers per second. By the time he saw it, the thing had gone right through him.

“Aaah!”

He remembered North Africa, how the Lance of Longinus had gouged Super Eva’s heart right out of his chest. His hairs stood on end.

What do I do?!

There was no escaping the absurd weapon and its ability to alter its path at will.

The giant flinched from uncontainable fear.

CRASH!

It was as if the world itself shook.

 

Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds passed. They felt like an eternity.

“What…happened…?”

Final Model had raised his hands to cover his face. Now he peeked through the gaps in his fingers.

An unsettling silence.

<<Kzzzt—This is Hakone command to Final Model.>> Hyuga’s voice streamed into Shinji’s ears as he gazed at the sky.

<<The Lance of Longinus has stopped, ten thousand kilometers over Yomotsu Hirasaka. I repeat, the Lance of Longinus has stopped.>>

“Phew…” The twin-pronged lance had never stopped, not since Armaros had thrown it from the surface of the moon. It had run right through Ayanami Rei Cinque in orbit. It had pierced Shinji’s heart in North Africa. It had flown from the South Pacific to the archipelago like the wire of God.

The Lance of Longinus had no regard for the hopes of humanity. And now, it had stopped.

“Heh heh…” The corners of Shinji’s lips softened as the beginning of an awkward laugh formed.

“Heh heh heh… Ah ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!”

<<Shinji?>>

<<You okay, bud?>>

Shinji kept laughing until he choked and started coughing. He was wheezing in the LCL now. It was a strange feeling. But he finally felt like he was on the scoreboard. For the first time, he saw the overwhelming force of the enemy being thwarted.

“You can’t bring the lance down on me even after I destroyed the lens. This island is too valuable.”

<<There’s an Ark here,>> Asuka said.

“And I saw the Chronostatic Sphere deep in the Earth. I think Lilith’s still in there.”

Along with Father and all the rest…

They were both objects impervious to physical damage. Their presence on this island meant that it would be the start of the new creation. The command center buzzed as they talked about their observations like one might talk about the weather. With communications reestablished, Final Model, Platypus-2, and Hakone could finally compare notes.

Hyuga studied the underground vertical space and whispered to Aoba. “That fissure looks like a cannon. Do you think they’re trying to use the pressure to launch the sphere from our side?”

“Launch it to the moon? The new world?”

“Yeah. There’s another Ark on the moon, and I don’t think it can move there by itself. Probably the switch from Earth to moon would be complete with the addition of Lilith’s Sphere. If we could prevent it somehow…”

<<Shinji-kun, what did you do?!>> Maya’s voice.

I threw something… But what?

“I… I threw a spear.” Kaworu had said that much.

“I was stuck in an underground magma pool…and my hand grabbed the spear. I threw it at the sky, thinking it was made of lava. I think Kaworu called it the Lance of Lucresomething…”

<<That’s it! That was the thing that shot through the tower and shattered the spatial lens!>> Toji cut into their conversation excitedly.

Maya proceeded to tell Shinji the cost of his actions. <<It’s your telemetry reading. It suddenly dipped by 0.13 seconds!>>

<<Wha…?! Shinji, you moron!>>

<<Listen to me!>> Maya said. <<You just used sixteen percent of the Third Impact’s power—of your remaining life.>>

Shinji didn’t answer.

I already saw everything she’s saying on the warning windows.

<<Detecting movement on the ground. Lots of it.>> Asuka said, the sense of urgency returning to her.

“Are they the blackish creatures we heard about?”

<<No. They’re all of uniform shape and rock solid. Match found on database. They’re Q.R. Signums!>>

<<To the north of you, Shinji! And to the south, too!>>

The JSSDF Akashima’s icon lit up on the comms display.

<<Nerv, black plates—Q.R. Signums—are covering the ground to the south!>>

There was a beeping sound to the right. The North American Alliance was calling in now. There were still survivors on the ground. They’d engaged with the Angel Carriers and were requesting pickup and air support.

<<We have survivors! The Akashima will go back them up.>>

“He’s coming,” Asuka said.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re here. Shinji’s in a good spot to put a stop to this damned creation myth.”

Armaros was coming. They’d rushed to the island, defying orders, specifically to confront him. To confront her. The pilot of the Euro Eva, Hikari, who’d been transformed into the black giant after defeating him.

The scales gathered on a steep rocky mountain at the center of the island whose peak was taller than Everest. Toji and Asuka went higher in their Platypus-2 to get a better look.

“So, Suzuhara, what are you gonna do when you see Hikari?”

“Well… First of all—”

Asuka looked at Toji as he stopped himself mid-sentence. She’d always thought he was dumb, but his was the type of dumb that was fool enough to come up with a plan. This time, however, he wasn’t prepared.

“Suzuhara?”

“Shh. Wait… What—” Toji stiffened, twitching. “Sh-shut up! Go away!”

Asuka’s skin crawled when she heard him scream.

<<What’s going on, Asuka?!>> Shinji picked up on her distress from inside Final Model.

“It’s Suzuhara. He’s acting weird!”

Toji returned to himself upon hearing his name. “You… You didn’t hear that just now? This is bad. Real bad. Soryu, take over the controls!”

“I-I can’t. I don’t know how!”

The jet began slanting to the side. Toji did his best to stabilize it with the control stick, but he looked as if he was suppressing his right hand with his left. For some reason, he had more control of his cybernetic hand. He raised his head with grim realization.

“Is this…your voice? I want to be wrong…but I know I’m not…”

“You’re not saying…?”

Both Toji and Asuka had observed this exact situation before. It was what happened to the Ayanamis when they acted as the black giant’s puppets.

“It’s Hikari’s voice…” Toji said.

But Asuka didn’t understand.

“Can’t you hear it? This Armaros is talking with Hikari’s voice.”