The two energies interfere with each other and then slip by each other.
The balls and ray of energy draw a spiral on the screen.
SE <<Zugogogoooo>>
Trajan: Of course, things never work like they expect them too.
Mr. Tines: The one bit of the rework that Rebuild managed to not do as well as the original.
Kendrix: This is the only part of the original battle scene that I missed in Rebuild: Ramiel's counterstrike.
The thing about Ramiel is, he may appear mechanical in appearance and behaviour, but he is, in fact, not so different from a human. My best guess is that he's probably a 'cool, composed' individual acting according to a plan, ironically not much unlike Rei. The retaliation shot diverting Shinji's attack shows that he's not only alive, but highly intelligent, as it implies that our dear Laser-y friend could tell that his AT-Field wouldn't be enough to withstand that beam. Also, the spirals were COOL.
Additional Commentary
ath: I remember that this scene actually surprised me when I was watching NGE for the first time and expecting one of those cliché Beam-o-War fights. They're actually consistent about the positrons being influenced by the gravitational and magnetic fields (including those generated by themselves), as they said a few minutes ago! Unfortunately we can't say the same for a lot of other technobabble in the show...
thewayneiac: I know what you mean. Sort of the same surprise I felt when a first watched Captain Tylor and they actually showed the gravity from a nearby sun interfearing with the weapons' trajectory.
Azathoth: On rewatch I can't help but think of the final battle in TTGL here.