Wunder, Skies above the World

"Colonel! We got a signal from Pathfinder!"

"Where are they?"

"60 miles west of the Nevada Dirac Sea." Misato remained seated while Lieutenant Suzahara watched her from her control console, "Should we send an extraction team to pick them up?"

"Get Asuka on the comm," At the Colonel's orders, a viewscreen activated above the command deck and revealed one of Wunder's most verbal captains, "Asuka, we've got Pathfinder's relocation signal, prepare an extraction team."

"Got it Colonel," The red-head yawned while in the process of repairing the interface to a smooth pilot console within a long, open cylinder capsule, "The Kyoko should be in that area within 8 hours, gotta watch our fuel after the last Nemesis Attack."

"Understood." With that, Misato closed the comm, "Suzahara! You have the bridge."

"Yes ma'am."

"I need a drink..." WILLE's leader left her command chair and the command center, feeling a few glances thrown her way as the door closed behind her. As she walked through the wired halls of the grand ship she commanded, she sometimes used her rusty but effective Ops training to remain unheard and unnoticed. A technique that she'd found effective for hearing about where the minds of her crew stood as far as their commitment and their state of mind.

For the past year, she had not heard anything positive.

"Heard that Pathfinder's out again?" A starboard guard asked his partner while Misato quietly listened, "I thought that it was Raptor's turn this time?"

"It was, it was an emergency deployment. Part of the Second Branch of Nerv rose out of the Dirac Sea and the Colonel wanted to know if something was down there."

"Like what? Survivors? An eva-"

"You know we're not supposed to talk about any of the "E's" right?"

"Shikanami talks about her's all the time!"

"Aboard her ship. Call it another effect of the Colonel's shining persona."

"Yeah about that...I just think that she has it out for Anchor."

"The kid? I heard that he was involved in that mess a year ago and the one fifteen years ago."

"As in he was one of the pilots for the evas-"

"Come on bro!"

"What is the Colonel gonna do? Fire me!" The guard laughed while Misato exhaled in annoyance, "The Colonel's attitude with the kid is hogwash. She acts like the kid somehow caused this shit-hole that we're living in."

"She's not the only one. But, who knows what Nerv was really up to all those years ago. I bet that they really did it and they're using the kid as a scapegoat."

"Maybe the kid really did do something, but I'd blame Nerv more than a kid."

"That's probably why the colonel made the kid a PEOT trooper, get him out her hair and mind with a bonus of getting him killed-"

"I've heard enough..." Misato shook her head and walked down another hall while hearing those two guards laugh at some joke that she didn't care about.

As she stomped, she began to feel something within her. An ache that bit at her mind despite all attempts to rationalize it away or to explain how it wasn't her fault. An ache that had eaten away at her for fifteen years since Sachiel's attack on Tokyo-3. An ache that told her to accept and deal with the reality of the hell where she lived.

It was a hell that she helped create.

"No it's not..." She murmered to herself, "It's his fault...he did this...not me...I had nothing to do with. I was...trying to save the world...like I'm doing now..."

Pacific Ocean

Blood...

An ocean of blood...

Hikari was disgusted when she attempted to see her own reflection in the dark red waters. She had heard about the poisoned water left behind by Second Impact, but this was the first time that she had ever seen the water up close.

15 years after another Impact.

Of course, her rescuers hadn't told her of the date yet. She only found out due to peeking at a calender that Trigger had and from recalling a timer that she scanned for half of a second before being ushered along with PEOT troopers. There was so much that she wanted to ask them, but she felt as though this wasn't the best time. They were still stranded in the middle of this sickening endless bowl of blood and she was sure that they wouldn't want to be pestered by some lost girl.

After all, they'd only found her by coincidence.

Despite this, she had grown to like her rescuers for the most part. Since the ocean was incapable of supporting any life, the troopers relaxed their guard and took off their helmets for the time being. She only knew one of them and vaguely remembered seeing another once or twice and didn't know the rest so she didn't ask for their real names. It was even hard to figure out since they usually used their co-signs even outside of combat.

Trigger was easily the largest of the troopers and a "tough guy". He spent most of his time checking the ammo on the team's weapons and the transport plane's cannon. Out of all of the troopers, he was the one who spoke to Hikari the least, but he rarely talked at all. The only time that she remembered talking to him was when she asked about a series of tattoos on his neck.

"The names of my boys." Trigger answered while pointing to each name, "Maxell, Tristen and Joseph. I put their names on my throat so that every breath that I make will carry them with it...so that I don't lose track of my inventory." Even though she didn't ask, Trigger's eyes grew watery when he was talking and then he hurriedly walked away before Hikari could ask what was wrong. Were his children dead?

Print preferred to be up "on deck" where he could see the open sky and was pretty chatty. He was pretty much a show-off who liked to brag about his abilities as a recon trooper though he made no attempt to hide the difference between exaggerations and his real actions. Print was further unashamed about his girlfriend and was a little too "detailed" about their interactions when he was off-duty.

"I don't mean to brag, but I keep her up all night and day!" Print finished with a laugh while Hikari's face remained red from his description of one of their "experiments", "My sweet Sakura..."

"I'm glad that you're...happy together..."

"It's kind of a like a fairy tale...minus a few mood-killers here and there..." Print muttered while pointing out towards the crimson sea that surrounded them, "But hell! What's a better deal than sailing through the end of the world with your pen-pal?"

"Your pen-pal?" Hikari asked, recalling a faint memory of Toji complaining about his sister's pen-pal, "Sakura was your pen-pal?"

"She still is! We just don't use paper."

"If...you don't mind...where did you live before...all of this?"

"Norman, Oklahoma." Print replied as Hikari confirmed who Print's pen-pal was, "Of course, it's known as Tornado ditch since there's one about once a week. It wasn't always like that though...before it was only once a month...and those things were beautiful to look at."

"Weren't they dangerous?"

"Of course they were! But that's what made them more beautiful!" Print laughed, "Just like my Sakura...does a number and can raise hell...but she's pretty and we treat each other well..."

Phoenix was always in the plane checking the controls and the status of their makeshift cruise, so Hikari tried not to be a distraction. However, Phoenix and her ended up speaking a lot as they were the only females on the plane. She was gruff, but rather nice and normally asked Hikari questions about what she ate.

"I was hoping to meet another vegetarian..." Phoenix admitted with slight disappointment while she did a quick scan of Hikari's heart rate with a sensor that she pinched onto the collar of Hikari's plugsuit, "Everything's in order though. Blood pressure normal, cholesteral level is healthy and body temperature has risen to normality."

"Was I worst earlier?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary...you were in that suspension pod for a while." Phoenix added and seemingly cut herself off, "That's just how they work, they lower body temperature to inactive levels to preserve the patient. You're lucky that we found you when we did."

"What would have happened if you hadn't?"

"Nothing lasts forever, eventually the power supply of the system would've ran out. Without that, there would've been nothing to keep your body stable with the body temperature that it was in and you would've died in your sleep."

"Oh..." Hikari muttered while shivering as Phoenix looked at her in concern, "I'm fine...it's just...I really lucked out..."

"Someone upstairs must've liked you." Phoenix commented with a smile, "Finding you did everyone here a favor, you even saved our Anchor."

"Shinji..." Hikari recalled the orange barriers that she'd somehow created and frowned in confusion, "How did I do that?"

"Ritsuko's the only one who'd know for certain. But I'm not gonna look a blessing sour in the eye."

"You saved me too..."

"We're hardly even, you saved Anchor from the Wallman and took out that Daemon as it was gaining on us when we escaped. Even anything, I still owe you one and no but's about it kid."

EZ was likely the most calm and collected member of the group. She felt most at ease around him, especially when she finally recognized his features. The man was older than when she had last seen a glance of him, but she was sure that he was one of Miss Misato's co-workers in Nerv. Despite the questions that she held, EZ's teasing attitude and simple outlook on their situation warmed Hikari if only because she needed something...something to calm herself.

"Been a while since I've had to babysit a teen..." EZ remarked one night while he was on watch with Hikari sitting on the end of the plane, "Watch your balance, I don't think that we'll be able to get you out if you fall."

"I'll be careful." Hikari replied while scooting further away from the edge of the hull and nearly slipping before EZ caught her, "Thank you..."

"A thank you? That's a new one for me..." EZ laughed while Hikari blushed, "Don't worry about it...I'm just used to a certain Diva dismissing any notion about gratitude or needing help at all."

"That...sounds like Asuka..." Hikari murmured, a brief memory of Asuka Shikinami kicking away an admirer made her slap her face and giggle, "She was fuming all through detention..."

"So you remember life as it was?" EZ asked while Hikari was reminded of the reality that she now floated upon, "Sorry about that...you're talking to a guy whose lived through two impacts too many."

"What happened during the last one?" Hikari heard herself ask before she slammed both of her hands onto her mouth and sobbed, "Sorry..."

"You'll have to find out sooner or later." EZ remarked with sadness, "But...it's best not to give you an answer until you can handle it."

Then there was Shinji...

Shinji sat on the port side of the plane, absently watching the ripples in the water as the plane floated. On his side was his helmet, a demonic mask that resembled the face of Unit 01 as Misato's way of reminding him of his mistakes. Hell, she was still as cold with him as she was a year ago when he first woke up in this strange and unfamiliar world.

A world that he had created.

A world that he had worsened.

A world that hated him...and he deserved it.

That was one reason why he was glad that EZ convinced Misato to let him join the PEOT corps. It gave him a chance to try and work to make up for what he had done. Thankfully, most PEOT members and WILLIE officials outside of the WUNDER didn't know or believe the story about Shinji's actions 15 years ago and that provided him so semblance of peace when he joined.

Even during the most dangerous of missions.

His team had hated him at first, mostly because he was weak, unresponsive and a "newbie." He remembered enough from his EVA training to handle a gun, though there was a clear difference between using a rifle as an Eva and as a person. As an Eva, you had a barrier to protect you from things that harmed you...as a human, you were constantly vulnerable from both the known and the unknown.

But he hadn't cared...in fact, he wanted to die.

"Shinji?"

"Hi Hikari..." Shinji didn't turn, he couldn't face her, "How do you feel?"

"Cold...confused..." Hikari's voice admitted, "I don't know where I am...I don't know how I got here or...why I'm here...or...what happened to my family...and...my friends..."

"I was like that too."

"You were frozen too?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied, daring to give an aside glance and saw Hikari Horaki stare out to the distance like a wordless ghost, "I was frozen with...someone who wasn't there when I woke up..."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"She's gone..." Shinji looked down at the water, not wanting to remember "his Ayanami", "It's all my fault..."

"That's not true..." Hikari offered with a small smile, "I don't know what happened all of those years ago...but I know that it wasn't your fault. You were trying to protect us..."

"No I wasn't...I was trying to save Ayanami..." Hikari's smile faltered from Shinji's comment, "Sorry if I sounded selfish...but...I was trying to save Ayanami...that's why I came back."

"You left?" Hikari asked with surprise and a small hint of disappointment, "Why?"

"Remember Unit 03?" Of course she had, Hikari was walking Nozomi to visit Sakura when they saw Unit 01 throttle a multi-armed Unit 03 into the ground and violently rip out it's entrails. Nozomi was shielded while Hikari saw the carnage which ended with a pilot capsule being crunched down by the victorious evangelion, "That's why..."

"You...you had to kill the pilot?"

"I didn't want to kill Asuka..." Hikari gasped, now realizing the truth about Asuka's absence from school in that last week before Zeruel attacked, "My father activated an auto pilot program and forced me to do it. I got angry and he dismissed me like an ungrateful child...I was tired of him...so...I quit..."

"I...see..." Part of Hikari could see that what Shinji had done was inherently selfish and yet sympathized with his point of view and emotions. She suddenly shivered to imagine what she had been in Shinji's place and Touji's were in Asuka's, "I...think I understand..."

"I know...it was selfish-"

"Maybe...but it wasn't wrong." Hikari consoled while looking down at the bloodied water, "I saw how close you and Asuka were...she was your friend. You wanted to find another way to save her...but...you were forced to kill her...I'm sorry that you were in that situation Shinji..."

"Thanks...it doesn't matter though..." Shinji stated in deflated defeat, "Because when I did come back...all I did was just make everything worst..."

"How is that possible-" Hikari shook and grabbed onto Shinji when the plane violently rocked and splashed water onto both of them, "What was that?"

"Might be a storm coming...let's get back inside." Shinji led Hikari to the hatch and opened it to let her inside and jumped down after her and watched the hatch slid closed, "We're out in the open sea, nothing to worry about-"

"Battle stations!" EZ's voice called back as Shinji and Hikari entered the Control Room where the rest of the team was gathering their equipment in a hasted pace, "Pattern Blue Anomaly! I repeat! We have a Pattern Blue Anomaly!"

"An angel? They're all gone!"

"Then explain that thing!" Trigger shouted and pointed out the large dark entity that swam past the plane and rocked everyone off of their feet, "Whatever it is...it's projecting an AT Field! That means we're frying roosters unless we can get past it!"

"Take Inventory! What do we have that can hurt it?"

"The 209mm cannons are still armed, but they're useless with that AT Field up!" Phoenix reported, "What about our precious cargo?"

"I couldn't get the door opened..." Print lamented and pointed to the hatch in question on the floor, "That thing is magnetically sealed or something...I've never come across anything that tough on a cargo plane."

"So whatever it's carrying...someone wanted to make sure that the right people got to it..." Hikari noted while kneeling down to observe the hatch, "Isn't there a way to get to it from outside-"

"Never go more than 10 meters into the sea..." Phoenix stated as the plane was rocked more violently, "Whatever we're gonna do...we need to do it fast!"

"Blow the hatch!" EZ called back, "Trigger...set the charges...Anchor, scare Hikari into making a barrier around the explosion."

"Barrier...eh...I don't..." As Hikari began to object, Trigger began to set a serious of sticky grenades onto the hatch, "You're...you're really throwing this on me?"

"Sorry Hikari...but, we're all going to die either way." Shinji apologized as the plane was rocked again, "Did you have to put so many of those things onto the hatch?"

"Yeah...sorry about that-" None of the troopers moved as the inside of the plane shook with smoke forming underneath the translucent barrier that had been erected by a sweating Hikari, "Sorry scaring you...but I wanna live."

"Okay...just...give...me...more...warning next time..." Hikari fell to her knees with pressure seizing her chest as Phoenix applied cardiac aid to her chest while the smoke cleared to reveal that part of the hatch had been blown open, "At least...it...worked..."

"Anchor! Get down there and see what we can use!" While the troops put their helmets on, Shinji pried away the rest of the hatch and jumped down into the passage, "Sound off if you're not dead!"

"Very funny!"

"How is that funny?"

"Just men being boys." Phoenix assured Hikari and gave her a scratched pilot's helmet, "Found it in the storage closet, you may need it if we start to leak."

"Is it going to matter anyway?" Hikari asked while putting on the helmet, remembering that this ocean was essential a death quaqmire for anyone unlucky enough to fall into it, "Thank you though..."

"We're not dead yet, that means there's a chance." Print offered as the plane rocked up and slammed the trooper's head onto the console, "OW! The hell was that?"

"That came from underneath us...Anchor! You alright down there?"

"I don't believe it..." Anchor's voice echoed upwards, "All this time..."

"Shinji?" The plane rocked again, sending Hikari falling down the shute and landing haphazardly on a soft surface in a dark area, "Shinji? Are you down here?"

"You're...kind of...heavy..."

"What?"

"Please move..." The HUD display of Shinji's helmet activated to reveal that her fall had placed Shinji into an awkward position to say the least. Blushing, Hikari immediately shifted to the side and allowed Shinji to steady himself, "Thanks...what are you doing down here?"

"I fell..."

"Hikari! Anchor! You guys alright down there?"

"We're fine! Thanks!" Hikari shouted upwards, turning her gaze to the minimal space that this cylinder space had, "What is this?"

"It's a pilot capsule..." Shinji mumbled more to himself than to Hikari, "An undocked pilot capsule..."

"To what though?" Hikari asked while noticed the capsule spin downward while lights activated that made Shinji gasp, "Shinji?"

"An Eva..." Shinji muttered with sheer terror and suddenly bent over holding himself, "I...I...musn't...runaway...I musn't...I musn't...I musn't...I musn't..."

"Shinj!" Hikari cried out, realizing that Shinji was in the midst of an anxiety attack, "Shinji calm down! Everything's going to be fine..."

"No it won't...everytime I pilot Eva...everyone dies..." Shinji said as the plane shook once more, "It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."

"Phoenix! Someone!"

"Hikari! What's wrong?"

"It's Shinji! He's having a panic attack!"

"Shit! The shaft closed on us after you fell down! We can't get to you!"

"Patch me through to EZ..." Shinji sharply demanded despite his shaking limbs, "NOW!"

"This is the inside of an Eva..." Hikari said to herself in amazement while realizing that the symbols from before were appearing upon her arms at the same time that she felt a heavy pressure within her chest, "Not again...why is it happening again..."

SS Kyoko

"Captain!"

"What Baka?" Asuka Shikanami demanded as she stormed onto the bridge of her airborne vessel, "How many times do I have to tell you about waking me up from my naps-"

"Pattern Blue ma'am..."

"Should've said so the first time!" Asuka roared at the console operator before kicking him square in the face and using his face as a stand while she leapt back and landed upon the armrest of the Captain's chair, "Pattern Blue...is it another Nemesis?"

"This one's different..." Asuka heard as the viewscreen indicated that the Pattern's DNA was detected near the Dirac Sea of Nevada, "We've also got an SOS signal from the Pathfinder Team. It looks like the target is attacking them-"

"Really? NO SHIT!" Asuka roared as her eyepatch gleamed blue for a few seconds, "Where ever you go...trouble always seems to follow you Gaki...How long until we reach the team?"

"We won't be within effective combat range for another hour and a half-"

"All hands! Prepare for triple speed!" Asuka announced on the intercomm, "Prep the Valkyrie for deployment...I might have to go fishing..."

"We'll arrive in time to rescue Ikari-kun?" Rei Ayanami asked while Asuka confidently smirked, "Was that an inappropriate inquiry?"

"Just an unnecessary one, we'll get that gaki." Askua assured her blue-haired comrade and was annoyed when the girl's face remained neutral and disinterested, "You could always smile..."

"Alright..."

"Like you're really happy, don't phone it in!" When she realized that Rei was merely confused, Asuka growled in exasperation, "When I'm out, you'll have the helm lieutenant."

"Understood."

Pacific Ocean

"Just as I thought..." EZ confidently laughed even as the glass of the cockpit began to crack from the assault of the 345 meter long deformed whale-shark with a skeletal mask around it's jaw, "Maybe I can finally have that make-up dance with Misato after all."

"You knew?" EZ heard Anchor ask in a low voice, "You knew about Unit 04?"

"I knew that it was stationed at the base and thought that we might have been carrying it." EZ answered, "But I thought that getting home was a more pressing concern than our mystery package."

"I understand...sorry..."

"For what? You think that I want to use it?"

"We don't have a choice though..."

"We do, but not in the way that you're thinking." EZ stated while flipping through the controls of the cockpit, "Did you know that the prototype transports had a secret weapon for emergencies like this?"

"Is that why the Unit's AT field is being funneled through the ship's hull?"

"Exactly! This transport was made from excess amounts of the same material used in making an Eva's armor." EZ explained as the plane's emergency power readings rose above 50%, "A few alterations and additions of trace amounts of nickel and cobalt and we had the design for a plane that could use an EVA's AT field to ward off surprise attacks. This one in particular has an emergency power generator created under the same principal."

"How come we never made more of these things?"

"The Commander was a bastard, surprised?"

"No..." Anchor replied as the plane began to rise out of the water, "I don't think that thing is going to just let us run away."

"Too bad...cause sitting still won't exactly help us." EZ quietly savored the power of the activating engines as the transport ship's velocity increased, "Besides...how can it get us when we're not in it's territory anymore?"

EZ was answered when the Whale-Shark flew out of the water past the transport plane. Now seeing a full view of the creature, EZ couldn't help but laugh at what he was seeing. The Whale-Shark Nemesis was using a thin AT field to form a pocket of water around it's form while propelling itself through the air irregardless of the laws of pressure and gravity.

"You can slap me for it later."

"I told you that it wouldn't let us run away."

"Throw your girlfriend at it and it may call it even?" Shinji's silence unfortunately meant that he wasn't taking the Commander's bait, much to his disappointment, "Then it's gonna be a firefight. But we can't do it within Unit 04's AT field."

"But Misato said-"

"Forget about Misato! I'm giving you an objective soldier!" EZ shouted into the comm, "That Eva may be the only hope that we'll have to survive until the Kyoko gets here. We can use it's AT field to enable our ammo to neutralize that thing's AT field and do some damage. But we'll only be able to do that if we have a pilot synchronized to it!"

"I-"

"Do you want us to die? Do you want Hikari to die?"

"No..."

"Then there's only one option...sorry if I sound like your father." EZ apologized as an idea hit him, "In fact...have Hikari synchronize along with you, your combined synch ratio will give you greater AT field capability and more power for the plane."

"EZ...if this doesn't work-"

"It will kid. How many times do I have to tell you to trust yourself?"

"EZ..." Before Shinji could reply he heard Hikari squirm and turned to see her holding her chest, "Hikari!"

"Shinji...I'm scared..." Hikari muttered while Shinji saw that she was lying within the pilot's seat of the capsule, "What's happening?"

"The Eva...the eva's doing this..." Shinji said to himself when he looked at a control console and recognized it as a rising synch ratio, "It recognizes Hikari as a valid pilot? How? Hikari was never an Eva pilot...how is..."

"Shinji...it's alright...I feel better now..." Hikari assured just before the monitor for the Eva activated and revealed a flying Whale-shark that had just flown past them, "Never mind..."

"Hikari! Scoot over!" Shinji commanded while Hikari complied, allowing Shinji sit next to her, "The eva's already sensed both of us...we'll be able to control it better with the two of us."

"What are we going to do?"

"We fight..." While the Eva's synch ratio increased due to the presence of two pilots, Shinji activated his comm, "Trigger! This is Anchor, I've activated the package and waiting on stand-by."

"Are you alright Anchor? Phoenix is reading that you and the girl's heart rates are wildly spiking up and down...what's going on down there?"

"Look out the window if you're so curious...you'll see a crucified Eva that's just activated." Shinji replied as the Whale-Shark was held off of the transport by a thick-square shaped octagonal barrier that formed around it, "We can hold it off...but we'll need some offensive power to back up our defense. What do we got?"

"The 209mm cannons are our best shot right now...me and Print could set up turrets topside, but we'll be shooting blind with the velocity that EZ is taking us."

"EZ? What do you think?"

"I'll leave this to your creativity." EZ laughed from the cockpit while every member of Pathfinder resisted the urge to shoot out the cockpit right then and there, "Besides...I'm a little occupied with keeping ourselves from being fish-food!"

"Good leaders know how to multi-task."

"Whose commander again? We'll have a word about your lip, young man!"

"Oh! I'm scared now!" Shinji heard Print shout sarcastically while the young man just laughed, "Trigger, you set up the turret and I'll shoot a tracker on it...that'll make it easier for our guns to get it."

"I don't know if we can control the AT field for long." Shinji reported, "Whatever happens, stay inside of it!"

"K...NO SHIT!"

"Now you can't say that I didn't warn you!" Shinji shouted before turning off the comm just as the plane shook from the force of the Whale-Shark's tackle, "Hikari...tell me that we'll get through this..."

"We'll..." A puzzled Hikari hesitated while Shinji's eyes grew heavier under his helm, "We'll do our best...that's all I can honestly say..."

"Will that be enough?"

"Only one way to find out right?" Hikari asked while placing a hand onto Shinji's. For a brief moment, she felt the same that "he" had. It was brief, but it was enough even if it was only longing for someone who died for him a year ago, "Ready?"

"As ready I'll ever be..." Even he wanted to die...even if he deserved to die...Shinji would not allow others to die with him...

Author's Notes:

With the rediscovered Unit 04 as their shield and the key to their counter-offensive, can Team Pathfinder hold off the Whale-Shark Nemesis until Asuka arrives?

Stay tuned.