Stage 65: I want to become one (with you)

Cover: Rei sitting in plug suit, looking off to the side with a
distant, slightly wistful expression.

Scene: Eva cage
The lock bolts blow and Eva-01 is launched shooting up the
rails. The ground elevator doors open and Eva-01 emerges into
the New Tokyo-3 cityscape.
Misato: Deploy your A.T.Field all the way! And be careful to
avoid contact with the target. No matter what, you are to
rescue Rei, entry plug and all, by sheer brute force (if
necessary).
Shinji: Roger! (grips induction levers)
Shinji (thinking) Hold on, Ayanami. Because I'm coming (for
you) now.
(Eva-00 sits crumpled amidst the trees with the Angel still
penetrating it from multiple points and the huge mass with
distorted shapes of past Angels bulging from its back. Rei sits
stunned and crying in the entry plug, but then she comes to
with a start and looks over in shock to see Eva-01 rushing
towards her.
Rei (thinking): Ikari-kun!?
(Eva-01 runs toward Eva-00 and the Angel, but an Angel strand
rises up from the bulging mass with the tip splitting into what
looks like fingers and rushes toward Eva-01. Rei opens her
mouth as if to shout, but can only watch in shock.)
Rei (thinking): No!
(The Angel strand whips through the trees and Eva-01 raises its
positron rifle to ready position. As the Angel strand
approaches, the tip is now clearly visible as a hand reaching
out for the Eva. Eva-01 fires a couple of shots from its rifle,
but they have no effect and the Angel loops and crashes through
the rifle barrel, shattering it. (Shinji = shocked expression)
The Angel then loops around Eva-01 and reaches in to grab the
Eva's right wrist.
Shinji: Ku...!
(Rei stares in shock. The Angel veins have now extended to her
face, and tears are forming in her eyes. The Angel begins to
merge with Eva-01's wrist/hand/arm, and Shinji clenches his
teeth in the entry plug. Veins also start to spread from
Shinji's wrist, and tiny Rei torsos form on his hand. Rei
watches as Eva-01 grasps the Angel strand with its other hand,
but the strand branches and the new strand forms into an image
of Rei (naked) herself.)
Rei (thinking): Is that my heart? I want to be with Ikari. My
heart...
(The Angel/Rei circles and holds/hugs Eva-01 from behind its
right shoulder pauldron, looking up at the Eva's face in
longing and adoration.)
(Eva-02 sits crumpled amidst the trees with the Angel
penetrating its midsection. Kaworu sits slumped in the entry
plug.)
Kaworu: *!?* What is this...?
Kaworu (thinking): Something is coming, flowing in...... What?
(Tears form in his eyes and fall, but he stares in puzzlement.)
What is this?
Misato: Shinji! Counter with your prog knife!!
Shinji: Okay!
(Eva-01's shoulder pauldron snaps open and the Eva reaches up
and grabs the prog knife. With a determined expression, Shinji
shakes off the Angel/Rei (not shown), reverses the prog knife
to an overhand grip (not shown), and plunges it toward the
Angel/Rei. But the knife stops short of the Angel/Rei which
makes no effort to defend itself and instead looks up at the
Eva with arms outstretched in a reaching/cupping manner and a
"Why?" expression on its face. Shinji's inner conflict shows on
his face, and the Eva's hand shakes.)
Shinji (thinking): No, if I don't do it then both Ayanami and I
will be killed. (speaking to himself) Just do it!!
(Eva-01 plunges the prog knife deep into the Angel/Rei, cutting
from just below the breasts down to the abdomen. Blood spurts
forth from the deep gash, and the Angel/Rei arches backwards
with a scream of pain "GYAAAAAAAAAA!!!" -- Shinji stops short
in alarm/concern.)
Shinji: Ayanami!!
(The Angel/Rei rises back up (i.e. vampire style) with an eerie
happy expression and hugs the Eva's neck/face. Veins start
appearing on Shinji's neck/face, and he grunts in pain.)
Shinji: Guh... unh... A-... Ayanami (closes eyes and cries out)
Ayanamiiiiiii!!
(Rei stares in shock, then gets a determined expression on her
face. Eva-00 wraps its arms around itself and tenses.)
Maya: *!!* Eva-00's A.T.Field is inverting! It's being
penetrated all at once!
Ritsuko (shocked): Does she intend to suppress/immobilize the
Angel!?
(The Angel/Rei is torn away from Eva-01's face. Shinji stares
in surprise as the Angel/Rei is dragged screaming back toward
Eva-00, blood spurting and an expression of shock/loss on its
face.)
Angel/Rei: KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!
(The Angel/Rei is sucked back into Eva-00 along with the
bulging mass.)
Misato: Rei! What are you doing! Abandon the unit and escape!
Rei: No. If I leave here, the A.T.Field will disappear. So I
can't.
(Rei reaches back and pulls/twists a handle on the entry plug
seat. A drive (Drive: A, MODE: D) starts spinning with a
whine.)
Misato: Rei... Does she mean to die?
Shinji (shouting): Ayanami!?
Kaworu (still crying/thinking): She can't be...
Gendo: Rei!!
(Eva-00's distended core begins to compact/implode in spherical
cavities.)
Maya: The core will be crushed! It's exceeded the critical
limit!!
(Bright light condenses and pours out in rays from the area of
Eva-00's core. Inside the entry plug, Rei, bathed in light and
with tears flowing from her eyes, turns and looks over her
shoulder to see an apparition of Gendo (no glasses) smiling
tenderly at her. She smiles back, and in the next moment an
enormous explosion envelopes the shoreline of Ashinoko Lake
adjoining New Tokyo-3.

- End Stage 65