Rei struggles to rise from the bed. Her trembling becomes so strong that the bed rocks upon the composite alloy floor of the bridge. It's as if she's summoning the last strength of her shattered body just at the effort of sitting up. Misato looks on in quiet shock of the sight. Shinji can only stare, ... stunned wordless.

"Uuuuhhh ..." grunts Rei straining to get up.

As Rei labors to breath alarms sound off thought the chamber an the whole of the GeoFront. Another sound can be heard too ... its not part of the GeoFront.

"That sound." says Misato.

She looks to the ceiling in disgust. Shinji hears it too. It's an auditory hologram projection. The ANGEL.

"The demon has found us!" says Ikari Gendo in disgust.

Above on the surface, New Tokyo 3's defenses are no match for the Angel. From the power orb of it's chest, it unleashes one of it's weapons. A glowing ball of changed space-time, a topology inversion, rushes out to impact a building on the perimeter of the city. An explosion follows with the tell-tale shock wave front and debris plumb rising a kilometer above the city in the shape of a crucifix. The Angel has arrived.

STAGE.3 EVA Start; Move Out

The blast from the Angel's chest orb is enough to disable the defensive weaponry within New Tokyo 3. It then begins a methodical pattern of precise hits to power and communication instillations on the surface. It's letting the GeoFront know that there is no place to hide.

Within the GeoFront the inverted Armor Buildings are being weakened by the barrage from above. Some are beginning to give way and fall to the GeoFront floor, and upon NERV. Within the chamber Misato and Shinji are thrown sideways as in an earthquake. Parts of the chamber crashes around them.

"The ceiling city is beginning to collapse!" Misato shouts looking to the ceiling.

Two getters fall upon the gentry bridge next to Rei. One getter lands on the bed, flipping it like a toy into the air. Rei is thrown to the bridge floor like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

"Aaaa ....!!!" screams Rei in pain.

Rei lands partly on her her right hip and is thrown cartwheeling on the floor in pain.

"LOOK OUT!!" shouts Shinji.

Shinji rushes to her side. He lifts her partly off the floor but Rei is unconscience. In his arms, Rei seem even more frail than before. Her bandages are stained red; the wounds are reopened. For a moment she regains partial awareness. She stares into Shinji's eyes and twists her body as if trying to get up, but the strain is too much and she again collapses into Shinji's arms. For only a moment at strange scene unfolds. Like the ancient Italian statue of Madonna and Christ, though now reversed, Shinji cradles Rei in his arms. Two gulfs of time are bridged.

"She's dying!" says Shinji. To himself he thinks " ... how! ... ".

"Shinji." pleads Misato. "My friends are essential. And so are you, because EVA need you inside her. You're not a puppet. You're important. We need you."

"What does that mean?" asks Shinji.

"Don't you realize that you were not brought here just for a happy little family get together?" says Misato. "What good would have come from that? Here? Now? You're going to return without even a word to your Father over there? You're just going to leave this wounded girl to take your place? Are you only wanting self pity ... can't you think for a moment of the pain of others around you!?"