Hi everyone!

So as I mentioned before, the plan is for Trishula to end up at or around chapter 40. That means over these final 8 chapters things are going to move fairly fast. Thank you all for sticking with me, hope you are still enjoying the ride.

Chapter 32

MSF had managed to set up several fire bases that were being used to shelter civilians still in the open. Other teams had been dispatched to existing NERV shelters to defend the entrances.

The mercenaries had learned much about the enemy in a short time. The riders could at least see and hear through the bodies they took over, but did not understand language or were too dumb to try and blend in by following commands. The latter was also supported by relatively simple traps remaining effective. Even with limited personnel, they were able to control the flow of the enemy.

In the buildings surrounding each fire base, two-man teams took high positions in hidden places. As people passed, they could easily look at their backs and identify friend from foe. Once they reported over the radio, the firebase or one of the two gunships on patrol could open fire. Mass fire like this was limited to situations where live humans were relatively safe, and picking off riders close to civilians was still left to individual marksman.

With official comms down, no organized NERV units had been deployed. Individuals and small groups from the police or NERV had been integrated into MSF's efforts.

The system had been working well, until with a flash of light there was sudden emptiness in the hearts and minds of the many of the mercenaries. And that was a rather big problem.

Of the disparate mercenary groups that came together to form the bulk of MSF, some were more disciplined than others. On one hand, there were units like Warthog's, usually called private military companies, former military with a high degree of skill and some kind of ethical standard. On the other end of the spectrum were drug-addled, untrained militia, in which rank was decided by who could out-crazy anybody else. By taking the pain of a few key individuals, Kali had smoothed this out. The militant fools were calmed enough to listen to the extremist commanders, who conveniently forgot how much they hated everyone else. With the destruction of their goddess, the less agreeable elements of MSF began to return to being less agreeable.

Toji saw the puff of red as a living civilian's head was perforated. Only one soldier, a southeast asian former rebel, had been firing, and he pushed the man's gun down to face the ground.

"Watch your fire, you just killed a civilian!"

Toji was not expecting the man to check him in the gut with his rifle butt and took the hit full force. He let his own weapon drop on its sling and grabbed hold of the soldier's rifle and, lacking a sling, twisted it from the man's grip. The soldier drew his rough steel knife and lept on Toji and soon they were on the ground. The man was trying to push the blade into Toji's neck and Toji was doing all he could to push him back. The former rebel was on top and had the advantage of his weight on the blade, and Toji found he could not get a hand away to attack without risking the knife going into his neck.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Fuck you, nip!"

BLAM

The rebel slumped over Toji, who pushed it off to the side to save his neck. Mana was standing over him, still wearing a tattered school uniform and the yellow bandana around her arm. She had both hands clenched tight around a shaking pistol. Her finger was still on the trigger.

"Woah, okay, good job cadet. Now lets get that finger off the trigger and that weapon pointed somewhere safe, okay?"

Mana nodded as her eyes began to tear up and lowered the weapon, her finger clear. Toji got up, retrieved his rifle, then slid the pistol from Mana's hand.

"Are you alright, can you hold it together, Kirishima?"

"I think… I think so."

"That doesn't cut it cadet. Are you going to hold it together or do I need to move you back?"

"N-no, I mean yes! Yes sergeant, I'm good."

Toji slapped her on the shoulder and gave her the pistol back. He adjusted the dial on the radio strapped to his webbing.

"Snake, this is Bushi, come in Snake."

"Bushi, this is Snake, we are in the shit over here, make it fast." Toji heard Ken's staticty voice over the radio.

"Like a bunch of our guys forgot who the good guys were?"

"Yeah."

"I saw a big beam, it hit the rooftop where Lord and Lady were. They're pretty tough, but do you think…"

"Don't even say it. Nobody blessed by the dark mother has turned, nor anybody who was all there to start with, so I don't think its mind control. Maybe she got knocked out and without her they are forgetting things."

"That would of happened when she was asleep, next idea."

"I don't know man, okay! I'm going to check in with all officers, we can get this back under control. If you have anyone who goes bad and won't listen, take them out."

"Already had to, he had a knife on me. You serious though, everyone who turns, just… blam?"

"They weren't faithful in the first place. Give them what all traitors get."

"Aye aye."

"Snake out." Kensuke said and tuned his radio back to main comm channel. It was still fucked all over. He tuned to the C&C band and left the volume low in case someone called then headed off to see to his men.

Most of their firebase, set up near the hospital, had been the soldiers Ken privately thought of as savages. Rebels, freedom fighters, militia men, that sort of thing. Barely above petty criminals and the sort you did not so much command as aim. They made up about forty percent of the total force. Thankfully, the dark mother pacified them. Ken didn't really understand it, he doubted anyone but her really did, but it was like a passive version of what she did when she blessed people like him and Warthog.

She had taken away the emotional poisons he had kept within himself and unlocked his painful memories so he could move forward. With the savages who had not been blessed yet, he supposed it was a temporary measure to make them useable until they could be properly initiated.

There had been a big boom, and Ken had suddenly felt depressed. Like he had just watched someone drown a puppy or something. Worse though, the men started fighting amongst themselves, but only the savage ones. When the NCO's, who Ken remembered had all been touched by the goddess, moved in to break it up, the savages turned on them.

In just a few minutes he had had to cull half of his own men. The best they could do was redistributing their equipment and getting a few civilians on the firing line to fill in the gaps. Judging by the radio chatter, this was the norm.

For a long time, Shinji was still as stone. He stared at the pair of perfect hands he held between his fingers. They were callused and beaten and absolutely perfect. Because they belonged to her. Past tense, possessive, belonged. They were all that was left of her. He opened his mouth to speak but could make no sound.

He slowly looked up and to his right, where it had come from, where he could feel the killing intent putting his hair on ends. The eyes of a boy in shock focused on a tiny point on a hill far outside the city, on a silver haired boy with crimson red eyes.

The gaze of the god of destruction was upon the angel Tabris. Where one moment the angel in human form felt utter despair from the city, the next he felt nothing but the total, singular, purpose. Conviction which had no place in the mind of a mortal. The intent which did not say try, or attempt, or fought against the world. This was the intent that said the world would be as he desired because he said so.

Shiva very carefully set the right hand down to the side, and held the left gently in both of his own hands. The left, yes, she would like that.

The destroyer did not like to do as Kali had and push away his human mind. To put oneself in an avatar was to experience humanity, and to deny that humanity was to subvert the entire purpose. A god who despised their avatar was a carpenter who despised his tools. What could one accomplish in such disharmony?

Alas, his human mind was too in shock to act in this moment when it was vital that did. So Shiva focused all of his attention on the silver haired boy on the hill. Though he walked in the guise of man, this was another of the seeping wounds upon the purpose of the universe. It subverted dharma by its very existence. It would be erased.

I am created, Shiva, the destroyer

The angel Tabris was frozen to the spot, one hand still miming a pistol. His legs, nor his arms, nor even his eyes could move, no matter how he commanded them. Though it served no function beside the ruby core within his chest, even his heart had stopped. He would be sweating, perhaps even soiling himself, in terror, but even the pores of his skin would move.

Kaworu Nagisa felt the totality of a god's attention upon him, and it scared him to his very core.

In me, all things come to their appointed ends. By my judgment, all fates reach their conclusion, their motions ended, and go back into the great cycle of the universe.

The hand, half of all that was left of Rei Ayanami, turned to blindingly bright light in Shiva's hands and began to change shape.

You, abomination called Tabris by your wretched fellows, you who profane the earth with every step you take as Kowaru Nagisa, upon you I pass judgment now. You are a stain upon the very purpose that moves even Brahman.

The left hand of Kali stretched into a long strand of light that flowed into a ring, floating above Shiva's hands.

I call upon the mightiest boon of Brahma, the creator. Though your kind is outside his creation, to withstand its power is impossible.

The ring folded over itself into a figure of eight then began to twist again and again, forming into long line until the end most ring broke and reached out. The light faded, and across Shiva's open palms sat a spiral lance the color of blood, with two long tips.

Through the left hand of the goddess of the left hand path, I invoke it. The first head of Brahma, I summon thee! Eliminate the target, BRAHMASTRA!

Shiva put his left foot forward and held his left out with his fingertips to the angel of free will. His right hand held the lance over his right shoulder. All of his attention, all of the power he could summon, tiny as it was compared to his greatness, was within this weapon. That it would create a new channel from the sea into the city as it destroyed all before it he knew, and judged an acceptable price for the death of the monster.

It was a stain upon the dharma, it had taken his beloved…

The power within the lance began to waver. Shiva had lost his concentration for a moment. He had given into fear and anger. For a god, it was no small thing, even for a tiny fraction of a second. But within that time, where his focus had left the target, he had noticed something else. Something which demanded his attention.

"Okay, systems are back up!" Makoto said, furiously striking at his keyboard. He stopped very suddenly.

"Oh… fuck."

"No." Aoba said, no other words coming to him.

Maya gasped and held her hands over her mouth as she squeaked. "By the gods."

Misato said nothing as she watched the monitor. The feed was from a camera far outside the city, pointed to watch the skyline. The clouds had parted, and there was no moon or stars above Tokyo-3, only the suffocatingly massive presence of the angel. From the size of the city beneath, it had to be miles in length. In the middle was one enormous eye. Unmoving and expressionless,, but somehow accusing and condemning. Its colors were of spring and summer, bright and lively, but in its shadow there was only doom.

There was a loud BING from the console and a green box appeared around the angel onscreen.

ALERT

10TH ANGEL IDENTIFIED

DESIGNATED: SAHAQUIEL

The destroyer distracted, Tabris spoke.

"Yeah, we have one of those too."

Shiva looked up at the massive thing and growled. Revenge was put a fools errand anyway. Power within the lance had already begun to dissipate when his focus was broken. The Brahmastra was quickly slipping away.

Shiva examined the weapon as the final threads of the creator's divine energy left it. He looked to the hill where his target has been, but Tabris had fled. He would meet his fate another day. He turned his attention the angel above. He could feel its presence, read its AT field. It would fall upon the earth and annihilate everything beneath and around it for hundreds of miles. Then it would accomplish its goal, and the real destruction would begin.

Shinji Ikari began to quake with fear. It was coming so fast, there wasn't even time to get in the eva. Even with all this power, what could he do against something like that?

Believe in yourself, warrior

Shinji had heard her voice but as he looked around he could not find her.

Though my body is gone, I will always be in your heart beloved. When you triumph, I will be there in your happiness. When you falter, I will be there in your resolve as you rise again.

As tears flowed down his cheeks, Shinji clenched his jaw and stood up straight.

"To give up now would be too much. I can't let you down like that, wildflower. I just don't know what I can do. I don't know how I can believe in myself at a time like this after I failed you so."

Then do not believe in yourself. Believe in the hunter of angels who showed me the meaning of courage, and kindness, and love.

A buzz ran through Shinji, the feeling that would make his hair stand on end if not within the skin tight plug suit. The air around him began to move and dust rose up in a column around him. He tightened his grip on the lance and the spiral seam along its length began to glow in green light and emerald arcs of energy crossed between its twin points.

Believe in the me who believes in you.

Shinji could feel her arms on his, supporting him as he held the glowing weapon in both hands up to the sky. Energy was arcing out to the roof, the evas, even nearby buildings now as the winds were mounting to typhoon force around him.

Orange light covered the city and the angel Sahaquiel was stopped against the massive AT field that covered all of Tokyo-3.

"Three of you come, and we kicked all of your asses! Then fucking Nagisa comes and kills one of us and what?! You think I am going to just give up and surrender? Let you destroy everything precious to everyone just because you killed what was precious to me!"

"Major!"

"What is it Maya?"

"The AT field stopping the angel, its Shinji's! Neither of the evas are active, he is producing this on his own!"

"What the fuck?" Makota said, his jaw hanging open.

"Holy shit." Was the limit of Aoba's response.

They all watched on the monitor as the angel stopped dead in mid air against the massive octagonal field that covered the city. They had no way of hearing Shinji rail against the heavens outside, but there was a spot of hope for several minutes as the angel was held back. Then the field began to flicker as Sahaquiel began to fall again.

"Shinji's AT field is becoming very unstable, the angel is pushing back with its own field to neutralize it!"

Shinji focused as hard as he could, but the light of his soul began to flicker under the weight of the angel. He still held the lance, above his head in the gale that surrounded him. Arcs of electricity sprung from its surface to the buildings all around.

Believe in the hunter of angels. Believe in the me who believes in you.

At Rei's voice, Shinji's eyes began to glow pale green. Above, the sharp orange octagon of his AT field began to shift and warp. The layers mixed and turned and as it turned a bright green, there was only a single line. It started above Shinji and spiraled outward, across the city and far into the countryside.

The storm around Shinji broke in a clap of thunder and the angel was not just stopped. The angel was pushed back into the sky.

Shinji drew back the lance that glowed so brightly if any looked upon it they would be blinded.

"Mark my words! This weapon is my will and hers combined! It will open a hole in the universe, and that hole will be a path for all the possibilities that can come to pass because today you WILL. NOT. SUCCEED."

Shinji raised his left hand to the sky with his right holding the weapon. The emerald spiral above began to turn.

"No matter how many of you come, I will turn you back! For her, and everyone else we've lost! And everyone who will come after!"

The tines of the lance turned in on each other and with a great creaking noise twisted together into a single point.

"This weapon is our souls combined as one, equal to the power of any god!"

Every muscle in Shinji's body strained to the edge of tearing as he launched the spear. He could not throw straight up, but in a flash of emerald light and a cacophony of noise the weapon broke the sound barrier and curved its path, heading straight for the center of the baleful eye.

Shinji held both hands up and as the lance reached his spiraling AT field, he pushed all of its power into the weapon.

"Perish from creation!"

The angel Sahaquiel pushed down with all its might. It only needed to reach the ground, no attack could deflect it from its awful purpose now. Even struck, it would still fall.

Heavens piercing…

The tip of the lance made contact with the angel's AT field, and the light of the soul gave before its might. Only when there was nothing between the angels flesh and furious weapon but the glimmer of the AT field did it give any meaningful resistance. The green spiral spun faster and faster, twisting into a point and sheathing the crimson lance in its power. The tail of the spiral lashed at the earth below. The living were left untouched by it, but gashes were torn through buildings and streets and any parasites caught within its light were turned to ash.

Brahmastra…

Then Sahaquiel's presence and flesh gave way to the fury of lost love and reborn purpose.

Impact!

Every living soul in the city watched as it began and consumed the angel. A firestorm of verdant flame burned everything, leaving not even ash in its wake. The monster was there, and less than a second later, there was only twinkling green lights in the sky. The shockwave from air rushing in to fill the vacuum scattered the remaining energy like fireworks.

The body of Shinji Ikari which held the soul of Shiva dropped to his knees. It was done. He felt no more angels. Even Nagisa was gone, run away. He would find him, he would not go unpunished for what he did. For killing his beloved. Not the goddess Kali, she would return to the divine realm. For killing Rei Ayanami, the broken girl he fell in love with who helped him fix himself as he helped her.

Shinji raised his hands to face, fingers spread. Before him was the last remnant of her, her right hand. The blast had burned the wound shut so it did not bleed. It was strange how alive it still looked.

It was a cliché to say there would be time to grieve later, but he could see there was no time for it. She was gone and now he had to shoulder the burden alone.

Meanwhile…

Pyongyang, United Korea

The Ryugyong hotel still dominated the skyline of Pyongyang, even after a decade of peace and relative prosperity in the reunited peninsula. At one hundred and five stories tall it was still the largest thing north of the 38th parallel.

Remo Williams looked at the glittering lights of the tower. In his ear, there were two dull electronic taps. He reached up as if to dust at the lapel of his navy blue blazer and tapped the microphone hidden in his collar, then stuffed his hands in his khaki slacks and started walking towards the lobby. The half dozen security guards didn't look happy to see him.

"Hiya boys, nice hotel you got here!"

"I am sorry sir." The man behind the desk said. "But we are currently closed for… security reasons."

"Well that is a pity to hear. Thing is I was thinking' about getting into the hotel business. Seeing as things are looking a little run down here, thought I might get a deal."

"Sir, please leave."

"Oh come on, just let me talk to your boss."

"Sir, its time for you to go." A security guard said, stepping forward with one hand raised.

"Oh, here comes the jackboots. All hail glorious leader boys, see, we're all friends here!" Remo said in his most patronizing tone. Even ten years on, those native to the northern half of the country were very touchy on the subject of the previous government. Like clockwork, one of the guards further back had his radio up, calling for back up for the stupid American in the lobby. Call for attention and watching eyes that should really be looking elsewhere.

Outside, Viral had tapped the mic strapped to his throat twice when he was in position. He stood at the base of one of the massive hotel's three wings. He was wearing all black BDUs with canvas boots on his feet and a duffel bag cinched tight across his back. When he got one tap in return, he had dropped into a sprinter's stance.

"One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to…" And he was off, sprinting straight up the inclined thin edge of the building. When he reached the top of the small peak and leaped forward, hitting the main slope running. By the time the guards inside were calling for back up in the lobby, he was hauling himself up onto the roof of the central peak.

He reached into his breast pocket and unfolded the paper diagram of the building's electrical system. He found a nearby cabinet and spread the square yard of paper out with the aid of some magnets then dropped his bag to the ground and got out the bolt cutters.

Downstairs, Remo was starting to wonder what was taking his student so long. He didn't know how many guards were in the building, he just knew how many he wanted looking at him. All of them, of course.

"Get out!"

"Hey! I don't like being talked to like that by a damn rent-a-cop. Let me see your manager!" Remo shouted, wagging his finger in the guard's face. Another man, wearing a plain black suit, walked over, his dress shoes clicking across the tile lobby floor.

"Sir, I am security supervisor on duty. You will leave now." The new guy said.

"Oh yeah, or what?"

High above, Viral was quickly sorting through bundles of wiring. Figure the North Koreans to have wanted anti-aircraft batteries on a hotel and oh, hey, while they are up there, control of circuits too.

"two hundred and thirty four, two hundred and thirty five, here we go." Viral rambled to himself as he found the right cable and followed it back to the breaker. He grabbed the switch in one hand and tapped his microphone twice with the other.

"Okay, five, four…"

Below, Remo heard the taps in his ear and smiled.

"Hey look you fucking slopes, I want to talk to a white man right now!" He yelled. The guys in the back pulled out guns and the ones nearby went for their batons.

And then the lights went out.

There were screams, bangs, gun shots, and pleas for mercy. The ever shrinking number of living security caught glimpses in the muzzle flash and fired. Thirty seconds later when the lights came back on, there were twenty nine dead men and Remo Williams staring down one last mook with a pistol. The schmuk looked around and let his hands fall at his sides, still holding the gun.

"Oh my god, please please don't kill me! What the fuck are you?!"

"Ever heard of a little village called Sinanju? Its East of here a bit."

The man went white as a ghost. He looked at the gun, then back at Remo, then back at the gun before looking at the white man again.

"The legends…"

"All true, every single one."

The last guard looked around again. There was blood everywhere. Every body had something bent or crushed into a shape it wasn't supposed to be. Some had been shot, but the madman in front of him didn't have a gun.

He bit his lip, raised the pistol to his skull and pulled the trigger.

Remo was actually a little surprised but shrugged and stepped over the warmest corpse. He found the guy with the plainest suit, clearly the most senior supervisor, and fished around in his pocket for his ID badge, then headed for the elevators. He tapped his microphone three times with one hand and pressed the call button with the other.

One hundred and five stories up, Viral disabled every elevator but number three, trapping the multitude of security and bodyguards in transit. Even the doors were locked closed. A poor safety design, but that's communist architecture for you, Viral thought as he pulled his chart down and pocketed the magnets. He left one more surprise in the electrical cabinet then slammed it shut. Next he pulled the bundle of rope from his bag and started working out angles and looking for a good cleat.

Remo cracked his knuckles as the elevator slowed to a stop on floor seventy five, the transition lobby. He was a little disappointed to have only two automatic rifles jammed in his face. I mean really, after the lobby incident, who only sends two guys?

Remo grabbed both guns by the barrels and swung them together. The men holding the rifles crumpled to the floor, dead of blunt force trauma from each others' skulls. Remo kept his hold on the weapons and threw his arms wide, both rifles bending when they hit the walls before he dropped them.

"This is boring."

"I know what you mean, I'm only at half-mast." Crackled the voice in his ear.

"Lovely. I mean… I went up against this guy half a dozen times, and every time there was always an elaborate building or his new student, something. Like he wanted to see how I had progressed. This is just boring, no challenges."

"Cool with me, maybe he is just afraid and getting stupid. All set here."

Remo called the next elevator to take him up further. As he rose he kept thinking about how this was just so unlike his target. So pedestrian, so cliché', so… stupid. He set himself up with literally no escape at the top of an easily infiltrated building with lousy security. Niuhc had gotten desperate a few times over the years, but he was never that dumb.

As the elevators doors slid open onto the dark penthouse level, Remo saw the man himself standing silhouetted against the window.

"You finally come, white pig's ear, to your death!"

"Yeeeeeah… who are you?"

"I am the true master of Sinanju!"

"No, no… I mean who are you? Cause you aren't Niuhc. Niuhc wasn't an idiot and you… well you kinda are."

Niuhc roared and ripped off his robe, exposing the stone face bolted into his chest.

"You die here and I take my rightful place as the grandmaster of Sinanju! I will bring order back to this world, I will restore the village, I will be the savior of her people!" Niuhc screamed. The eyes of the stone face over his heart slid open to reveal red light, throwing Niuhc's face, twisted in rage, in crimson relief.

Remo just shook his head. "The dead don't come back. The village is dead and gone and her people cannot return. Including you, Niuhc. So who are you really?"

Niuhc snarled and charged, taking the room in just a few steps at lightening speed, his right hand raised in a spike heading fright for Remo's head. He was an avatar of order, even the great white messiah of Sinanju could not escape his inhuman speed, Niuhc thought as he closed in.

Niuhc was, as he had been many times in the past on the subject of Remo Williams, wrong.

Even with his newfound power, his eyes barely caught Remo's own right hand leave his pocket. Remo swatted the attack aside with a jab to Niuhc's wrist, and then whipped his hand forward, whipping the korean's head back with a backhand strike. As his neck snapped back with a visceral crack, Remo's left hand was already in motion. An uppercut into the solar plexus lifted Niuhc off the ground before an open palm slammed into his chest with the force of an eighteen-wheeler at full speed and sent the body slamming back into the plate glass window, cracking it.

Niuhc's body stuck against the window for a moment before slumping to the ground, his head lolling on muscles and tendons alone on his broken neck.

Remo let out his breath. His heartbeat hadn't even risen from its leisurely resting rate. Remo stepped over and found the light switch. He flicked the lights on and found the room to be well appointed and luxurious, ostentatious even. It just made this all the stranger, Niuhc had always preferred the whole low profile zen thing.

"Just who the hell are you…" Remo said to himself as he approached the body. There was a flash of light from the still glowing eyes of the stone mask and Remo stopped.

"I told you…" Niuhc's hanging head said. There was a crackle and snap, then a pop as the neck pulled back together and the head settled back into place. The light of the red eyes began to pulse. Black lines like veins spread from the mask across Niuhc's muscles and his skin started turning dark like charcoal and his muscles bulged out like they were pumped full of water.

"I am the true master of Sinanju!" He said, rising. The small man had gained several inches of height and his eyes were no longer hazel, or any human color at all. Instead they were just white orbs with lines of black flickering across them like white noise or a sketchy animation. Remo stepped back, one hand rising to his collar.

"Hey Viral…" He said with a smirk. "All yours."

The monster Niuhc saw the shadow flash across the window with just enough time to look over his shoulder as the window shattered. Remo took one step aside as Viral's fist connected with Niuhc's increasingly monstrous face and sent him to the ground, rolling across the room, right through where Remo had been standing.

"Was that too much?" The young man said with a shark tooth grin. "I never know."

Viral dropped the harness and rope from his body mid stride then drew back his leg to kick Niuhc's body over. The kick never made it though. Niuhc launched himself from the ground and took the apprentice and himself right out the window into empty space twelve hundred feet off the ground.

"Huh…" Remo said then turned back towards the elevator. "He'll be fine."

At twelve hundred feet off the ground, it takes about ten seconds to reach the ground. This is not precise, but the accuracy if far more important the precision to the person falling and the difference is not large enough to ponder when… and it takes about as long to read to that point in the passage before one goes splat.

"I am created!" Viral yelled, slamming his elbow down on Niuhc's spine while at the same moment bringing both knees up into his abdomen. The dark skinned monster had him by the midsection but the double blow loosened its grip enough for Viral to pull free.

"Enkidu…"

Viral's nails extended into long white claws. He grabbed Niuhc by the shoulder with hand and grabbed the stone face on his chest with the other as they fell, his new claws digging deep into the skin. There was already mottled fur growing to cover his hands.

"The Beast!"

With his claws still planted firmly in Niuhc's flesh, Viral swung his legs around and made it so Niuhc's back was nearest to the very quickly approaching ground. The look of surprise on the monster's face made Viral laugh as they plummeted. Tall furry ears were growing out from his hair now. The last thing Niuhc saw before impact was his shark like smile become a long pointed snout full of real triangular teeth.

The impact into the plaza between the arms of the hotel turned pavers to dust and sent debris flying.

Inside, Remo had elected to speed up the elevator… by destroying the brakes… and the cables. In the split second he floated within the cab as it hurtled downward, Remo put his entire body behind a single spear hand punch as the cab reached the ground floor. The cab, the doors, and the two elevators on either side were utterly destroyed, but Remo walked out of the twisted metal with just some dust to brush off his jacket.

Aside from a window shattered by flying stone, the lobby of the hotel was relatively intact despite the cloud of dust and the architectural carnage from the impact just outside Remo thought. He felt something and took a short jump to the left. A moment later, something big and black came flying out of the dust cloud, through the front windows and straight into the pile of twisted metal that used to be the elevators.

Remo turned to look at the thing and his lips twisted into a smirk. "My my, aren't you a tough one."

The monster pulled itself off the twisted metal, several cases of impalement healed as soon as the wounds were clear. It stood nearly nine feet tall and was built like a brick shithouse. Its skin was jet black with dully glowing red veins bulging out that made it look like it was made of molten rock. The stony face, now tiny in comparison, was still lodged in its chest, but two of the four bolts holding it in had been sheared off. Its teeth were snaggletooth tusks so big it couldn't close its mouth. There was no hair on it and as Remo looked it over, he whistled.

"You know, I heard steroids could do that to a guy…" Remo said, looking at the blank space between its legs. The monster roared and Remo shook out his hands before raising them to fight.

From outside came a screeching roar and the monster turned to look.

"I think he means he wants you for himself."

The dark beast turned back to find Remo airborne and spinning. The roundhouse kick sent the monster bouncing across the lobby back out towards the street. Before it could rise to its feet, Viral, the avatar of Enkidu, the incarnation of nature's cruel cycle, emerged.

He charged on splayed theropod feet, black claws gauging into the concrete and tile beneath. The powerful legs held up a body of sinewy muscle, with powerful arms tipped by vicious claws. Tan fur with streaks of black and what looked like feathers covered its body and the thin, and his shark-like head held golden eyes. Tall, upright ears and a powerful tail completed the beast.

It was the most vicious traits of predators from across the kingdoms of life upon the planet earth, past and present. The teeth of a shark, the talons of a raptor, the wicked feet of a therapod dinosaur and the keen senses of a wolf along with mammals fur and avian feathers regulating heat across a mix of mammalian and reptilian muscle that allowed fast and slow movment with no fatigue. Most deadly of all though, it had the single most dangerous, aggressive, and cunning weapon that evolution has yet given forth. The mind of man.

Viral caught the airborne Niuhc by the neck and slammed him to the ground. The monster reached up to attack but Viral pinned it to the ground with one clawed foot and closed his clawed hand around the stone face. With one tear of rippling muscle he tore the mask from the monster's chest. The beast opened its mouth but no sound escaped. The body turned to char then ash and Viral's clawed foot smashed through the chest within a few seconds.

When all that was left of Niuhc was a black mark on the floor, Viral turned to Remo.

"Alright buddy, you with me?" Remo said, hands raised to show he held nothing. "We don't have to do this like last time, right?"

Viral's beast form nodded.

"Alright. You leave that thing upstairs like we talked about?"

Viral nodded again.

"Good. How much time do we have before it goes off?"

Viral cocked his head and narrowed his eyes as if to say: "Really?" He stuck his tongue out, crossed his eyes and made at clopping at the ground like a horse.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

There was a thunderous boom across the sky, so loud the building rumbled. Remo and Viral both looked southward and saw a wave of green light like an aurora cross the horizon.

"Wait, ours shouldn't have done that…" Remo said. Viral shrugged his shoulders. They both ducked their heads when there was another boom and dust fell from the ceiling before the lights went out.

"Okay that was us, lets go!"

Back in Tokyo-3, Shinji rose from the rooftop. His eyes were puffy and red, and a trail of tears still marked his face. But his jaw was set, his back unbowed, and his eyes were strong.

The enemy, whoever they really were, had tried to break him before. They took his pride, they took his innocence, they took his childhood. But he had been reforged stronger. Now they took his beloved, his partner.

He would not break again. He would not stumble. He would not give them the slightest satisfaction in wounding him. He would be the rocks upon which the enemy broke. He would give everything he was to kill. Them. All.

They had taken too much already. Too many lives had been lost in impact, and the wars, and the angel attacks. No more.

Shinji threw his head back and screamed at the sky.

"No more! This planet, these people, they are under my protection!" He said and raised one finger to the sky. "Hear me! You who would poison and destroy my people, every one of your souls are MINE! Come here and I will destroy you with these hands! Run and I shall hunt you to your lair and slaughter you all!"

Shinji stayed looking at the sky for a moment before dropping his hand to his side, marching to the edge of the rooftop and stepping off without a second thought. There was a burst of emerald light as he landed on his feet, legs straight, in the middle of a battle. On one side, resurgent MSF forces. On the other, hordes of the spider creatures and their corpse chariots. The soldiers stopped firing as he landed but it made little difference. With so many traitors dead and loyalists wounded, they hadn't had the numbers to hold back the tide.

Shinji turned to the oncoming alien forces.

"No more…"

He held one hand, palm to the angel creatures, fingers spread. His eyes began to glow.

NO MORE!

Jade light coiled around Shinji's arm as if thread spooling around a bobbin, then flowed into the palm of his hand. He swung his arm across the width of the street and a blade like a firestorm cut the horde down to naught but ash.

Shinji turned towards the soldiers and started walking.

Vasuki, are you there my friend?

Always, my lord.

I need to know everything you or any of the deva know about the enemy and I need to know every option at our disposal. Everything we could possibly use against them.

Yes my lord, I will gather all the knowledge we possess for you.

When I next sleep we will discuss it. For now I have my people to save.

Of course my lord.

The ranking soldier jogged out to meet him as he approached.

"I need to know everything going on."

"Yes, Sir." The trooper replied with a quick salute.

"Start with where Suzuhara is."

"Right away… Sir, is it true? Is she?"

Shinji stopped walking and looked the soldier in the eyes. "Yes, they have taken her from us. We will continue and shoulder her burden. We begin taking our vengeance tonight."

"Yes, Sir!"

Shinji did not have a lot of experience leading armies. He left the planning and coordination to the likes of Warthog and Aida once communication was reestablished.

What he had gained experience in over the last year was killing aliens and the most ancient and deadly form of combat on earth. At the head of a storm of soldiers, each thirsting for revenge, with Suzuhara by his side, he led the purging of Tokyo-3. Street by street, block by block, they destroyed every trace of the enemy as they rescued stranded forces and secured civilians.

The individuals and small groups were cut down by gunfire and steel. When civilians were involved, he and Toji rushed in, destroying the enemy with their bare hands until foe could be drawn from friend and force brought to bare. When they found the truly large hordes, the power of the destroyer burned them to nothing.

When they rescued soldiers, they saluted Shinji. Even those who did not believe had to respect someone who led from the front. But every time they cracked open a shelter, the reaction was the same and it disturbed the young avatar.

With Rei… or was it Kali?... at his side, he had no misgivings about people bowing down in worship. But now it bothered him. The way they sank to their knees and supplicated themselves, the way they were eager to just touch him, how they asked to blessed.

Why do they do this? They have survived in this terrible situation, they should be proud of themselves.

They survived until you found them and made the monsters go away. You are, in the literal sense of the word, their savior. It should be a familiar feeling. With so few still worshiping you, the faith of these people should be feeding and restoring you quite noticeably.

Shinji could feel the power that flowed into him from these people. Despite fighting in the eva, killing the final angel on his own, and hours more of fighting, he had felt no weariness.

Things would be better if they could fight for themselves.

Yes, but they cannot.

Yet. Someday. That will be the world that I build once this is over, my friend. A world wh ere nobody needs a savior. Not because none suffer, but because all will have strength such that they will not fear. Such a world even the angels could not conquer.

Such a world would have no need of gods, my lord.

No, I suppose it would not.

End

Author notes:

And the grand charlie foxtrot of Tokyo-3 is wrapped up. We get back to the story moving forward, in a big way, next chapter.

For those who don't know or don't want to look it up, the hotel in Pyongygang is the big pointy building in every picture of that city. Our timeline it is still not complete, but since Trishula has a united Korea, I figured it would be in use by now.

Viral's avatar form is modeled on a fictional alien species called a Sergal. Image search at your own risk, they are rather popular with the furry community so rule 34 is very much in effect. Not really a big leap given the designer provided detailed anatomical descriptions, but whatever. They are basically just a combination of several predators' most dangerous features. Velociraptor legs (and tail for balance), shark teeth, raptor claws, canine senses, and human cunning.

Fun animal biology fact: Due to how their blood is pumped, certain species of reptile do not experience muscle fatigue, at least not in the way we do as mammals.