“It’s been a while.” Said the voice of Commander Ikari. In the shadows stood a figure, facing the back of the Commander.
“Yes it has.” Replied a familiar voice. “Staying in hiding for so long was - rather boring.” There was a short pause before the Commander spoke again.
“I did not expect you to live - but it is fortunate that you have done so.”
“And just why is that?”
“That is irrelevant. Now, I have a small task for you to perform.”

*            *            *
Toji lay awake in his bed in the hospital. The loss of his arm and leg had left him feeling like blaming someone but he knew he couldn’t, glad that he was still alive. What made him say to himself that it was worth it was the fact that his sister was still in the hospital with him and that she was getting the best of care. As he thought his mind wandered to the terrible moments in the Eva - Unit-03.

 Toji sat in the entry plug; the countdown to the activation causing him to be more nervous as it drew closer to the absolute borderline. When it was just about to pass it Toji felt strange. *Something doesn’t feel rig-* Suddenly, everything shut down within the entry plug, leaving only a visual of what was happening, the Eva activated and started moving without Toji controlling it. Then, with what seemed very much like a grin, the Angel possessed Eva destroyed the activation site at Matsushiro with a devastating explosion.
 Making it’s way in the general direction of NERV headquarters, Toji could do nothing. In vain, he tried to get the communication systems to work.
“Anybody? Can anybody hear me? Misato! What’s wrong?” He said this knowing that they may already have died from the explosion. Fearing the worst, he could only sit and wait as the Eva/Angel plodded slowly onward.

 After what seemed like forever, three Evas came into view, having been dropped into Matsushiro by aircraft to intercept their target. Toji could only watch, as the Angel defeated Unit-02 then Unit-00, pulling at the controls and shouting at it in an effort to stop it, but to no avail. He was horrified to see Unit-00’s arm blown off to stop the contamination from spreading. As his Eva slowly made its way toward Unit-01 one, he only hoped that Shinji would be strong enough to defeat the Angel. As contact couldn’t be made, the people at NERV headquarters were not able to ascertain whether Toji was still conscious or not.
 While he and the Eva made its way slowly to Unit-01, Toji wondered why Shinji wasn’t attacking. Even when Unit-03 made a leaping attack at Unit-01, Shinji still didn’t fight back or even react. Willing Shinji to attack, Toji, once again, could only watch as Unit-03’s arms suddenly flew out, becoming many times longer than before, and started to strangle the unresisting Unit. When, Unit-03 had Unit-01 against a large hill Toji was becoming desperate. *Shinji! Start fighting! Don’t just sit there!*  Then as if on cue, Unit-01’s eyes glowed and started to throttle Unit-03. *Good*. Toji thought. *He’s fighting back at last.* With the  powering down of the entry plug, the nerve connections were cut and so Toji did not feel any pain.
 Toji then saw that he and the Angel/Eva was being lifted up and was then smashed into the ground, and he knew nothing more, his head getting knocked, the LCL cushioning most of the blow but he still lost consciousness.

Toji was started out his memory as he saw a figure outside of his room. The figure entered and appeared as the blonde haired scientist that he had seen before at the time of the activation.

*

Ritsuko walked purposefully into the hospital ward. The Commander had given her some orders and she had now found the time to carry them out. Checking at the front desk, she sought out the room which contained the Fourth Child.  Finding the room she then entered it.
 Toji was already awake and aware of her before she had entered. Seeing this Ritsuko went and sat on the chair next to his bed. Toji spoke first.
“Hello..ah Dr..”
“It’s Akagi, but you can call me Ritsuko.”
“Well..hello Ritsuko.”
“Hello Toji. I guess your wondering what I’m here for aren’t you?” Toji nodded slowly.
“Well..I have some good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”
“The bad.” He said, though not knowing why.
“Okay. I’ve come to tell you that you may stay a member of NERV as a pilot.” Thinking he would be shocked, Ritsuko was surprised to see that he had remained the same expression-wise, if not a bit more serious.
“Don’t joke around with me. Do you think that I can pilot the way I am now?”
“Yes but that brings me to the good news. How would you like it if you were to get your arm and leg back?”
“That would be nice, but it’s impossible.”
“No, it isn’t.” After this Toji looked at her, question in his eyes.
“But how?”
“I’m not sure you would like the details, but it’s by cloning.” Toji contemplated it for a while.
“If I accept, it means that I must become a pilot right?”
“Yes.” Toji, although he did want his leg and arm back, was not certain about this. *What if I die next time? Do I really want to take the risk? But don’t I have some obligation to do it? They’ve taken my sister in and she’s nearly back to full health and they’ve taken care of me and are now offering to heal me. * A few moments later another thought sprung up. * But they also put me here in the first place. * Still considering this he asked a question.
“What if this cloning doesn’t work? Where will that leave me?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s been thoroughly tested - numerous times.” *Though I’ll be damned if I tell him how.* Ritsuko thought.  Luckily he didn’t ask about this, as he was thinking about the proposition. “You might also want to know that if you are no longer a part of NERV, your sister will be taken out of our facility.”
“Are you trying to force me? If you were, why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?”
“No, we’re not trying to force you. I don’t have any control over that matter. It’s a fact.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to accept, won’t I? I didn’t really have any choice in the matter did I?”
“I’m sorry, but no, not really. We are short of pilots and there aren’t any new recruits available.”
“Yeah..well...when do you think  I’ll...” Before he could finish his sentence, a siren started sounding, alerting the whole of Tokyo-03 of an emergency.
“What? An Angel? I have to go now Toji. I’ll talk to you more about this later.” Ritsuko left hurriedly, without another word, leaving Toji to ponder over his decision and the upcoming events.

*           *          *
“What? An emergency?” Misato said. “Shinji! Asuka! Get out here now!” Also hearing the alarm, Shinji and Asuka raced out.
“Another Angel? So soon?” Shinji asked.
“Shinji you idiot, what else do you think it could be?” Asuka said. Shinji turned, a bit hurt, Asuka and saw that she actually looked a bit worried, though she was trying to hide it. He saw in her eyes that she didn’t mean what she said and inwardly cursed himself for a fool. *Why would Asuka mean any of it now?* Shinji then looked at her back to try and reassure that if it came to a battle she would do okay. Fortunately for them, Misato was too busy rushing into the car to notice this small exchange.
 When the three NERV members were in the car, they started at a dangerously high speed toward headquarters. Shinji looking out the window, saw something bright, attracting his attention. Seeing what it was he alerted the others.
“Misato! Asuka! The Angel!”  Both Misato and Asuka looked out spying it as well. Just then Misato’s mobile phone rang. Picking it up, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, and an eye on the road, she received the call. After listening for a while, she responded.
“Yes. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes with the other two pilots........no don’t launch Unit-00 just yet. Ready it at the thirty-second gate. The unidentified object is still far away from our position and is not moving very fast. Prepare Unit-01 and Unit-02..... No, I can’t cancel the freeze on Unit-01. Bye.” Hanging up, Misato looked up into the sky at the Angel.

*
Arriving at NERV, both Asuka and Shinji quickly got out and went to change, while Misato went and made her way to the control center.
“You’re late Captain.” Ritsuko said, spying her.
“I came as fast as I could. What’s the status of the Evas?” She asked.
“The First Child and Unit-00 are ready for launch.” Aoba reported. “The other two units are ready but their pilots have not been inserted into their entry plugs yet.”
“We’re not able to identify the object flying toward us. It’s blood pattern keeps cycling from blue to orange.” Hyuga commented.
“What does that mean?” Misato asked.
“The Magi aren’t able to confirm anything yet, Captain.” Maya stated.
“We just don’t have enough solid data.” Aoba added.
“But I’m sure that the object we see now is not the only form it can take on” Ritsuko said.
“So we can’t do anything offensive yet. Launch Unit-00.” With that Unit-00 and the pilot Rei, were sent up through the launch pad. When Rei had reached the surface, Misato talked to her.
“Rei. Move to a defensive position, hold your fire and wait for the Angel to arrive.”
“Yes ma’am.” The NERV crew then waited for the arrival of the Angel, monitoring it on the computer screens. *It’s shaped just like a halo of an angel.* Misato thought.
After a few minutes Aoba spoke up, having receiving a call.
“Captain, the pilots of Unit-01 and Unit-02 have been inserted into their entry plugs.”
“Good. Don’t launch Unit-02 just yet. We’re not sure how the pilot will fare after the last battle.” By now, the Angel had reached NERV and was stationary, floating in the air. Turning to the monitor which showed a figure of Rei, Misato gave her more orders. “Don’t do anything just yet. Let’s observe it for a little while.” As if Rei knew what the Angel was going to do she replied.
“No it’s coming.”
The unidentified object, it’s ring shaped body which was in a lattice pattern, broke the ring and formed into one solid, long line of white light. Spying it’s target, it swiftly arrowed straight for Unit-00 at lightning speed.
“Rei evasive maneuvers!” Misato yelled in warning.
“It’s too late, she doesn’t have enough time!” Hyuga shouted. Unit-00 tried to deploy its A.T Field, but too late and the Angel penetrated it and drove and buried it’s self into Unit-00 abdomen. Grabbing a part of the Angel, Unit-00, at point blank range fired a couple of shots into it with it’s rifle to no effect. Looking at the hand and her own, Rei saw what looked like many veins popping out of her skin. Slowly they started to spread all over her body.
“Target has physically contacted Unit-00.” Aoba said.
“What’s the status of Unit-00 A.T Field?” Misato asked, slightly frantic.
“It’s still up but the Angel has penetrated it anyway. The Angel is affecting Unit-00! Bio-contamination is starting!” Maya said.
*Is the Angel trying to achieve first level contact with Unit-00?* Ritsuko thought to herself. *It must be.*
“Launch Eva Unit-02!” Misato commanded. Unit-02 is then launched up to the surface, a fair distance from Unit-02 and the Angel, in a building.
“Contamination is spreading!” Maya said.
“Already five percent has been bio-fused.” Ritsuko said, looking at another screen, which monitored Unit-00 body structure and patterns. Misato spoke to the screen which showed Asuka.
“Asuka, spread your A.T Field to maximum, move out three hundred metres and take some of that heat off Rei. Eva Unit-02 lift off!”  At this, Unit-02 just stood there in its building, not moving in the slightest manner. “Asuka! What’s wrong? What’s her status?”
“Her synchro ration is under ten percent!” Maya said, dismayed.
“Asuka!”
“It’s won’t move. It just won’t move.” Was the Second Child’s reply. Before Misato could speak the command to bring Unit-02 back down, the Angel was then aware of it. Seeing this, knowing the inevitable, the people in the command centre could only watch.
“Bring her down now!” Misato said.
“We can’t there’s not enough time!” Hyuga shouted, fumbling at the controls. The Angel then sent the other end of its body to the prone form of Unit-02. Moving with nearly the same speed as before, Unit-02 did not have a chance. Asuka sitting in the entry plug, saw an object darting towards her at a blinding speed. Then, something happened.
 Unit-02 in a blur of red, dashed through the wall of the building of which it was standing in, smashing it down. The Angel missed, plowing into the building, unable to stop itself from the momentum of the great speed it was going at. Unit-02 then became still again.
“What just happened?” Misato asked. Everyone else in the room was shocked as well, except the two commanders who had stayed calm the whole time.
“The Second Child’s synchro ratio just jumped up to seventy percent! It’s now gone back down to ten.” Maya said, looking at her terminal monitor.
“Eject the entry plug!”
“We can’t! The plug release was damaged in that maneuver!”
“Unit-02 out of the launching area. We can’t bring her back down.” Aoba said rather needlessly.
“So she’s a sitting target out there unless she moves again..” Misato said quietly.

*
In Evangelion Unit-02 entry plug Asuka was not clear on what had just happened. She then realised. She had moved! *But why isn’t it working now?* She thought, frustrated, trying to make it move. Seeing the Angel coming out of the building which it had just gone through, she thought back to something which Rei had said, swallowing her pride for the first time. ~You must open your mind to your Eva, or else she won’t respond.~
*
“Bio-contamination is at twenty-two percent and increasing slowly.”  Ritsuko reported.
“We need to do something. We can’t just sit here and let them get killed.” Misato said looking at the Commander. As the Commander was about to speak Maya spoke up.
“Wait! Unit-02’s synch ratio is increasing!” Continuing, she spoke out the ratio increases. “17%, 26%, 34%, 48%...” The rest of the crew just watched the screen which showed everything that was happening, open mouthed and astounded.

 Unit-02 quickly rolled away, as the other end of the Angel dug into the ground where she had just lain. Quickly reaching an upright position, Asuka, produced her progressive knife, and faced her enemy.
“Come and get me Angel.” Said a new Asuka with more confidence and not over-confidence.
“The Second Child’s synch ratio has reached ninety-one percent and is not changing!” Maya said, “It’s higher than ever before!”
“How is that possible?” Misato asked. No one responded to this as they were all watching the battle, transfixed to the screens.

 The Angel then made another attempt to penetrate Unit-02 but doing two things at once seemed to have slowed it down. Asuka dived to the side and rolled, the Angel missing, and ran as fast as she could to where Unit-00 was. The Angel pursued after reorientating on Unit-02. Asuka seeing the Angel coming again tried to avoid it again but was too slow and it whipped out and clipped her leg, tripping her down. The Angel, seeing an opportunity,  struck at Unit-02’s head. Quickly moving her head to the side, the Angel once again, drove into the ground, missing by a few metres. As she moved her head, her hand came around in one motion, and swiped at the Angel with the knife. The Angel being stuck in the ground could not move, and with the A.T Field, protecting its other part from any attack from Unit-00, it could do nothing as the knife drilled into it a bit then sliced right through the Angel’s thin body, blood, spurting out of the wound ferociously.
 Jumping to avoid a loop - which struck out at her from the long body of the thrashing end of the Angel - she then had to duck as the body flew back at her. Striking at it again she somersaulting over the twitching end, Asuka and Unit-02 once again started to make their way toward Unit-00 at a break-neck speed. Reaching the place where Unit-00 was being contaminated, Asuka could see the vein like growths which were standing out nearly everywhere on Unit-00. Asuka, acting quickly, spread her A.T Field to maximum. Unit-00, seeing what Unit-02 was doing, worked with her, also deploying her A.T Field to maximum, neutralising the Angel’s easily. Unit-02 then hacked at the part of the Angel, which had entered Unit-00. Cutting it off, Unit-00 then slowly pulled out the remaining piece inside and threw it aside.
 With both ‘heads’ now cut off, the Angel was writhing on the ground, knocking trees down, and also flicking around Unit-02, like a lizard’s detached  tail. Asuka pulled the Angel’s body off and Unit-00 then finished it off with a few blasts of her rifle, destroying the target. Unit-00, weak and not fully able to control the body from the contaminated parts, wavered, then fell to the ground heavily.
 
 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
 

After the two units had been recovered, NERV’s commanders set about repairing Unit-00.
“Although the pilot suffered no aftereffect of the Angel’s contamination, repairing Unit-00 will be extremely complex as bio-fusion of nearly fifty percent of the body had already occurred.” Ritsuko informed the Commanders.
“What will your team actually do to regenerate the unit?” Asked Fuyutski, who stood behind the Commander.
“To carry out this operation, we will need to destroy most of the cells which have been contaminated. This may also destroy some of the non-contaminated cells, resulting in a more tedious and difficult regeneration task, which will probably increase the time in which Unit-00 will be repaired in. From there, if everything goes according to plan, the normal regeneration process will be used.”
“Have any of the contaminated cells spread any more since the time of infection?”
“No sir. With the destruction of the Angel, the contamination has not spread to any other areas.  The contaminated cells actually appear to be already dead.”
“Good.” The Commander spoke the first time since Dr Akagi’s arrival. “How is the operation on Unit-03 and the Fourth Child faring?”
“Because of the Angel’s attack, our progress has been delayed on both the cloning process of the Fourth Child’s limbs and the regeneration of Unit-03. We are running two percent behind schedule.”
“Then I expect everything to go according to plan. Carry on.”
“Yes sir.” Before leaving, Ritsuko asked a question. “How will we explain how the Fourth Child’s situation to Captain Katsuragi and the other pilots?”
“It shall not be a problem. You may tell them the truth. It will not affect our future plans in any way. You are dismissed.” When Dr Akagi left, Fuyutski spoke to the Commander.
“The pilot of Unit-02 has now become even better than we expected. It was fortunate that she actually was able to pilot it in the first place.”
“Yes. Very fortunate indeed.” The Commander replied.

*           *          *
 Asuka in the girls change room, sat down on the bench near her cabinet. Looking to her side, she saw Rei getting changed out of her plugsuit and into the only thing she ever saw her wear - her school uniform. Thinking that she owed the First Child some sort of apology, she started to talk to her. Then thinking again, she thought them even as she had saved her life. So she just shrugged and kept on changing.
 As the silence stretched out between the two as it usually did, Rei once again, like the time in the elevator spoke without being spoken to first.
“You opened your mind to your Eva.”
“Yeah I did Wonder Girl.” There was a long pause as Rei thought about what to say next.
“Thank you...for saving my life.” She said, thinking it was the right thing to say. Asuka turned to her surprised.
“....That’s alright Rei.” Asuka replied, taken aback. * That’s the first time I’ve actually used her name.* Asuka thought. *She seems so much like Shinji sometimes. Even if she is a robot, doll who’d kill herself if she was told to.* “Well, we’re even anyway. You told me how to pilot my Eva properly and I saved your life. Fare trade isn’t it?”
“.....”
“Is that the first time you’ve said thank you Wonder Girl?”
“No. I have said it once before.”
“To who?”
“Pilot Ikari.”
 The two were then silent again and finished getting changed. Rei left and as Asuka was about to leave, Shinji called out to her through the sheet which was hung up between the boys and girls rooms.
“Asuka, it’s nice to know you’re talking to Rei.”
“Yeah..well she talked to me first.” Asuka then asked him a question. “Shinji?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you ever notice that Wonder Girl is a bit like you?”
“Uh..well..no.”
“Oh..it must be my imagination.” Seeing that he must have finished changing as his shadow could be seen just looking at the sheet, she pulled it aside. Looking at him, wearing the clothes that they had come to NERV in, she thought about what Rei wore.
“You know..I’ve never seen the First Child wear anything other than her school uniform or her plugsuit. Weird isn’t it? Have you seen her wear anything else before?”
“Umm..no..” Shinji said colouring a bit. The time when he saw her in a towel flashed across his mind.
“You know Shinji you don’t look very certain about that.”
“Um..well..it was an accident but I...er.. saw Rei in a towel.”
“You what?’
“Well..I had to give her a new security card and so I went into her apartment and she came out of the shower.” Something told Asuka that Shinji was not telling the whole truth but she didn’t push him. *Maybe I’ll ask Wonder Girl about this.*
“It was before you came here.” He added. Wanting to get off the topic he talked about her battle. “You know, you were fighting good today. I told you you could do it Asuka.”
“Yeah, but you probably heard that it was Rei that told me what to do.”
“But..isn’t that what you always used to do before?”
“No - I just tried to control it with my mind, I never opened up to it before.”
“Oh.” Shinji and Asuka, both paused for a moment. Before they could say another word, Rei came back into the change room.
“Captain Katsuragi and Dr Akagi would like to see us.” She informed them. Turning around she left the change room, not waiting for Shinji or Asuka. The two of them quickly hurried after the First Child. Walking down the long hallway the pair followed her to where Misato and Ritsuko were waiting.
Misato was deep in conversation with Ritsuko when they arrived. Misato seemed rather worried, anxious and also nervous. Misato spoke first.
“Shinji, the last time I kept something from you, it made matters worse for you and I put myself at fault...so I’m not going to keep it from you and tell you now.” Though Misato dreaded saying this  - she had been shocked and angered by what Ritsuko had told her - she knew she had to. Taking a deep breath she spoke the words she had to.
“Toji is still the Fourth Child and the pilot of Unit-03.” And Misato let the storm blow over her.