Evangelion: Herald of Death

by Final Battousai

The world was at peace. Then, they arrived. And now, a power shall be unleashed upon the Earth unlike any the universe has seen. And Shinji Ikari's life, and the lives of those around him, will be changed forever. (Ch1 Revised)

1. Arrival

	*****************TLoM Productions Presents************************** Neon Genesis Evangelion: Herald of Death Copyright: 2001 - Ego trip --------------------------------------------------------------------- The disclaimer's on the bottom in case you're wondering. ======================================================================= WARNING: There will be spoilers. I'm only saying this once. And one more time per every chapter. Okay, so I'm gonna say it a bunch of times. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Battousai Daniel Garth Part One: Arrival How did I get here? The past few weeks were filled with enough revalations for me to have good reason to rethink my life. It's amazing how things can change so suddenly, not necessarily for the better or for the worst, but just... change. Though in my case, it was like a hurricane tearing through a land once filled with joy and light, leaving a trail of sorrow and destruction in its path. Ok, maybe I'm over-reacting, but somehow, life just got stranger--as if my life needed to get any stranger. It was already like a sci-fi novel before all this started. It was kind of like an anime from before Second Impact, and this one just experienced a very disorienting plot twist. Here I am, ascending at an incredible rate, most likely rushing head first towards my own death. To make matters worse, I have to keep my eyes away from the ground to prevent from freaking out or getting airsick. I mean, being up about five vertical kilometers and ascending by myself isn't exactly the most secure place to be. It's not like I'm on a plane or anything; I'm rising through the air, rushing towards the barrier of sky. Mankind always dreamt of flying, but my destination isn't exactly something to yearn or pine for. That, and I'm getting airsick. You'd think that after a few weeks of training, I'd be getting used to this. I guess not. It's the same with the LCL. I feel sick. She'd probably scold me for being sick, knowing her. She'd probably say I'm being a wimp. Or she probably wouldn't have cared at all. It was always hard to tell with her. However, she would have understood. Or at least cared. That's pretty strange, too. A few weeks ago, she probably wouldn't have even cared. No, I can't say she wouldn't have cared, but she wouldn't have... reacted... this much. In fact, she wished me luck. It seems normal enough, but she's usually so dismal when leaving for a mission. And as a gift, she smiled. I've learned to cherish that smile. Rare would be an understatement. But then again, so would beauty. I don't think that anyone else has ever seen it. The first time I saw that smile; I went through hell a few moments before--thinking that she had been hurt--thinking that she was in pain, not knowing if she was even still alive. Everything else had been tuned out. Nothing else got through. She was all I had on my mind. Hell, I don't even think I recognized my own pain. The second degree burns healed quickly, but they were pretty painful. Though the reward was well worth it. But to be fair, it was the same with her. I didn't even think. I just acted. All the training I've been given pretty much snapped back to me at the most critical moment. I'm pretty sure there was screaming. Something about she wouldn't make it. The wire had been cut--something about me pulling back. It didn't matter. The fact that my chances of success were slim to nil didn't matter. The fact that it was plain dumb luck that I managed to grab the wall to prevent myself from falling to my death didn't matter. The fact that I could barely see three meters in front of me didn't matter. I acted on pure instinct. It seemed like I was in complete control. I don't think I was. I could have been, like I said, pure instinct. Of course, I was chewed out afterwards. No, that euphimism won't do. I got yelled at by about... everybody present for the mission. I do mean everybody. I think the janitor was throwing me evil stares. I don't think I'll ever be that much in trouble again, no matter how hard I try. I think I stood and nodded at my father for about three or five hours. He was pretty upset. But that didn't matter. Only she did. That's a scary thought, though, somehow exhilarating. The city was, in a word, amazing. The small lights scattered throughout the city gave it the impression of being a giant Christmas tree. The cars that inhabited and ran through the intricate highways reminded me of ants marching in lines on the ground; each of them having a purpose, a destination. Or maybe it's a network of bloodstreams, providing life to a massive entity. The city did seem alive. But if things go wrong, that could change very quickly. Why haven't people been evacuated? It's probably to avoid suspicion. That just like him, to risk people's lives to "for the good of humanity." Isn't he just sacrificing those he wants to save? No, it's up to me. "Distract him so that the people on the surface can evacuate." But am I ready? There's no use in hesitating; either I go to him or he comes to me. I look to the ground, specifically to a grove of trees not too distant from where we're directly above. It's good to know I'm not completely alone. Finally, after ascending for a few minutes, admiring the city that had survived a torrent of attacks but would most likely be rubble if I failed, I saw him. Not just the faint blue speck of light that signaled death for the world, but him, in the flesh. His arms crossed across his chest and, he hovered perfectly, still looking down condescendingly on the Earth; he was more of a silhouette with his back to the moon. A light blue aura surrounded him. Taking everything into account, he looked intimidating, to say the least. And here I was, standing, er... hovering eye-to-eye, not less than ten feet away. An intense sensation surged through my body, one that could only be characterized with one word: fear. It had very good reason to be. He's been our fiercest and strongest foe we've faced so far, and I was fighting him alone. Alone. No help will come, n giant war-machine to help me. I couldn't even hope for support. Or at least, that's the plan. I never really liked my EVA that much before, but it would be nice if I had it right now. But no matter how strong and concentrated the feeling was, I managed to stay. Through some act of God-no, not just God, but every deity to ever have been worshipped by man from every country and inhabitable place on Earth, I managed to stay. I didn't run away. I managed to show no emotion but a cold and hard facade that masked my feelings. This was a nice little trick that I learned. "A portion of the battle is fought within yourself," my teacher said. "If you show fear to your opponent, then he will mentally have the upperhand. Or worse, he will be able to tell when you will attack." Then finally, after a few moments into our unofficial staring contest, he spoke. "So now, we can fight properly. There's nothing your way to attack me with every single ounce of strength in your body." And then, with a wicked smile, he uncrossed his arms and let them drop to his side, clenching his fists along the way. "Now, face me with everything you have, Shinji Ikari." I could feel it. My breath's getting shorter and shorter. My head's starting to feel kind of... fuzzy. It's happening again. I'm--I'm--I'm-- my head... My palms are sweating... my heart's pounding. But then it's slowing down. Then it starts pounding again. It's not fear... that feeling's gone... but... now I... I... "Yeah," I found myself saying. ------------------------------------------------------------------ A few weeks earlier Morning. One word can describe the magnificent marvel that the city of giants managed to enjoy when the auburn sphere of fire rises from its slumber and banishes the darkness, brightening, not only the darkened halls and fields of the city, but also the lives of the beings under its auspice. It was also a time where a groggy and disoriented Shinji Ikari arises from his bed, leaving the warm embraces of dreams and slumber, and steps into reality. Of course, this reality involved piloting giant killer robots against massive beasts, where failure meant the complete and total eradication of mankind. If this was his real life, then God only knows what the hell he dreamed about. Perhaps fantasies involving him, his overly developed female companions, and truck load of whipped cream. Yeah, that's probably it. Though he is kind of a wussy. What? Huh? Oh, sorry, I was rambling. On with the story! Anyway, the young lad managed to regain full consciousness by the time he made it to the doorway. He screened the hallway and listened for any signs of life. He heard none, so he took a quick shower and prepared for school. He got dressed and avoided tripping over some packed bags. He listened for more signs of life as he re-exited to the hallway. When he heard none, he breathed a small sigh of relief and proceeded to the kitchen to make breakfast for himself and his two companions. Eggs and toast sound nice, he thought to himself. Suddenly, BBBRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "AAAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!" The sound of an alarm clock being thrown across a room and denting a wall was promptly heard, thereafter. Then a fizzle, a crack, a pop, another fizzle, then a sort of karinnnkkk. Geez, that's the third time this week. Must be that time of the month Shinji thought as he scrambled some eggs. See, he is kind of perverted. All the noise and commotion woke up our favorite Major, Misato Katsuragi. Misato walked, well, more like lumbered, into the kitchen to find Shinji halfway through preparing breakfast. "Uh... good morning," he greeted. "G'morning, Shinji..." she grunted. She made her way across the kitchen, eyes half-closed (half-open for all the optimists), to the refrigerator. She opened the door, pulled out a can, snapped it open and chugged its contents graphically. "GOOD MORNING, SHINJI!" she said, immediately perking up. Three guesses on what was inside the can. "So, you ready for your camping trip?" she asked, in the process of downing another can. "I guess. Kensuke's been bugging me about for a month now. I wonder what could be so important about it?" "Who cares about your little camping trip? As if you stooges didn't spend enough time together! You three will probably end up looking at some special edition porn that was bought off the black market. Stupid perverts!" Three guesses on who just performed that heart-warming soliloquy. Good morning, Asuka," Shinji replied. Is that all you have to say, you stupid idiot?" Cranky, isn't she? Shinji thought as he returned to his noble task of scrambling eggs. "Asuka, we really have to talk about your morning habits. That's the third time this week! The next clock you break is coming out of your allowance," Misato said as Shinji served the fruits of his labor. She just harrumphed and took a seat. Evidently, she found something else to bitch about as she was screaming again five seconds later. "Eggs and toast? EGGS AND TOAST? Is that the best you can come up with?" "Sorry," Shinji murmured. I'll give you another three guesses on what Asuka says (screams) next. "Sorry? That's your conditional reflex for everything! Everything isn't your fault, you know! You REALLY need to grow a spine. I mean honestly-" Fortunately, Shinji was saved from perpetual bitchiness in the form of a ringing doorbell. Shinji, knowing a gift from above when he saw one (well, he saw this one), got his ass in gear got the hell out of there. "Oh, look Toji&Kensuke gottagobye-bye." He grabbed his bag, and threw open the door. "Hiiiii Misa---" A retreating Ikari cut off their greeting. "Notimegottagohaveaniceday!" "Hey wait a sec-" "Hang on a minu-" A slamming door cut off their protests. "You scared him away," Misato said, a bit tipsy. "You know what they say about the ones that get away" At this, Asuka blushed. Or turned red from anger. She's pretty hard to read. "Oh, shut up." ======================================================= "So, are you ready for the trip?" Kensuke asked, almost like a giddy little schoolgirl. "Yes..." Toji answered, visibly annoyed and irritated by his friend's over eagerness. "You've been yakking about this for a month now. Will you quit acting like a giddy little schoolgirl?" "Almost," the author interjected. "Whatever." "Aw, come on. I just wanted to make sure you could go. There's something really cool I want to show you guys! You'll be blown away once you see it! Quit being so ungrateful! Right, Shinji?" The three boys were making their routine walk to school. The sky above was blue and clear and the sun shined brightly, a beacon of light and hope for the people of the city that was constantly under attack by giant beings that seemed to have a bone to pick with mankind. "He is right, you know," Shinji replied, frowning slightly. "You've been at this all week. It's all you ever seem to talk about." Then, the boy's expression changed to a lighter one, smiling as he spoke. "On the other hand, if you're this excited, then it must be good." At least it'll get me out of the house. Shinji thought. "Do I have to remind you that this is the guy who thought that green uniforms with holes in the most excruciating places were cool?" "Hey, the guys who wore those in the Great Rat Evacuation of 2008 their lives!" "It was a McDonalds. They had a rat infestation." "They were still brave! They had every right to wear that uniform! They were proud to wear their insignias!" "Bob's Extermination Services?" "Really? I thought they were JSSDF" "Well, it was a picture of a giant rat." "Oh, come on," Shinji said. "Whatever Kensuke's got planned can't possibly be that bad." "Thanks, Shinji." "I mean, what could possibly be that bad?" "Uh, yeah." "They were exterminator's uniforms. Who sees torn up uniforms?" "We get the point!" "Seriously, it's got to be decent." "See," Kensuke said. "At least Shinji appreciates my hard work. I've been at this for the last month, trying to get a perfect spot for the met-" the lad immediately caught himself from saying any more. "Uh, I mean the surprise." He laughed nervously. "Trust me, you'll thank me for it." "Just what is this surprise, anyway?" Toji asked while trying to finish his math homework. "Knowing you three, it's probably a collection of pornography military boy, here, got from his Peruvian contacts." I'll give you three gue-- Screw it. It was Asuka. "I should have known," Toji looked up to face her. "The minions of hell were arising and all the open flames in the city turned blue" Needless, to say, Asuka and Hikari snuck up behind the trio and had heard enough of their conversation to somehow lower their self-esteem through some form of verbal abuse. "Hi, Suzahara," Hikari said cheerfully, if not a bit timidly. However, Toji probably didn't notice because he was having a staring contest with an irritated redhead. Or a "who'll-blink-under-the-other-one's-pissed-off-look" contest. Since I'm too lazy to re-type the latter, I'll just call it a staring contest. The other three watched in awe at their determination. That awe eventually became annoyance once the STARING CONTEST amended into its third minute. Hikari snapped a finger, which both brought back the two opponents into reality and ended the STARING CONTEST. Asuka shot him a contemptuous look and as a parting shot, muttered dummkopf just loud enough for the three of them to hear. She walked away with her pig-tailed friend. "Man, what a bitch," Kensuke commented, showing that he had a very good grasp on the obvious. "Does she seem... more irritable to you, guys?" Shinji asked as he stared at his retreating roommate. "She's always more irritable towards us. I'd say she's more of a bitch than usual," Toji said, finally solving the final problem on his homework, in which the answer was apparently two. "That time of the month?" "I don't know," he said softly. "I don't think about things like that." (Yeah, he does.) "Probably, but could it be something else" "Hey, will you quit staring at the demon spawn and see if this looks right to you?" Toji said, annoyed at his friends attitude towards the person that he believes has the worst personality. "Huh?" Shinji said, snapping out of his gaze. "Right." He took the paper and three seconds later, registered his friends comment. "I was not staring!" ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Classroom. The trio walked in on a seemingly normal classroom despite the fact that there was a blue haired, red-eyed albino girl present, staring out the window. Shinji plopped down on his desk as the teacher walked in. This destroyed Shinji's effort of sitting down because he had to stand up again. He sat down, again, and tried to sit through another lesson on the Second Impact. After about two hours of senseless rambling that wasn't even entirely accurate (Bill Gates lives on!), the monotony became unbearable and he resorted tostarted typing into his laptop. This gave the illusion that not only was he paying attention, but doing real work. He started typing on the emailing program, absolutely sure that it wasn't going to get accidentally sent. 'Blah blah blah, man, this guy can go on. I'm hungry. I wish I'd eaten breakfast. But if I did, I probably wouldn't have made it here without bruises. I wonder what's bothering Asuka? I could use a milk shake. Strawberry. No. Chocolate! No! Caramel! Yeah, a tall glass.' He looked over at Rei, who didn't seem to notice because she was currently being entertained by some squirrels on a nearby tree. 'I wonder if Rei knows where I can get a milkshake. Maybe I'll ask her later. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Why is Asuka such a bitch? Three broken alarm clocks can't be normal. Maybe a splash of cold water would have a better effect. No, then she'd beat the crap out of the person who splashed her. But what If it was mechanized? No, then she'd beat the crap out of the bucket. Anything that she can pummel out of shape seems to satisfy her anger. She seems different. Oh well.' His eyes wander and he caught a glimpse of a poster poorly made by the student council advertising some sort of fair that the school was having. Apparently, they didn't want to have another cliché dance, so they decided that kiddy roller coasters and tasteless cotton candy would be a better alternative. And to make things more complicated, it encouraged people come with dates. Why? Because of the main attraction: The Tokyo-3 Tunnel of Love. Most people sighed at such an idiotic idea. Shinji, however, started daydreaming. He figured it would be safe to type in such personal things, seeing as how the message wasn't going to get accidentally sent. (snicker, snicker.) 'Maybe, I can get Asuka to go with me. Or maybe Rei. I wonder how I would ask her?' Me: "Uh you wanna um" Rei: "Yes?" Me: "Um I was wondering if you would" Rei: "What?" Me: "Go to the um fair? (laughs nervously) I estimate an awkward silence of... eight minutes. Or how about Asuka? Me: "Hey Asuka, you wanna-" Asuka: "Oh SHUT UP! Like I'd wanna go out WITH YOU!" Me: "Huh? How'd you know?"' "MR. IKARI!!!" "Huh? What?" Here's what happened. The teacher abruptly called Shinji, who was busy typing stupid things into his laptop, which caused him to slam his hand down on the keyboard, sending it to someone in the room. He stood since the teacher was addressing him. "What is the answer to this question?" the teacher asked as he pointed to the board. "Which country finally decided to kill Saddam Hussein three years after Second Impact, despite the overflow of seawater on over a third of their country?" "Uh, Portugal?" "Hmm correct!" "Wow, really?" "Yes, you may have a seat now." Shinji sat down and two words flashed on his terminal, which would soon condemn him to embarrassment, and possibly to a hospital bed. _Message Sent_ Uh-oh he thought. He didn't know who he sent it to but, but if Asuka were to hear about it, he probably should have left the area by now. Then a window blinked which indicated he had a response. 'Asuka: "I'm so perfect, I can read minds! That's how. Stupid pervert! Feel the wrath of my total bitchiness! Hehe, that was funny, Shinji. Milkshake. Hahaha. Thanks. Don't know what that was but send me more if you decide to write another one. -Kensuke Aida' Shinji sighed in relief. If Kensuke had it, then that meant it would never reach Asuka. Or Rei. At least he hoped. Though the message had been sent, it was still available for editing. Shinji knew that he should delete it, but he figured that if the chance of sending it once was slim, it would be a one in a million chance that it would be sent a again, right? (Snicker, snicker.) 'The fair is on the outskirts of town. I wonder if we can go. Maybe I WILL ask Rei?' Shinji shrugged off the thought, and once again stared at Asuka. I can't seem to get her out of mind. I wonder why Look at how much I've typed. Milkshake? Yeah, I could go for a milkshake right about now.' He was now ready to delete everything to avoid any further complications. Just as he was about to press the CLEAR key, which was disastrously close to the send key, fate (That would be me. Mwahahahahahahaha) called upon the teacher to suddenly yell out his name, again, thereby causing him to slip and send his ramblings to someone in the room, again. Come on, you had to see this coming a few miles away, right? "Ikari!" "What! Jeez, yes sir?" His hand basically slammed down on the keyboard, again, not only sending the message, but also choosing its recipient. "May I remind you that you have class duty today and must deliver today's print out to the students that are absent?" "Yes sir. I'll do that, sir." "Good, now where was I? Oh yes. The flood effectively decimated the powers of..." Shinji then plopped down onto his chair and breathe a sigh of relief. That relief however, turned to surprise when he saw that it had been sent, again, but this time, to someone else. That surprise then turned to a sinking feeling of dread when the possibility that the message could have been sent to one of his fellow pilots, or that they may somehow find out about it from whoever else received it. Unconsciously, he glanced at the two of them to see if they were reading anything on their terminals. He took a deep breath when he realized that if Asuka caught wind of this, she would probably implement acts of pain and torture similar to those used by the Nazis in World War II. I guess those people won't be getting their print outs after all, Shinji thought. Or at least they'll get them with bloodstains all over them. I can probably convince them that it's ketchup Shinji contemplated his faith for a few more minutes. Unfortunately, all the scenarios that formed in his imagination involved some form of dismembering. He tried to shrug those thoughts off and focus on the lesson. To his surprise, an icon blinked on his screen, which indicated that he had received a reply. 'Pilot Ikari, I am not aware of where you may find a pleasurable milkshake. I am also not aware of Pilot Soryu's condition. However, if you are offering to accompany me to the fair, then... I will consider your offer. -Rei Ayanami' Shinji was dumbstruck, to say the least. He stared at Rei, whose full attention was set on the window, and wondered if she was joking. What am I, stupid? Hmm, I've been around Asuka too long. Rei never jokes. I've better withdraw my little offer before things get a little too awkward. She may have gotten the wrong idea he thought. Just as Shinji was about to withdraw his offer (in other words, wimp out from a very good thing), Rei's gaze shifted from the window to Shinji's eyes. This caught him by surprise. But what really startled him was the strange and unfamiliar expression on her face. To the shock of everyone in the class of IIA, the passive expression on Rei's face was replaced by a smile. That's right, the light blue haired, scarlet-eyed angel (Cough, pardon the pun. I said there were SPOILERS but this shouldn't be taken out of context) was smiling at a shocked milkshake-craving boy across the room. Fortunately, a major scene was avoided because it was now lunchtime and the students were preparing to leave. No one noticed, except Shinji. Then, a hand landed on his shoulder bringing him out of his trance. He was mesmerized, again, by her smile. "Let's go," Toji said. He then frowned and added, "You look like you just saw a ghost." "Or saw Ayanami physically express emotion," Kensuke added. The two laughed regularly, while Shinji laughed nervously. He looked back at her desk to find it empty. He turned towards the door in time to see her leaving. Kensuke and Toji left the room. Shinji followed suit. ------------------------------------------------------------ Rei peered out the window contemplating... whatever it is she usually contemplated at this time of the day. She was startled when she heard her terminal beep, indicating that she had just received a message. She opened it and read it silently. It was from Shinji, and he seemed to be rambling. There were bits and pieces about her, bits and pieces about Pilot Soryu, bits and pieces about the fair, and bits and pieces about milkshakes. It confused her. However, a part of the message caught her eye. 'The fair is on the outskirts of town. I wonder if we can go. Maybe I WILL ask Rei? I can't seem to get her out of mind. I wonder why... ' She let out a small gasp. Does Ikari want to go with me? she thought. Should I? She interred herself in thought. Life in Tokyo-3 was one thing. EVA was life. Life was EVA. She expected what always was to be what always will be. But since the arrival of the younger Ikari and the beginning of the angel attacks, that "life" had been changed. The entrance of this small, under-confident boy affected her little, but "little" was "much" compared to the other events in her somewhat bland life. The child was something different. He was human contact other than his father. Strange it was that the other person in her life would be another Ikari. She knew the bonds that tied her to the family, not conciously, but it was like a piece of common knowledge that was known without inquiry--like the fact that people saw through their eyes and that the sun would rise the next day. She let her view shift from the window as she rested her head on the palm of her hand. A butterfly drifted onto the white window frame and rested tranquilly, not caring about the girl that absently watched its movements. Rei gently scooped the creature into her soft hands, a newfound curiosity overtaking her mind and actions. The creature did little to resist, not minding its new position on the palm of the azure haired girl. It flapped it's wings slowly allowing Ayanami full view of its radiant body, stretching them to their extent. EVA is life... she thought. This statement was true, for life would no longer exist on this planet if it weren't for the giant avatars. But... The butterfly began flapping its wings continuously, the rythm gaining speed with each passing second. Is life...? The butterfly seemed to flinch, as if it sensed a nearby danger, and and flew from Ayanami's hands. It rose as high as it's wings would take it, flapping with all the strength that it had, with no hesitation or second thought. She could only watch as the creature flew away, into the burning sun. With a smile, she looked into Shinji's eyes who was looking at her, as well. She had made her decision. *************************************************************** The three stooges made their way to the courtyard to try to peacefully enjoy their lunch. But they knew that once Asuka came around, the "peaceful" would go straight to hell. The three took a seat on a wooden picnic table near the outer edges of the makeshift park inside the school, giving them a perfect view of everything happening. Toji and Kensuke proceeded to scarf down their lunch while Shinji looked up at the sky, lost in thought. He took a deep breath and let out a wistful sigh. Toji, wondering why his friend, hadn't touched his sandwich, tapped him on the shoulder to bring him back to reality. "You okay?" he asked after practically swallowing a sandwich whole. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," Shinji said in a voice that failed to conceal hidden feelings. Toji studied him for a few seconds, trying to discern what he was really trying to say. After a while he just shrugged. "Whatever." **************************************************************** From behind, Rei quietly walked towards them, not making a sound, in attempt to escape from embarrassment. She had made her decision, but the grip of hesitation prevented something within her. She knew that it was uncharacteristic of the boy to step forward and ask; she had been silent while around her peers but she was not blind. She was far from blind. She was not blind to the daily stares that came from him. What did he find so interesting? She was not blind to the events that happened when they needed to travel underground to get to the base. She was not blind during the conflicts between her and Pilot Soryu, when he leaned towards her side of the arguement though throughout the ordeal he claimed to be indifferent. She was also not blind to the way he treated Pilot Soryu; she could that he was... attracted to her. However, the feeling was not mutual. Ayanami could sense no liking for the boy by the other pilot. There were times when she would get along with him just fine, almost as if she was enjoying his company. Then there were also times when she would plainly treat him like dirt. The feeling was definitely not mutual. Yet. ---------------------------------------------------------- As Shinji started to enjoy his lunch, something caught his eye--something female with red hair and a fiery temper. Shinji watched as a guy came up to Asuka and started chatting her up. Asuka had just come out of a room and was walking to somewhere before she was rudely interrupted. He was taller than Shinji by about six inches, older than him by about two years, and was better built than stick boy---I mean Shinji. His hair was short and dyed blonde. His eyes were either blue or green; Shinji couldn't tell from a distance. He wore a smug expression while Asuka just looked plain pissed. "Hey, it looks like Yoshiro's hitting on the banshee lady," Toji said. "Yoshiro?" Shinji asked, still staring at Asuka and her newfound friend. Two of Yoshiro's friend had come up behind him, slightly shorter than Yoshiro, but still considerably bigger than the trio. "Yeah, Yoshiro Tanaka. He's the big shot of pretty much every sport sponsored by the school. He's dated half of the girls in school. He also broke everyone of their hearts. He's slept with quite a few of them too," Kensuke said, taking another bite of his giant sandwich. "Half the girls isn't such a big number since people keep moving out of the city. Damned angel attacks!" Toji, showing that he, too, can state the horribly obvious. "I think his specialty is martial arts; he's pretty smart, too" "Yeah, but the rest of his friends are idiots. Some sort of superiority complex, I think. It's like a fat guy hanging around other fatter guys to make himself look thinner." "Is that so?" Shinji said in a calm, emotionless tone. His eyes were still locked on the redhead and the rest of the people around her. "Are you sure your okay?" Toji asked. He nodded nonchalantly in response. From what he saw so far, their conversation had been one-sided. Yoshiro spoke, indignantly, while Asuka's patience was tested and was constantly wearing thin. Finally, Yoshiro stopped talking, and seemed to wait for a response from Asuka. Asuka, however, didn't respond. She exploded. She screamed insults and curses that could be heard by the boys from where they were, though not completely understood. After she finished degrading him and possibly his ancestry (Shinji couldn't hear that well to be sure), the smug look on his face turned to surprise then anger. He responded with a word that is often used to describe Asuka that started with a "b". Here's a hint: some people think it's "beautiful" while the rest of the people who are sober know what it really is. But if Asuka were in the general vicinity (In other words, hearing distance), then everyone would agree that the word is "beautiful." Only the strong and the very stupid would disagree. Unfortunately, Yoshiro was both. His outburst prompted a killer slap from the Evangelion pilot. Red streaks on his cheek indicated where her fingers had impacted. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Kensuke said, already tape-recording the spectacle. "Thank you, Captain Obvious," Toji sputtered in between bites. Yoshiro recovered and felt his cheek, now damp with blood from where Asuka's nails did their dirty work. Yoshiro, being the shameless bastard that he was (or that I made him), slapped Asuka back, who nearly fell to the ground, hard, if she had not caught herself in time. Upon seeing this, Shinji, having magically grown a spine through anger (and of course, god-like author powers), rose from his seat and walked towards the brute, his right hand doing that thing it does to let everyone know that he was royally pissed. "That bastard!" Toji exclaimed. He had little love for Satan's mistress, but he was a firm believer in the chivalrous rule of not hitting girls. If he wasn't, then he and the Demoness would have had an earth shattering battle a very loooong time ago. "Do you belie-Shinji? Shinji!" He looked over to where Shinji was supposed to be, but instead, found him already on his way to the scene. "Uh-oh," Kensuke said. "Yeah?" "He's doing that thing with his hand again." "What?" "He's rhythmically clenching and unclenching his fist." "So?" "You know what that means..." A surprised look swept Toji's face as he realized what it DID mean. Toji stood and followed Shinji with Kensuke behind him, filming away. He took a good look at the thugs behind the main bastard. He'd have trouble taking down one, but he COULD do it. He'd probably be hurt badly, but he COULD do it. Damn it, Shinji! he thought. You pick the worst times to be brave... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As Rei walked closer to the three boys, she noticed Shinji staring intently at Asuka and a person whose name she had heard was Yoshiro. Since his back was turned, she couldn't get a good look at his face, therefore, unable to read his emotions. But when the bleached-blonde thug slapped the Second child, she could guess what emotion could be read on his face: blind, uncontrolable anger. "That bastard! Can you belie-Shinji? Shinji!" But Shinji was already gone, walking towards where the trouble was. He is willing to...fight? Ayanami thought. She knew the boy's aversion to violence. Despite the fact that the boy was EVA pilot who had defeated the most Angels, he was mild in nature. Aggresion was not one of his strong suits outside the battlefield. This act could be considered as uncharacteristic, as well. She would have to observe further. How well did she know the young boy. Her only human contact that could be considered personal was with the commander, and the boy was the commander's son. However, circumstances allowed them little time and chance to interact. It was true that she knew little about him and he knew little about her. There were things that he was not allowed to know, such as the truth of her origins, but what about her, the real her? Then it occured to her, what was the real her? Was there a real her? And if there was, would he want to know about it? Did she want to know about him? True, he was the commander's child and she had a certain relationship with the commander, superficial at first glance but with deep meanings that were only apparent to them, and he was the only other person to show signs of caring, even if he was awkward in asking. And he was the only other person to see her... There was a strange ritual that people of opposite sex went through together, something that she found out through the several books that her teacher made her and the rest of the class read. Two people, a boy and a girl, would dine at restaurante or watch a movie or simply walk with each other and speak to one another of what interests and disinterests them. Whatever they did not seem to matter much--it could be a wide array of activities--just as long as they did it together. From what she could discern, a major aspect of the ritual was to get to know more about the other person. Another aspect was for the two to enjoy themselves while they were together. And she believed it was called... a date. A...date with Ikari? she thought. Yes. I...I... would like that... However, Ikari would be in no condition to partake in this activity if he were in a body cast. She looked over to the other female pilot and the boy who inflamed her curiosity. This would be something to watch. ========================================================== Toji followed his friend closely and thought to himself. Shinji was not usually this aggressive. He usually tried to avoid confrontations by needlessly apologizing and was rarely violent. There were, at times, in battle, where he became a piece of iron and attacked courageously, much like during his second battle. He first hated him for inadvertently causing serious injuries to his younger sister, but he was over that. He heard from Misato that he had piloted the EVA without any experience to save Rei's life. That took a lot of balls. That was like having someone go up to you and say, "Hey look, here's the deal. You go out there in an experimental machine we built and fight the thing that's fucking up the city. You probably won't survive, but if you don't do it, we have a girl that got fucked up pretty badly the last time she tried to do this. And she wasn't even fighting anything. Imagine how she would do against that bastard, while she's still bleeding." Like he said, a lot of balls. And also, when he had been dumb enough to be dragged by Kensuke to watch the battle against the Fourth Angel, he got a chance to get inside the entry-plug. He got a chance to see Shinji fight. Shinji attacked it head-on, completely ignoring Misato's orders, though the odds were stacked heavily against him. With only one minute of power left and his control of the EVA distorted, he defeated the creature. And he made it look damn easy. When Toji asked him what they meant when they said "thought-noise," all he was at liberty to say was that he felt drunk. That took more balls. Yeah, he was brave, all right. Beneath that wimpy, meek, silent, and shy exterior lies a brave and courageous man, altruistic and unwilling to stand-by while innocent people suffered. Or maybe a crazed loose cannon. Toji hoped for the former. Unfortunately, this man was buried underneath a lot of general wussiness; I mean deep. Really, really, really, really deep. Toji thought the center of the Earth could be more easily reached. But it was there. He's seen that for himself. And it only surfaced when things were dire. And in Shinji's eyes, the demon girl about to go three-on-one against the strongest jackasses in the school is dire. Yeah, he's ready to fight... The trio pushed their way through a crowd of people. Apparently, they weren't the only ones who noticed the little "argument" which would most likely escalate in an all-out war. The crowd formed a makeshift "ring," encasing the combatants, though everyone kept their distance. What unsettled Toji, was that no one else saw this as unfair. There wasn't any sign of anyone going to get a teacher or something to stop the fight. Everyone just watched like it was some sort of show. Where's Hikari? he thought. If she were here, he knew that this fight would have been over before even before the eye contact became hostile. But she wasn't. "You bastard!" Asuka screamed. Her fists were clenched and her teeth were bared, which indicated that she was both pissed and ready to pounce at any moment. The look on her eyes hinted pure hatred, and that hatred was about to be focused into physical strength, which she intended to use on Yoshiro. Shinji and Toji broke through the last barrier of people and stood behind Asuka, Kensuke decided to hang back and film, and Rei made her way to the front lines, as a spectator though that could change at any moment. This surprised many people because Rei didn't usually give a damn about things like this. She was always so disinterested; she was always alone on a bench reading a book. She wouldn't have even cared if the place were having a school-wide brawl. Chances are, she would have just sidestepped the fighters and ducked the blunt objects being thrown around everywhere. But of course Rei was interested in this little skirmish. It involved Shinji. ------------------------------------------------------------ "Asuka" Shinji said in an almost-whisper, more of a hiss than anything else. "Don't interfere, Third Child," she said. Her voice was ice cold and her eyes were fixed upon what she wanted to tear apart. "Asuka, there are three of--" "I KNOW THAT! Don't get in my way" she said with irritation. "All right," Shinji said. He knew the situation was bad, but if he tried to argue, he'd be next. He stepped back and Toji did the same. "Whatever you say." "If you ever touch me again" she growled. In a swift motion, she lunged for him, a punch aimed at his stomach. It looked as if she was going to strike him perfectly, but he sidestepped it and tripped her with his foot. Asuka fell, but quickly got back on her feet. Whatever anger she showed in her eyes seemed to triple in intensity. "Get her," Yoshiro nonchalantly said. What a jackass, Toji thought. Can't even do his own dirty work... One of his goons, wearing a yellow jacket, attacked head-on. He threw a punch to her head, which she easily ducked, and Asuka planted her fists firmly in his stomach. The other one, wearing earrings, grabbed her from behind. Apparently, that was a bad move since he was airborne soon after. The first one decided that he had recovered and was ready for more. Idiotically, he tried another punch to the head. Asuka, deciding that variety was in good taste, grabbed his arm, bended it back, and sweeped his legs. He violently fell to ground, while clutching his left arm. The ear-ringed thug, finally getting back on his feet, charged her head-on. He lowered his head, raised his shoulders, and hurled himself towards her. Asuka, in one swift motion, grabbed his shirt collar, dropped on her back, planted her feet on his stomach, and used his own momentum to hurl him forward. It was a very impressive circle-throw. The guy donning yellow jacket tried to attack her again. Asuka, being fed up by insignificant thug, let loose a flurry of kicks aimed at his head and chest. Finally, she balled her fists into one and slammed down on the small of his back. "That's pretty good," Toji whispered to Shinji. "Where'd she learn to do that?" "It's basic training," Shinji muttered. "She had more combat training in Germany than she did here, though." "You think she can beat all of them?" Shinji's expression softened a little as he relaxed. "I might have not been needed after all. Not that I can really do much, anyway," he said with an unnatural grin. "All right," Yoshiro said. His usual smugness was back. "Let's see how you do against me." The other two stepped, or rather limped, back. Yoshiro stepped in and stood about two feet away from Asuka. were either sizing each other up or having a staring contest. It was a strange sight. Yoshiro was a hell of a lot taller than Asuka and looked it looked like he was stronger. He was pretty arrogant while Asuka was... intense. It was hard to tell who would win. Only when the fight started could one wisely decide whom to put their money on. Finally, Asuka moved. It was a charging blow to the head. It would have been a perfect hit, but Yoshiro deftly sidestepped and slapped the back of her head. Forcefully. She landed near Toji and Shinji, who stepped forward. "Back off!" she tried to scream, but could only mutter. "Asuka" Shinji said. His fist was clenching and unclenching at a much more rapid pace. "I said BACK OFF!" she screamed. She raised herself from the ground and regained her composure. How ever much anger she may have felt a few seconds ago was paltry compared to how much she felt now. The two stepped back. Asuka was ready to rip Yoshiro several new holes. He only stood and eyed her intently. He was an accomplished martial artist, though apparently, he ignored the spiritual part of his training. Asuka's anger coursed through her veins in the form of adrenaline. Unfortunately, this clouded her judgment. She charged again, and, of course, Yoshiro was ready. But he was tired of just dodging and getting in a hit. He spun around and delivered a bone-shattering sidekick to her chest. She started stumbling back, momentarily stunned. Shinji's fist suddenly locked in a clenched position. Toji, who was standing next to him with his arms crossed, noticed this and readied to enter the fray. Calm down, a part of Shinji said. But that son of a bitch just hit Asuka! He wrestled with his thoughts; emotion and reason fought to gain dominance. She's doing fine on her own. She'll be okay. She's a better fighter than you, anyway. And so, Shinji unclenched his fists and the right one started ticking rhythmically. Toji saw this and calmed down himself. Yoshiro took this chance to be aggressive. He ran towards her, expecting to land another strike. But Asuka had now recovered. She was falling back but managed to save herself by back flipping, to springing gracefully from the ground with her arms and landing on her feet. Once she was standing, she threw a low kick, which Yoshiro ran right into. How low was the kick? Yoshiro would be singing Soprano for a while. Yoshiro fell to his knees, grabbing his groin. Asuka cluthcedher side from where Yoshiro struck. Asuka stepped back and prepared to finish Yoshiro off with a knock out. But suddenly, the ear-ringed fiend grabbed her from behind, twisting her arm behind her back. She was caught off guard and screamed in pain. By that time, Yoshiro had recovered. "YOU BITCH!" he screamed, a bit high pitched. He set his leg back, and in a move that would forever condemn him to the title "Bastard Child," threw a hard kick to her stomach. As she screamed, blood flew from her mouth. He knocked her to the ground with a fierce backhanded slap. Reason and emotion synchronized into one, collective thought. Okay, kick his ass. With a look of pure hatred, anger, rage, and other adjectives synonymous to "royally pissed," he ran towards Yoshiro at blinding speeds. He leapt into the air and thrusted his left knee into the brute's exposed chest. He had turned towards the Shinji, unaware of the doom that Asuka's fall announced. Yoshiro didn't even see it coming. Shinji landed on top of him and needless to say, this was a very bad place for Yoshiro to be. The crowd had gasp in shock when Yoshiro finished Asuka off with a front kick. But now, they were staring in awe at the seemingly shy EVA pilot who was pummeling the crap out of Yoshiro, the Bastard Child. "YOU!" Shinji screamed. All could hear the sound made by his fist impacting on Yoshiro's skull. "FUCKING!" Yoshiro's shoulder must have broken, if not shattered, when Shinji's other fist bore down. Everyone could hear a sickening crunch. Apparently, the crushing of bone and sinew was a new experience for most of the people in the courtyard. "SON!" Crunch. Screams of pain escaped Yoshiro. Shinji didn't seem to mind. "OF!" Toji could only watch, reveling in the shock that had engulfed those around him. Yoshiro screamed once again, crying out in the same manner as a tortured animal. A few spectators, turned away. Most were unused to watching as limbs bent in ways not intended. "A!" Yoshiro's nose was now bent out of shape. Crimson blood seemed to geyser out, as well. "BI-" Shinji's final comment, however, was cut short when earring boy knocked him off of his suffering friend. Shinji fell on his back and was mounted by his attacker. Two punches. Two punches were all the hits that he was able to get on Shinji. The first one did almost nothing. The second one miraculously scratched his left cheek, drawing blood. The third punch was caught. He grasped the arm at the wrist and bent it back. He threw a left hook to the side of his opponent's face, shaped in surprise and horror to the realization of pain that the boy would inflict. He fell off, landing on the soft grass. Unfortunately for him, Shinji had not let go. Ear-ringed boy's arm broke in three places. This was pretty much clear to everyone since they heard three separate cracks. Shinji got to his feet, and stood silently, rigid as a stone. He waited politely for the two to recover so that this ordeal may end correctly. What are you thinking, Shinji? Toji thought. He, too, was in awe of the events that had just transpired. But he knew that the fight should have already ended. After a few moments, the two found themselves standing. Apparently, their arrogance dicated for them to take more punishment instead of just staying down and admitting defeat. A small drop of blood made its way to the corner of Shinji's mouth, outlining his cheek in bright red. To the surprise of everyone, his tongue came out and met the lone drop, quenching an undectable, intolerable thirst. Yes, that's right. Shinji drank his own blood. Up until now, Shinji's expression was cold and serious. And then, he smiled a wicked a smile. Ear-ringed boy stood up first. His broken arm hung limped by his side. A streak of blood ran down his face from where he Shinji's blow had connected. Yoshiro stood up, his composure similar to his friend's, only... bloodier. Suddenly, Shinji's eyes turned to the ear-ringed lackey. Then he attacked. The intensity and focus in his face returned and he leapt into the air. With a flying sidekick, made sure that the boy wouldn't return to the fight again. In an attempt to soften the blow, he raised his healthy arm to block. All that did was ensure that he wouldn't be going to the bathroom without help for quite a while. He flew back like a rag doll for thirty feet before clearing the grassy area and skidding on the pavement for five more feet. Shinji gracefully landed. It was as if that was a movement he could naturally execute, indicating a high level of proficiency. However, those knowledgable in the crowd knew, and knew well, that it was beyond his current physical abilities. Ayanami took a step closer, ensuring better view of the upcoming events. His attention turned towards Yoshiro. Shinji had done a good job of, put simply, hurting him. He could barely see out of his eyes due to the fact that they now looked like swollen tomatoes. Shinji eyes flashed briefly with anger as he charged his nearly defeated foe. He leapt into the air, once again, apparently using the same attack he used to mangle the ear-ringed fiend. Unfortunately for Yoshiro, he was too dazed to do anything about it. The blow landed. And this time, it was unblocked. Shinji's foot connected with Yoshiro's chest. The body convulsed in the air, spinning wildly, a mass of a torso and appendages flinging randomly from the immense force of the impact. He was thrown back fifty feet before finally hitting the ground, violently, and skidding ten feet more. His chest rose, gasping for air, then fell lifelessly to the ground. Shinji then turned to the guy in the yellow jacket. He had just recently recovered, and was now getting to his feet. He took a look at Yoshiro, then the other mangled creature, then finally at the deadly silent boy. The boy twitched. That was all it took. The coward broke through the crowd, pushing clumsily past speechless spectators, in an attempt to escape. The boy walked over to Yoshiro's unconscious form. The coldness in his eyes matched his father's in intensity. He stared at the bloody pulp as moments passed as eternities. And then, he turned around and walked to Asuka, who was unconscious as well. The spectators' jaws dropped about two feet. How could a wimpy boy take down two other thugs who were obviously better built, and would seem to have the advantage in speed, strength, and power. Of course, after Shinji's exhibition, they obviously weren't because they were now just writhing masses on the ground. Sure, he was an EVA pilot and must have had received some combat training, but did NERV really train such ferocious killing machines? And if so, why hadn't Asuka defeated them instead of Shinji? "My God! What happened...?" A black haired, pigtailed girl broke through the stunned crowd. She arrived in time to find Shinji picking up an unconscious Asuka. He placed an under the crook of her knees and the other on her back, under her arms. His head was down, and his hair veiled his eyes, looking upon the creature he held gently. "Get help for the others," he said softly, in an icy voice. The crowd parted to make way for him and the girl in his arms. He looked down on her to see that she looked very peaceful. Whatever pain showed on her face was now gone. Rei was the only one who seemed to keep a straight face, though she herself was just as shocked as everyone else. Ikari...? ============================================================ Shinji walked through the halls, catching the attention of everyone around him. Even the teachers could only stop and stare. That was what everyone else was doing, anyway. Everyone seemed to freeze and shut up. No one spoke a word as he passed by. Some eyed him curiously, silently. Their eyes followed his movement as he walked with a bearing of untouchability. Their minds formulated thoughts and speculations though not even they could believe what was in their sights. Others caught their companions' attention, pointing him out to those who had not noticed. They nudged each other's sides with their elbows, pointing quietly and whispering to share their questions and theories. Eventually, the two made it to the infirmary. A bystander was kind enough to open the door for him, seeing that his hands were full. He muttered a thank you and walked in. "May I he-Christ! What happened?" The nurse acted very quickly and took her from him. "I" Shinji said, his voice soft and low. The ice was gone. "I think her ribs are broken" With that, he let out a soft grunt and collapsed on the floor. "Akane! We have two patients!" *********************************************************** The phone rang on Misato's desk. That was all the man needed. He had infiltrated the place and was sneaking around, looking for her. After having quietly disposed of the security guard, he was now after his target. But she had seen him first. She held the gun to his head viciously disarmed him. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, the phone rang. She looked away briefly. That was all he needed. In an instant, he struck her, knocking her back a few feet. He grabbed a large gun from an ankle holster that she had missed and fired. A bullet of a large caliber entered her chest, ripping apart her lungs and heart, before exiting her body. She died instantly. "DAMN!" she said, as she slammed the joystick down. "I'd gotten so far too... These guys on the internet are pretty good." She took the game CD out of the computer, knowing that Ritsuko would blow up if she caught her with it and answered the phone. "Hello?" Silence "Yes, what about them?" She took a sip of some black sludge that she sentimentally called coffee. It didn't stay in here mouth for long. "HE *WHAT*?" she spat. Her coffee, that is. Silence. "I see. How badly injured?" Silence. "Really? I'll be there right away." She hung up and made her way to the surface in a hurry. =========================================================== "Can you believe that?" Kensuke asked. He, Toji, and Hikari were sitting on the same picnic table that they were on before the commotion started. A few janitors hauled the two injured to an ambulance since the school infirmary couldn't provide them with the medical attention necessary for their condition. Apparently, cold compresses weren't enough. The large crowd had already disbanded though all one could hear was chatter about the recent scuffle. "What happened?" Hikari asked. She had been away during the incident had cursed herself for being so. "Yoshiro and his thugs were bothering the devil girl," Toji said. "Yoshiro and Asuka had been talking about something. Things got violent. She slapped him. He slapped back. Me and Shinji went over there to try and help but she told us to back off. She was doing pretty well alone until one of them grabbed her and held her for the other guy. She got hit pretty hard. It was a cheap shot. Everyone knew that." "Those jerks! How awful!" Hikari said, now visibly angry. She stood up and pounded the table. "If I ever see them again-" "You're a little too late," Kensuke said, fiddling with his camera. "Shinji... got to them first. They hauled the bodies out in stretchers." This surprised Hikari. Even though he was a pilot, he wasn't exactly the belligerent type. She had always heard Asuka complaining that he didn't act like a man often enough. She was always saying that he was too meek and rarely stood up for himself. But she also said some things about how she should see him in battle. "So Shinji defeated them..." she said. "Defeated" was a trite, almost euphimistic, expression but that was the truth. They fought and the boy won. He had defeated them. "More like massacred." "But why's everyone making such a big deal out of this? He is an EVA pilot. If he fights angels, then he should be able to take care of a few humans, right? Asuka told me about the martial arts and self-defense exercises that they do in NERV. It's not hard to know why he defeated them." "It's not why, he beat them. It's HOW. Kensuke, you caught it on film, right? "Yeah," he chuckled. "This is going on my top ten." "Show her." Kensuke pushed a few buttons on the side and let her look through the small eyepiece. The two watched as her anger slowly turned into shock. "He'she's fast. They barely scratched him." "He DID walk away with only a scratch," Kensuke said. She handed Kensuke back his camera. He's right, she thought. That wasn't a fight. That was a massacre. ------------------------------------------------------------- Shinji awoke with a splitting headache. He could have sworn it was a hangover. Wait, he thought. I can't be hung over. I haven't been drinking! Have I? He looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling. He wasn't at a hospital, though. He was in the school's infirmary. He sat up on the cheap leather bed (If it really was leather) and gently touched his forehead. "Ow," he muttered. A figure with its back turned to Shinji faced him when it heard his complaint. It was Misato. "Shinji! Do you know what you've done?!" She was obviously angry. Shinji just looked confused. "That Yoshiro boy's in critical condition! Do you realize that it will take him take him three months to completely recover! You cracked his chest! You're lucky his lungs didn't collapse! And the other guy's arms shattered! You're lucky they didn't have to amputate!" After being chewed out and screamed at, Shinji replied with a thoughtful, meaningful, and well-crafted response. "Huh? Wha-what?" Misato's expression softened. Before, a cross-shaped vein was popping out of her forehead and it seemed as if she had grown fangs. But now, the vein subsided and the fangs retracted. It was obvious that she was still pissed, though. "I've asked a few students about what happened. I know those guys deserved a beating, but could you have at least let them eat solid food without having to wait for three weeks?" And then, her tone changed completely. "But they hurt your girlfriend, so you couldn't help but beat the crap out of them!" Now did not seem the time to make jokes but sometimes, those are the most needed to times to alleviate the situation. The two would live and completely recover. Besides, she had little respect for those who would hit women. She was proud of him for standing up to the two, though she'd never say for she'd be promoting violence and raise Shinji's chances of being a victim of domestic violence. Shinji, who Misato expected to get a bigger rise out of, merely looked at the ground, upset. "I'm sorry Misato. I can't remember anything. If I did fight, my head must have gotten hit or something..." "No, Shinji," she said. It had been surprising when she received the phone call that Shinji and Asuka were involved in an "incident," as they called it. Apparently, there had been some fighting. Misato really hadn't been that worried with Asuka, except for the fact that she might have to deal with the parents of whom ever she had beaten the crap out of. With Shinji, she just hoped that he could walk away from it. She hadn't expected to see what she saw on Kensuke's tape. She was really surprised to see Shinji act like that. Or better yet, fight like. Maybe in an EVA, she thought. But only in an EVA. "I didn't know you could do that, Shinji. All that combat training must have paid off." "I... guess." "Although..." she said, looking thoughtfully out the window. "The nurse did say you collapsed when you bought her in." She smiled. "Did she somehow wake up before you made it here? She lovingly took you in her arms, and you made a pit stop in an empty classroom. Did she tire you out after that?" "Asuka? How is she?" Shinji asked, unfazed and more concerned than anything else. "She's fine. Just a few bruised ribs. Not as bad as the two jerks you took care off. I never knew you were so strong. If I did, you'd be doing more chores around the house." "I already do all of them..." Shinji said. His mind wasn't exactly on the conversation. "WHAT WAS THAT?!!" an irritated Misato asked, putting him in a headlock and giving him a noogie. "Nothing! Nothing!" Shinji screamed in defense. Content, she released him. "But seriously, I can't remember anything. Last thing I remember was was that I was having lunch with Toji and Kensuke." "Well, Kensuke taped it. Why don't you ask him for a copy? Come on, let's go home." "But Misato, I still have classes." "Idiot! You've been out cold for five hours! You didn't have a fever. You were just unconscious. It was like you were sleeping and we couldn't wake you. Some of the nurses wanted to transfer you to a hospital, but they couldn't find anything wrong with you. So I let you sleep for a while." "Oh, thanks Misato. But I still have to deliver some papers to absent students. I guess I'm one of them, having missed class and all..." Misato shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Ms. Horaki volunteered to do it for you today. Probably to thank you for helping Asuka." "Where is Asuka, anyway? And am I in trouble for doing what I did?" Misato's face grew stern. "You were," she said. "But I convinced them that you two were madly in love and you did what you did in passionate anger. And to clear up any misunderstandings, they announced it to the entire school." Shinji grew very pale. If Asuka- no, ONCE Asuka found out about this, she would probably do to him what he did to Yoshiro and his buddy. Whatever it was he did. "Gee, couldn't you just have them expel me and put in juvie? At least there, there are metals bars to protect me." Misato couldn't keep her face straight any longer. She burst out in a fit of laughter. "I'm just kidding, Shinji." She gave him a hard pat on the back, so hard that she knocked him forward a few feet. "Mostly everyone vouched that it was done in defense, and personally, the two really did deserve it." Shinji sighed in relief. "But the school gave you three months of clean-up duty anyway." Shinji face-faulted. "Anyway, Asuka's at home. The doctors said to keep her ribs iced. She bit her tongue, too. That could get in the way of your make-out sessions." "Misato!" Hehe, I got him, she thought. She chuckled to herself as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go home. I need a beer. I need four beers." ______________________________________________________ Katsuragi Apartment Asuka laid on the couch the couch as she channel surfed hastily. She kept an ice pack near her side and her eyes fixed on the TV. "Asuka, you're out of soda. How about some juice? All you have left is that and beer." Hikari walked out carrying a tray of snack food. Asuka sat up and took a sip of what was left of her drink. Shinji and Misato entered the room. "I'm home!" Misato announced. Loudly. They walked into the living room to find Hikari gathering her things, preparing to leave. "Thanks for staying over and watching Asuka, Hikari," Misato said. "It wasn't a problem," Hikari responded. "Oh, and Kensuke wanted you to have this." She pulled out a videotape from her pack and handed it to Shinji. "Hey look, she saved you the trip," Misato said. "That was... incredible, Shinji," a faint trace of a blush creeping on her cheeks. "Uh... thanks." "Bye, Asuka," she waved as she left the apartment. Speaking ofyour friends, don't you have a camping trip to get to?" Yeah, but don't you think I should stay?" Shinji tried to motion towards Asuka without her noticing. "You know..." nfortunately for Shinji, Asuka did notice. "Listhn third shild. Ifth youth tshink I canth thake care ofth mysthelf witshout youth aroundth, you're dumberth sthan youth lookth!" Asuka yelled, having trouble speaking because of her tongue. Shinji, knowing better than to laugh or show any form of amusement, said what he usually said in times like these. "Sorry." Unfortunately, he didn't realize that this would just piss her off even further. "Andth anotherth tshing, I didn'th asthk for your helpth! Why couldn'th youth jusht leave me alonthe! At leasht I wouldn'th havt hoshpitalized them! I woulhd havt made them regreth whath they didth, but at leasht one of them wouldn'th havt endh up in ICU! Whereth do youth geth offt doing tshat! Youth coulhd havt khilled shomeone out tshere! Youth wanth tshat on yourth conschience? Thath washt jusht phlain recklessh! Thihs jusht proved tshat all tshat crap you keeph saying abouth not wanthing to hurth people is jusht what it ish: craph!" "I'm sorry," Shinji said softly. His eyes were on the ground. What she had just said had really hit home. He could have killed someone. They had hurt her, yes. But that didn't justify murder. He didn't want any more blood on his hands. He didn't want to destroy any more people's lives. "I'll... I'll cook dinner before I leave. I'm going to get my things ready now..." He left the room. "Asuka," Misato hissed. Her voice was low, but the level of anger wasn't. "He shouldn'th haf intherphered!" she snapped back. Her memory about the fight was pretty hazy. She remembered schooling the two guys that were with Yoshiro, but that was mostly it. Next thing she knew, she was on the infirmary bed, being iced down by a butch nurse. "Whahtever happhened, I couhld haf gotthen along withouth him!" "Asuka," she said again. The temperature in the room seemed to drop about ten degrees. "Play the tape." She did what she was told and popped the tape in. The tape started with her slapping Yoshiro. She remembered why. He conceitedly asked if she wanted to go to the fair with him. Not really asked, more like gave her permission to go with him. She responded with words that insulted his looks, intelligence, lineage, and choice of dress. To summarize, she basically said, "FUCK YOU!" with two extra exclamtion points. He responded by calling her a, quote, "Stupid fucking bitch-slut," end quote. So, she slapped him. To his surprise, he slapped back. She had been used to hitting Shinji, on occasion, without him fighting back, so this had surprised her. She then saw Shinji getting up to assist her. He didn't even hesitate. Somewhere in hell, she thought, Satan was giving free sleigh rides on account of the cool weather. She then heard Suzahara's voice. "That bastard! Can you belie-Shinji? Shinji!" Then she remembered that she wasn't dealing with Shinji. Kensuke had apparently placed himself in the best position since all the action could be seen. "Don't interfere, Third Child," she heard herself say. Shinji stepped back and let her fight. She watched herself as she proceeded to inflict pain on two of Yoshiro's friends. Then, she saw herself fighting him. She made a few stupid moves, but she eventually gained the upper hand. However, the one wearing earrings moved in and grabbed her from behind. So that's it she thought. Yoshiro recovered and delivered a devastating blow to her stomach, causing her to cough blood. Her eyes widened in shock at the fuckwadity of Yoshiro. But they widened even more when she saw Shinji go berserk. The focus of the camera shifted over to Shinji, who was running toward Yoshiro at an amazing speed. She watched as he swiftly and violently took down Yoshiro. She listened to the unique sound that bones made when they shatter and she listened to Shinji use language that he never used unless he was tremendously pissed. And he was. She also watched in horror and disgust as he drank his own blood. She saw an expression that he had never seen on Shinji. It was a look of pure evil. He ran straight towards someone who should have just stayed down, but foolishly got up anyway. She watched as Shinji flawlessly perform an attack that took most people a few years to master, but which he had only seen once or twice. Then she watched as he did it again, with greater force. Then, she watched him walk over to where she lay unconscious on the ground. A strange sensation pulsed through her body as she watched him pick her up and carry her away. Like a knight in shining armor... a small and often repressed part of her said. That was kind of corny... A wave of emotion invaded her body. Well, various emotions. There was anger, hatred, and rage directed at several people. Most of it was aimed at Yoshiro and his two buddies. But some of it was directed at Shinji for defeating them. By doing that, he had managed to surpass her. A part of her felt that she wasn't beaten by the three idiots, but was defeated by Shinji. Wimpy, meek, "I'm sorry," scrawny, Shinji. There was a small amount of amazement and envy for HOW Shinji had defeated them. Envy and amazement for having walked away with only a scratch. And last, but not least, (okay, it's least) there was a small glimmer of gratitude and respect. When she was struck down, he flew off the handle and hospitalized two people. Big people, too. And he did it for her. For anyone else, this concept would have been hard to grasp. A small, quiet boy goes Bruce Lee for someone who daily and routinely verbally and physically abused him. Asuka was no exception. Then, it hit her like a sledgehammer. (But who'd try to it Asuka with a sledgehammer?) Could he... Does he... she thought to herself. Does he what? she asked herself. Did he see another pilot in trouble? A friend? Or maybe something more... NO! He couldn't have! But I still have to She got off the couch and walked past Misato. Misato sighed as she walked by. She didn't need to say anymore; Asuka had made a choice for herself. She sighed again. She REALLY needed a beer. Four beers. --------------------------------------------------- Shinji entered his room with Asuka's words still fresh in his mind. What if I did kill one of them? I can't even remember what he thought. Images of him walking towards the fight flashed briefly in his mind. Images of him pushing through a crowd of people more interested in a show than the well being of others flashed in his mind rapidly. No one tried to stop the skirmish. Not even one of them got it through their head that it was an unfair fight. He briefly remembered Kensuke saying that Yoshiro was a third degree black belt in some form or style. Didn't teach him much about morals, though he thought bitterly. Images of Asuka winning against earrings and yellow jacket. Images of her fighting against Yoshiro. Images of her winning. Then, images of her being held. Then, a swift kick. The next few images were hazy and distorted. He saw someone ramming their fists against Yoshiro's pinned body. The taste of blood briefly on his lips. Whose blood? Were they his hands? A foot shattering an arm trying to desperately block it. His foot? Then, a final blow against someone's chest. He could almost feel the momentum and speed. One could hear the sound of bones breaking if one was close enough. Was he close enough? An image of someone carrying Asuka away. A drop of blood running quickly on that someone's cheek. For someone who had just taken a beating, she looked peaceful. A few strands of hair brushed against her delicate face. A gentle hand brushed them away. He knew that it could not possibly be his. And then, it hit him like a sledgehammer (A lot of people would like to hit Shinji with a sledgehammer. Grow a spine, you wussy uh, I mean, on with the story!) He had lost control. Seeing someone anyone suffer pointlessly by cruel hands had the effect of pissing him off to no end. And his anger seemed to triple because it was Asuka who was on the receiving end. But why? he thought. Shinji's kind of dense. Bear with him. Even though he lost control, it wasn't entirely his fault. For one thing, they deserved it (a point which the author has repeatedly said, trying to get the point across to those who disagree with him). Another thing was that his memories were vague. He didn't remember committing the act himself. He had a very strong desire to, but he didn't. It was like he was watching a movie. It was similar to his first battle. He, himself, was defeated. But his EVA wasn't. A part of Shinji wanted--needed--the angel dead. If it didn't die, then it would kill him, simple as that. Either he lived or he died. Next thing he knew, he was back in the cage, the enemy apparently dead. In that battle, Toji's sister was hurt, almost paralyzed, Toji had said. Everyone had told Shinji that the EVA went berserk and that he had no control over it. And they were right, he didn't. Toji got that point across to himself and "forgave" Shinji. But guilt still hung over the young pilot. His mind knew that it wasn't his fault, but his heart did not believe hollow words. Strangely, he felt the same way with the aggresors, though they weren't as innocent as Toji's sister. A knock on his door disrupted his thoughts and sent him back to reality. "Come in," he said in a soft voice. The door opened to reveal a young German girl; her head was slightly hung low. Her arms were behind here back and her fingers were interlaced. Her feet were together and were fidgeting around. This struck Shinji as very strange. He had never seen her like this before. Usually, she was assertive and full of life and fire. Her confidence and courage were what Shinji admired. But now, she seemed unsure of herself. Suddenly, she looked up and into the eyes of the young Ikari. The soft, azure eyes captivated him; the outside world ceased existing. It seemed that the whole universe revolved around her "windows to the soul." "I" she said, breaking the silence. "Thath ish Whath I" She stopped speaking and took a deep breath. She looked around uneasily, trying to avoid his gaze. "What I wanted to say is," she said. Her speech was now normal. The fire inside of her also returned. Her eyes then met with his, again. "I'm sorry." She broke the their eye contact and stared at the ground. Shinji only stared at her for a few moments, possibly registering her words or crafting a response. Maybe both. A few second later, he smiled. It was a soft smile, devoid of any ill will or mock. It embodied what the forces of the universe, intended a smile to be, an expression of... happiness. "That must have been hard to say," he said. He didn't really know what he meant by that. He said it in his soft and normal voice, without any tone that would indicate a different meaning. He could have just as easily said that his table was brown (though his table wasn't really brown. It was chestnut) in the exact same tone of voice. He could have meant that in able to speak without slurring, she would have had to control the pain. Or, he could have meant that it was hard for her to swallow her pride and apologize. Maybe he meant both. He smiled. She smiled back. "Haft funth ath yourth twip," she said. He grinned. " I thwill." She shot him a pseudo-angry look and playfully pushed him to ground. He laughed as he fell. She sighed and left the room. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A few minutes later, Shinji was in the kitchen in a Mr. Mom outfit, which further questioned his sexuality. It didn't look that bad; he was wearing an apron and oven mittens over his school uniform. The two ladies were in the living room awaiting their dinner. Since he was in a hurry, Shinji could only prepare quick meals. "Let's see," he said to himself, head buried in a cookbook appropriately titled "101 quick recipes for guys preparing meals for two attractive women with their own little quirks." My, my, the selections in the Tokyo-3 bookstores are astounding. "One cup of fish stock, three teaspoons of salt, three cups of water, add block of noodles, five tablespoons of salt, three pounds of beef, a pinch of pepper, a cup of salt, boil for five minutes, add three more cups of salt? That can't be right..." He inspected the page of the book and found it that it wasn't tampered with. "Oh well," he shrugged. Misato walked in. Smell nice, Shinji. Is it ready?" hinji tried the soup and expected the salty goodness to overwhelm him. t did. is eyes started watering as his face froze in place. "Eeeeh" "Well?" "Eeeh" "How is it?" "Well iths abouth thime!" Asuka stormed in. She sat down and waited for Shinji to serve it. "Well whath arthe youth waithing for? Spoon ith up!" Shinji, unable to speak, did as he was told. He gave a bowl to Misato and another one to Asuka. He then took a cup, filled it with ice water, and chugged it in a way Misato would drink beer. Then, he did it again. And again. And again. Finally, after recovering, he removed his pink apron and oven mitts and grabbed his things that were stacked in the corner. "Have fun!" Misato yelled. "Bye," Shinji waved. The door shut behind him with a soft thud. Asuka took a spoon and was about to try Shinji's latest creation, but was interrupted by Misato, who was looking serious. "I take it that you've fixed things up between you and him." "Huh?" "You've apologized, right?" "Uh..." "RIGHT!?" "Yeth, Mishatho!" "Good! Because I hope you realize that what you said was inexcusable! Instead of thanking him, you accuse him of flying off the handle! Well, look whose talking! He only did that because you couldn't finish what you started!" A look of pure anger swept over Asuka. Not only had she been injured, but her pride had been damaged, as well. She was ready to get into a screaming match with Misato, but she repressed the feeling because deep down, she knew she was right. "Yeth, ma'am." Misato instantly changed from angry to calm. You'd think she'd put up more of a fight than that, she thought. "Good, because judging the way Hikari was looking at Shinji, Rei might not be your only competetion," Misato said slyly. "MISHATO!" "'That was... incredible,'" Misato said, mimicking Hikari with surprising accuracy. "'Take me in your arms Shinji!'" Asuka fumed. "I'm kidding! All right, let's eat!" Asuka sighed and took a spoonful of her soup. Once it made contact with her tongue, she froze and her left eye twitched profusely. The twitching then made it's way through her body, and she fell off her chair, landing with a thump on the ground. Misato raised her eyebrow questioningly and tried it herself. She sloshed it around in her mouth before making her decision. "Needs more salt." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Shinji met his friends in the lobby. Normally, the two boys would have been more motivated to go up to the apartment themselves in hopes of seeing Misato in her less-than-casual, skimpy, tight, revealing clothing, but with all the bags and cases they were carrying, they probably would have collapsed from exhaustion. They would have taken the elevators, but they had a weight limit. Kensuke wore a green camping pack, filled with sleeping bags, lights, foods and the necessary camping equipment. In each hand, he was carrying a black case. Toji was wearing a smaller pack, but also carried similar black cases. "Hi guy's, how's it goi-" Before, he could finish, Toji dropped about three or four bags on him. "Whoa! What's in these things?" "Don't ask me. Kensuke's the one bringing this junk. He won't even tell me what it is." "It's a surprise! Come on, we'd better get going before it's too late." You and your hernia inducing surprises, Shinji thought as he lugged the bags out of the building. The three left. Kensuke was energetically in the lead. Toji followed behind him, somewhat annoyed, and Shinji trailed very slowly behind. What'd you expect? I can't carry things twice my weight and still be able to walk. Hobble, maybe, but not walk Shinji thought, as if he was responding to some criticism from unseen people. ___________________________________________________________________ The site that Kensuke had chosen was outside the city. Fortunately, Misato's apartment was on the outskirts of town, so it was basically a five-mile walk for Shinji. Unfortunately, it was still a five-mile walk for Shinji. "Kensuke, did we really have to walk? Couldn't you get anyone to drive us?" Shinji bitched-uh, I mean complained. "I never take a car to go camping. I'd figure you guys would enjoy a nice, scenic hike. The moon's almost full." Toji was beginning to show small signs of exhaustion from dragging Kensuke's junk around. "Sure," Toji said. He took a deep breath. "We're enjoying this death march carrying a whole lot of God-only-know that weighs more than that fat lady who sat on Shinji when she didn't see him on the trolley while we're walking through a forest heavily populated with animals that are easily capable of tearing through human flesh like it was paper and are probably friends of Asuka's." Toji paused to take another deep breath. "Right, Shinji?" "Ex-uh!-actly" He was panting heavily and was obviously having trouble with his packs. I figured something like this would happen, so I packed light. I didn't think I'd have to carry all this sh-I mean stuff around. Shinji thought. He was right. He only packed a sleeping bag, a flashlight, his SDAT and some of the food he had prepared earlier. He also took some of the super salty soup, not knowing how it tasted before he packed it. Well, at least I can repay Kensuke for this wonderful hike he thought. Shinji seemed to be having a mean streak. It scares me, too. They walked. And they walked. And they walked. And they walked. (Author's note: The previous three lines were repeated many, many more times in the first few versions. People told me to stop. I thought it was funny. Apparently not.) Then, to the surprise of my angry readers, they walked some more. Shinji was wasted. Sweat cascaded down his cheek, though the night air was relatively cool, and he could barelyfeel his left leg. He also saw two of everything now that he was dazed and cross-eyed. He also noticed that the cases he wascarrying doubled in number. Two more people joined them, as well. Weird, I never knew Kensuke and Toji had twin brothers Shinji thought. Actually, hallucinated would have been a better word. Kensuke was still marching up front, full of energy and peppy as hell. He was wearing what BDU's that stangely looked appropriate on his skinny form. The green and black camouflage suit did the job of making him inconspicuous from a distance. All he needed was the face paint and a hat and he would have made it looked like that the Japanese Army lowered its age qualifications by a few years. Toji, who was sporting his trademark black jumpsuit, was showing more signs of exhaustion. He was slouching a bit and was out of breath. Other than that, he looked fine. Toji looked back to see Shinji trailing behind. He was having great difficulty moving, more limping than actually walking. He was wheezing and panting loudly, like his heart was about to blow at any given moment. Toji turned to his annoyingly energetic friend and said, "Hey, slow down. Wait for Shinji, the savior of mankind." "We're doomed, then," Kensuke replied, as Shinji hobbled towards them cross-eyed and dazed. They stopped and a few seconds later, a sweaty, disoriented Shinji staggered to where they were. "You look beat, man. You'd think they Eva pilots would be a helluva lot more physically fit." Toji remarked. Shinji kind of zoned out for a few seconds. "Let me get one of those bags for you." "Thanks, Toji. Thanks, Toji's brother. We are; I just started late. I think Asuka and Rei are the stars of the track team. You never told me you had a twin. Does that mean that I have to get two presents for you on your birthdays? And I'm out of money, too..." Shinji incoherently blabbered. Toji turned to his eye-glassed friend. "Um... he's delirious," he said rather blankly. "Yeah, I noticed," Kensuke blankly replied. He reached behind him and pulled out a water bottle sporting the NERV logo. Unknown to most people, NERV received a good chunk of its revenue from merchandizing. He unscrewed the top and poured its contents on the temporarily (though some could atest other wise) half-witted boy. Unfortunately, those contents included large chunks of pointy ice. "Ow!" Shinji said, as a pointy piece impacted with his head. He snapped out of it and was looking sharper than ever. "Thanks, I needed that. Hey, what happened to your twins?" The other two sighed and moved forward. ======================================================== And so they walked. And walked. And walked. (Author's note: Same applies to this scene. I still think it's funny!) Then walked some more. Then, they ran a little when Shinji thought he saw a wolf, but it turned out to be just a hostile looking branch. The other two sighed, smacked him around and moved on. Finally, Kensuke veered off the road and cut through a thin patch of trees and the trio arrived in a large grassy field. Shinji and Toji, sick of dragging the godforsaken black cases, threw them to one side and collapsed on the soft grass. They stared at the majestic, starry sky, unveiled by the absence of civilization. The points of light twinkled in the unending ebony sky, revealing the true beauty of the universe. From where they were, one could see the warrior Orion, the lightning steed Pegasus, and the other entities and overseers of the universe. The light and glow of the stars, though probably long extinguished millions of years ago, spanned great distances and shined brightly for the three figures under the blanket of the night sky. "'Under the light of the gods of the sky," Kensuke said, "man can truly perceive its insignificance; Only then can we understand that the Earth we inhabit is only a tiny speck in an endless sea of light and darkness.'" Shinji sat up. "Sounds like something my father would say." "Wow, really? I got it of a fortune cookie." I fight for the fate of one world Shinji thought. But would the universe care if we fail? One race of people annihilated, out of how many? No one will shed tears for the extinction of humanity... and the death of one world... While Shinji thought negative thoughts, which brought his morale down, ultimately lessening the chances of survival of mankind, Kensuke was hard at work pitching a tent. He didn't need any help; doing it so often, it was almost second nature. About five minutes later, the thing was pitched, complete with a running kitchen and indoor plumbing. Well, it looked like it from the outside. It was larger than an ordinary tent and it had... Window? Why would a tent need windows? Shinji thought as he got up, fully energized by his five minute break. Well, at least he could walk again. The boys made a campfire and gathered around it. Shinji took some food out and passed it along. "Here, Kensuke. Have some soup." "Thanks, Shinji." "Oh, your welcomemwahahahahahahahahahaha!" The two boys stared at him. Needless to say, maniacal laughter was not a common Shinji-thing. Running away and avoiding confrontations, yes, but this was something new. Shinji finally caught himself and stopped laughing. He looked nervously at the other two and thought, Uh-oh, did I do that out loud? Shinji laughed nervously. Toji and Kensuke stared at him some more. "So, what are in the bags?" Shinji blurted out in an attempt to change the subject. It worked. "Yeah," Toji agreed. "We dragged all this crap for five miles and I think now's the time for you to tell us." His voice was filled with anxiousness and irritation. The author wondered whether or not those emotions could effectively mix. Kensuke pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a Gendo-esque manner and with a sly grin, said, "Take a look." Toji walked over to the pile across from him and opened the first case he grabbed. He looked inside and gasped in surprise. "Wow! The Special Edition Sailor Moon Hentai Bondage Manga!" He pulled out the mange in question and examined it more closely in the firelight. As he flipped through the pages, he occasionally had to rotate the manga in order to get a better view. Shinji was dumbfounded. First of all, Asuka was right. Second of all, his friend had dragged him five miles just to look at pornography. For any other teenage boy, this would have been one of the most unlikely times to complain. But then again, we're dealing with Shinji. What'd you expect? "You had us march all the way out here to look at poorly drawn sailor sluts tied up in every way imaginable, including ways that defy the laws of physics?!" There was more shock than anger in that outburst. Kensuke snatched the manga from Toji and turned to Shinji. "First of all," he said, "they're not poorly drawn. Second of all, no, I didn't bring you out here for that." He placed the magazine back in the case. "That's for later." Kensuke grabbed a long case and unhitched the locks. "This is what I bought you here for," Kensuke said. He lifted the top and revealed an unassembled telescope. "Open the other stuff for me, will you?" The other two proceeded in opening the other cases, revealing more telescopes and some video recording equipment. Kensuke was piecing together the telescope. "Did you bring us out here to stargaze?" Shinji asked. "But what are all this machines for?" "I get it!" Toji exclaimed. "The meteor shower's tonight!" "That's right. Tell Mr. Suzahara what he's won." "From the city, we can't see this many stars," Shinji said with an air of realization. "But there's no light to drown the stars here. We can see them here at their brightest." "Correct, Mr. Ikari! That's a 10,000 yen bonus!" Kensuke opened a case that he personally carried himself and brandished a new professional grade DVD recorder which made his regular camera look like it was built with cardboard and remnants of a shopping cart. The other two stared in awe at its magnificence. Actually, they just looked confused. "Why would you want to film a meteor shower?" Shinji asked as he inspected a cheaper digital camera. I didn't know Etch-a-Sketch made cameras. "I need the footage for the school science project" "Oh crap!" Toji said as he slapped his forehead. "I wonder how soon I can finish my solar powered flashlights? (Author's note: I'm sorry. I'm running out of jokes.) Oh, well. I can always fall back on my waterproof towels if the flashlights don't work. (Author's note: No excuse for that one. "I'm a loser, baby. So why don't you kill me." -Beck)" "... And if you spot a meteor first, you get to name it." Kensuke pulled out a cellular phone and punched in a few numbers. "A press of a button and the Osaka-2 observatory will be glorifying a meteor with the name Air Aida." "Air Aida?" the other two asked in unison. Kensuke shot them an angry look. "Got a problem with that?" Shinji and Toji waved their arms in front of them defensively and tried to stifle their laughter. "No, no *snicker* no problem," Shinji said, managing to fight back his laughter. Which was a shame, too. Shinji rarely laughed. Shinji was freaky. "None at all..." Toji said. Kensuke looked at his watch and smiled joyfully. "It's almost time. Help me set all this stuff up." Pretty soon, the tent was more of an observatory than a place for shelter. The windows were apparently for the telescopes and all the assorted equipment that Kensuke planned to use. Shinji sat next to a telescope next to a small computer terminal. There were several small computers wired throughout the tent. Shinji peered through the scope and got a magnified view of the sky above. Looking through the device, he could see even more stars than he could with the naked eye. While Shinji was stargazing, Toji tried to get a better view of the city. To be more specific, he was trying to get a better view of the apartment building windows. His telescope was strong enough to see for five miles. Unfortunately, he was unable to spot any hot young babes taking a shower or undressing near a window. He did spot a woman who could substitute for a manatee in marine theme parks and was able to avert his eyes quickly enough when she dropped the soap. After having no such luck, he just stole Kensuke's bondage manga and started flipping through the pages happily. Unlike the others, Kensuke was hard at work checking and calibrating the machines. He had planned well in advance to make sure things would go smoothly. He was only "borrowing" most of the stuff he was using from his dad and he really didn't want to have to calculate how much shit he would be in if something were to break. He bought Toji and Shinji here to share this event with them, but he figured that since they were here, they might as well help him with his project. He didn't bring them here just so that they could help him for free. No, not at all. Hehehe, suckers. "So, where are the meteors, anyway?" Shinji asked. "Be patient," Kensuke said. "They'll be here any minute." And so they waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. (Author's Note: So how about them Spurs?) And my readers wondered why the hell I keep doing this gag. Then, Kensuke finally lost his patience. "Where the hell are they?! They should have been here an hour ago!" Shinji shrugged an, "I don't know." Toji reached the centerfold and nearly ruined the page with a nosebleed. "DAMN! Ms. Ami is naughty!" "They should have been here at ten! I don't understand what could have gone wrong! Could the newspapers have screwed up?" "Uh... Kensuke?" Shinji said, trying to get his friend's attention. "That's impossible. I double-checked with all of my sources! Did we miss it?" "Kensuke? Kensuke!" "A once in a lifetime chance and we miss it!" Crap, what the hell am I supposed to do with the project? I'm bombing that class for sure..." "KENSUKE!" Toji said, having been fed up with his friend's ranting (and not to mention having gone through the Sailor Moon Bondage Hentai Edition) and grabbed him by the shirt collar and shook him back to reality. "Kensuke," Shinji said in a soft voice. "It's 9:00. Your watch is two hours ahead." And so, Kensuke did a standard anime face-fault. You've got to love anime. Of course you do. Why else would you be reading? So, with an hour left to kill, the boys decided to sit back and relax by the campfire. "Hey, Kensuke," said Toji as he leaned back and admired the stars. "Sailor Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, or Jupiter?" Hmm, I'd have to go with Venus. How about you, Shinji?" What!" he asked, a bit flustered. "I don't think about things like that!" oji looked at him questioningly. Then, he smiled an evil smile. I see," he said with a grin. "Tuxedo Mask." WHAT! HEY!" he other two erupted in laughter as Shinji started to blush. We're only kidding. But seriously, who do you choose?" Well, if I really had to choose then Mercury." oji flashed the centerfold at Shinji, who suffered a nosebleed shortly thereafter. Oh, now I see," Kensuke said in a professional psychiatrist's voice. He also pushed his glasses up his nose Gendo style. "Your choice wasn't only made by your conscious self, but also your subconscious. Your answer reflects your true feelings in real life." Meaning?" Toji asked as he handed Shinji a towel to halt his bleeding. ensuke flashed an evil grin. SHINJI LIKES REI!!!!!" N-no I-I... The similarities are outstanding and obvious. They each have blue hair, though Rei's is a lighter color. They are each quiet and serious. They both like swimming." Kensuke's grin widened. "The antithesis of Asuka." "Haha, amen to that!" Toji said. "But what would anyone want with a bitch like Asuka?" "Hey," Shinji said. "Asuka's not a bi-" "Though he is kind of sweet on her," Toji finished, making Shinji blush. "Be careful about how you talk about her royal demoness around him," Kensuke teased. "You remember what he did to those guys." Shinji became uneasy. This, Toji noticed. "It's all right," Toji reassuringly said. "Those bastards had it coming. You should never hit a girl, no matter how much of a bitch she is, especially if she's one of the ones who have to save your ass and the rest of the world's. How the hell did you do that anyway? I've seen people jump before, but you fucking flew. And I ain't ever see anyone hit the ground like that, before. I didn't know you could go Jackie Chan on someone's ass like that. If they train you guys that well, then I'm having second thoughts about jumping Soryu." "I can't really remember that much" "No wonder," Kensuke said. "After moving that much, you were bound to give in to some mental stress. Not to mention physical. But compared to those guys, you might as well have gotten out unscathed." Shinji became uneasy again. Toji changed the subject. "Hey Kensuke, you know why they call it PMS? Because Mad Cow Disease was already taken! (Author's note: I know it's wrong, but you gotta admit that it's funny!)" Kensuke laughed while Shinji merely smiled. He's a tough audience. ================================================================== Aoba, Makoto, and Maya basically lounged in the control room with nothing better to do. The Magi pretty much did everything that needed to be done and human intervention was needed only when something drastic happened. And nothing ever happened on boring night shifts (Author's Note: Hehehehe). An alarm rung on Makoto's desk. He looked up from his copy of a Sailor Moon Bondage Edition Hentai Manga and glanced at his terminal. It was time. "Hey Shigeru, come here for a second!" he called. Soon enough, his longhaired friend came to where he was. "What's up?" he asked. "Take a look at this." He tapped his keyboard a few times and the screen changed from a spreadsheet that he was supposed to be working on error reports on to a camera's view. It showed the Earth from above in space. "Is that the" Aoba said. "Yeah, I did. I hacked into the Hiroty satellite's camera." "That's great, but why?" "Don't you know? Tonight's the meteor shower!" "Oh yeah" "We've got the best view of the show from here." "Yeah, but why would you want to watch a meteor shower?" Aoba asked, rolling his eyes. Makoto smiled. "The satellite's going to close. From this view, the sparks are going to be practically jumping at us!" "Riiiiiiiiiight..." "Oh, come on. Give it a chance." "Hi guys. What are you doing?" a voice from behind them asked. They jumped in surprise and turned around to find Maya looking over their shoulder. "Is that the" "Yep," Makato said proudly. "But isn't it illegal to hack into government property?" Makato face-faulted (gotta love anime). "Oh, come on! It's not like were planning an assassination! We're-" "No, just him," Aoba quickly said to cover his ass. "--only doing this to get a better view of the meteor shower." "Well... all right. Just so long as I can watch, too." "Oh, that's just fine!" Aoba exclaimed happily. Makato sighed in disgust. He didn't mind having Maya watch but his friend's behavior was a bit sickening. Apparently, he didn't see how Maya looked at Ritsuko. A few seconds later, the meteors appeared on the screen. The three watched in awe at the natural fireworks show that appeared on the bootlegged camera feed. But then something caught their eye. A white, bug-like object flew across the screen and into Earth's atmosphere. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. "Hello, what's going on--- My God!" Sub-Commander Fuyutski seemed to appear out of nowhere and was staring at the screen. The three froze in shock and surprise and expected Fuyutski to say something about Makato's hacking habits. But he just continued to stare at the screen. After the large object crashed to Earth, two smaller ones appeared. Fuyutski was in shock. He grabbed his cellular phone and contacted Gendo. While the phone was ringing, he addressed the three. "Forget everything that you've seen tonight!" "Yes, sir!" the three responded promptly. They quickly scattered out of sight. The taciturn man rarely raised his voice about anything. When he yelled, it was a cue to listen and listen carefully. If they're here, he thought, then things are going to get vey very complicated for us. Then despite of himself, he scoffed. So neither Ikari nor SEELE will have things go exactly as planned. ------------------------------------------------------------- Roughly an hour later, the three boys were at their "posts" and were scanning the sky for any activity. And they waited. And waited. Then suddenly, Shinji spotted something burning in the sky (Gotcha didn't I?). And pretty soon, more of them appeared. "Kensuke, I think I've found them!" "Where?" "There." "I hate it when people say that! When you people where they are, they say 'here!' You know how annoying that is? Where is your concept of 'here?' Would it kill you to be more specific?" "Fine! Two O'clock from where you are!" Perfet!" Kensuke keyed in something on his laptop at a speed, which would have made Ritsuko, say, "The force is strong with this one." "What is all this stuff for anyway?" Toji asked as he examined a small machine connected to his scope. "I need to gather data on the meteors, too. These things record things like their speed, distance, length of the tail, and that sort of junk." "All this looks expensive. How'd you pay for all this stuff?" Shinji asked. "Well," Kensuke said, chuckling nervously. "It's my dad's. I'm borrowing them." "And does he know you're borrowing them?" Shinji asked with a raised eyebrow. "He doesn't have to know" Shinji sighed disapprovingly. "All in the name of Science," Kensuke said, trying desperately to cover his ass. "I have a bad feeling me and Shinji are gonna be taking some of the heat if anything goes wrong," Toji said. He was now more careful around the equipment, treating everything like it was going to break if he barely brushed against it. "So make sure you don't break anything!" Toji sighed. The bright dots in the sky got closer. "Hey, aren't you going to call Osaka-2 to name your comet? There are a bunch of them out there," Shinji said. "Yeah, but I'm waiting for a big one. All these are just small fries. When people hear the name Aida, I want them to think big." Kensuke stuck his chest out in an attempt to look manlier. It was a failed attempt, though "Are you sure it's not just to compensate for something?" Toji remarked. "Hey, look whose talking. We all saw you on the "Over-the-Rainbow! That's not exactly something to be proud of," Kensuke replied. While the other two bickered, Shinji kept right on stargazing. The beauty of meteors captivated him. It was as if the heaven's fire rained down upon man and its magnificence was showcased to the entire planet. Shinji watched as comet after comet passed by, each with its own aura of power. Their tails were their rank among their society. The one with the largest and brightest would be respected and adored by all. Each comet cut a tear of light through the ebony sky, drowning the light of any other star, replacing their presence with its own. He stared in awe at their beauty and realized that if any one of them were to penetrate the atmosphere and still retain their size and integrity, then a real Third Impact would occur, coldly wiping out the remaining life on the injured Earth. Then, one of them caught his eye. At first, it looked just like the others. However, it was getting bigger and bigger. "That's the one!" he heard Kensuke exclaim. It is big, Shinji thought. But what the it's getting closer! He glanced at the nearby terminal and his fear was confirmed. The numbers indicated that the thing was getting closer and close to Earth. And unlike the others that only passed by, this seemed to be on a collision course. It showed no signs of stopping or even slowing down. "Yes, at coordinates 63-91-05. Air Aida. That's right. What's so funny?" A few seconds later, it became horribly obvious that the comet was going to hit. "Oh, shit" Kensuke said before he dropped the phone. A few more seconds later and it became more horribly obvious that it was going to hit near where they were. Even if they did run away, they'd never make it. Even if it didn't cause a nuclear winter, where they were standing would soon be a smoking hole in the ground. Shinji, despite of all his training, froze. He half expected Section Two to arrive and get them out, but chances are they'd have already fled. Even if they did come, it would still have been too late. The others also froze and just stared at the soon-to-be cause of their deaths. They already knew that it would be futile to try and escape, so they decided to hang back and enjoy the ride. "Might as well enjoy the view," Toji muttered. It was also futile to try and lighten up the mood, but the other two wouldn't care in about thirty seconds. Why am I just standing here? Shinji thought. If Asuka were here, she would have run. She'd fight to the very end. But she isn't My last moments on Earth. I might as well enjoy them. "If you had twenty seconds left to live..." someone said. Shinji didn't know who said it. It could have been either of his friends, but he didn't know which one. All he knew was that someone said it. "...how would you spend them?" Behind him, Shinji could faintly hear Kensuke drop to his knees and say something he didn't understand. A few moments later, Shinji heard enough so that he didn't have to understand what he was saying. Kensuke was praying in Latin. Kensuke's Catholic? He never told me before, he absently thought. To his side, Shinji could see Toji pulling out his wallet and opening it. Shinji saw what Toji was looking at. It was a family photo taken before Tokyo-3's first battle. They were inside the garden of a shrine. Toji was on one knee with his arm draped over his sister's shoulder. Their parents were standing behind them, their arms on each other shoulders. From the corner of Toji's eyes, Shinji could see that tears were forming. One made its way down his cheek to the corner of Toji's mouth. Shinji almost snapped. He wanted to tell him he was sorry. They'd been over it a million times before. Toji was sick of telling him that it wasn't his fault that Mari was injured. It was those damn angels, he said. Take one down for her in your next fight! But he didn't believe it. His damn heart didn't believe it. He wanted to tell him badly that he was sorry. He was sorry that the last time he saw his sister, she was strapped to a goddamn wheel chair or in a goddamn hospital bed where they had to hook her up to some fucking machines just so that she could fucking breathe. He wanted to say that he was sorry that the last time he was with his entire family, they were stuck in a goddamn hospital room sitting around an unconscious eight year-old's body when they should have out in a goddamn park instead, having a good time playing in the sun like the happy goddamn family that they were supposed to be. They were supposed to be a family. But it was too late. Shinji had never really been religious. He never went to churches or shrines unless he was told to. But the opportunity of death can unlock the hearts of those that never used to be free. He dropped to his knees and prayed for something every human wants when he or she realizes that what they've done in the past can't be changed, even though they now realize that it was just outright wrong. And even though he fought everyday for the sake of mankind, Shinji was no exception. He prayed for forgiveness. "I'm sorry for all the people I've ever hurt, all the families that were torn apart because I couldn't handle the responsibilities that were given to me. For all that suffered because of me. For anyone that's suffered because of my inabilities. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. And finally, I'm sorry that I never told them that I... that I..." The ball of light came closer and closer. In about five seconds more seconds, they would be incinerated. Shinji realized that when nothing could be done to alter one's faith, that there could be no actions to prevent the inevitable, there was peace. He was about to die, and he was at peace. It wasn't like battlefield where he could keep on fighting until the very end. There was nothing that he could do. And he accepted that. Despite the situation, it felt nice. He could now see the comet, though it was still shrouded in light. It was oblong and about the size of a two-story house. It'll hit somewhere on the field, and there'll be one last flash Shinji thought. I won't even shield my eyes. They're burned, anyway And so, it landed. Shinji felt some heat and pain, but it was instantaneous. Then, complete nothingness. Or so he thought he would. Instead, the meteor slowed at the last possible second, preventing it from making a large crater, and skidded a few hundred feet. It tore through the lone trees and vegetation before stopping a less than comfortable ten meters away from the tent. The white light emanating from it died down and revealed something that looked like a giant BUG!?? Shinji thought. No, it's a-it's a spaceship?! No what am thinking... Wait! Could it be...? The object was a large oblong shape with six pikes supporting it. There were three on one side and three on the other giving the boys the impression that they were legs. Legs of a bug. Each pike was slanted and about fifteen feet long. One could see small, round windows on the white, metallic body, similar to portholes on a ship. The "front" was purplish and made of an almost transparent material. The rest of the ship was covered in white metal. Shinji had seen many oddities since joining NERV, but he had never seen anything like this before outside of Saturday morning anime. He stared at it in a mixture of shock, awe, surprise, and fear. It hadn't even occurred to him that he wasn't dead yet. It hadn't occured to him that he may be dead and this was some part of his afterlife. For Kensuke, however, the shock wore of almost instantaneously. He knew what he was looking at, no doubt about it. It was a UFO, an alien vessel. And the possibility of a third kind encounter seemed to be handed to them on a silver platter. The boy was in... ecstasy. Then, a round piece of the underbelly slowly detached from the main body and descended to the ground. Lights also dropped down from the underbelly behind the piece and shined on the three boys who had gotten out of the tent to get a closer look. It appeared that someone was on the circular piece, implying that it was an elevator. The lights effectively created a silhouette effect, masking the details of the figure on the high-tech elevator. Kensuke, having regained some of his senses, turned on his old camera and started recording. He held it in his hands, not actually looking through the eyepiece, and just pointed it the action so that he, himself, would be able to witness the event with his own eyes. The figure on the elevator was about six to seven feet tall, humanoid, and well built. It was carrying a small sack in a way that gave the impression that neither hell nor high water would get him to let go. The elevator reached the ground and the figure stepped off. He looked at the two boys who were staring in shock and another boy who was grinning very widely. "You have to get out of here," he said. His voice was male, low and commanding. The elevator made it's way back up quickly and the lights impeding the boys' vision retracted back into the ship. And thus, the mysterious figure was revealed. The first thing that Shinji noticed was that the alien was green. There were pinkish red sections on his arms, mainly the shoulder, fore arm and biceps. Deep grooves also covered his arms. They seemed to be lines engraved onto his hands lengthwise. The second thing that Shinji noticed were his clothes. He was wearing what would pass for a red vest over a long sleeved white shirt. There was a bundle of white cloth around his neck, covering it completely. He wore white pants and a white belt made out of the same material his collar was. And finally, the third thing that stuck Shinji strange was his head. He had no hair on his head, whatsoever. His ears were large and pointed. His nose was pointed, as well, and two things resembling antennas were sticking out of his forehead. "Listen," he said. He reached into his back and took out a small, orange ball the size of a baseball. He looked up at the horizon and threw it. I mean THREW IT. It flew until it was completely out of sight. "I'm expecting some guests who'll probably want trouble" He reached in again and did the same thing, though he hurled it in a different direction. "...So you probably want to get as far away from here as possible" He reached in his bag and did it again. Another thing that struck Shinji odd was that, for an alien, he spoke Japanese very well. His tone wasn't unfriendly, though it was deadly serious. He did not doubt his truthfulness. He grabbed another ball and threw it. "Well?" He grabbed yet another orb and hurled it across the sky. "What're you waiting for?" He took out another ball and seemed to use extra force on it, disappearing in the sky rather than the horizon. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, two more objects came crashing down to Earth at high speeds. None of the stooges saw it coming. They were probably too busy notice the beeping equipment in the tent or even just to look at the sky to notice two huge balls of light careening towards them. The two objects pulled the same trick as the first ship, though it didn't slow down enough to prevent from creating a small crater around where they landed, about fifty feet from where the green alien's ship was. The green man turned to face them, turning his back on the astonished trio, not the least bit surprised at their arrival. Unlike the first ship, the two that recently arrived were much smaller. They were two identical spheres with a radius of about a meter and a half. Through large violet window on the front, figures could be seen sleeping under the veil of darkness. Then, a hydraulic hissing sound could be heard as a segment of the exterior slowly fell away like the stairs opening on a commercial airplane, revealing the slumbering passengers. To Shinji, they looked human. Hell, if he didn't see them in a spaceship that just landed a few seconds ago, he wouldn't even take a second glance to confirm that they were human. Doing that would have made him look weird. They both wore a blue skin-tight body suit under a piece of clothing that resembled a plastic sleeveless shirt with large shoulder pads. The "shirt" was segmented, which made it appear like a piece of armor. They were also wearing a fur belt, though Shinji didn't think that they needed it. The alien on the left was a large brutish man with big, pointy hair. It was long enough to reach the small of his back. Since their suits were skintight, Shinji had no trouble seeing his large muscles and goliath built figure. His eyes opened and exposed his dark brown eyes, dark enough to be mistaken as black. He stood up slowly and was so tall that it reminded Shinji of when Misato had taken him to the tall viewpoint to watch the buildings emerge from the Geofront. He took one look at the boys and the green alien and basically sneered. The other figure also had awoken. He was much shorter than the other one and much more passive. He was muscular as well, but his figure wasn't bulging like that of the tall one's. His hair pointed upwards as well, though it wasn't as long. He stepped out and looked at the three boys and the green man as if he was judging them. The bigger one, about eight feet tall, stepped out as well, eyes still locked on Shinji, his friends, and the other alien, and laughed. It was a pretentious, arrogant, egotistical, and haughty laugh. "Are you the final obstacle to immortality?" he bellowed. It was a very deep and manly voice. It was also an ignorant and brutish one. The two boys stared in shock. How did he know how to speak Japanese (and where the hell can I learn?) The shorter one eyed the four intently, though the green man and Shinji held most of his attention. "Do you realize what planet we're on, Adama?" His voice was low and serious. It wasn't as deep as his friend's, either. He wasn't extremely confident as his companion was, but instead, he had a calm and cool demeanor. They both wore strange eyepieces that covered one eye and attached to an ear. A square, transparent, green lens completely covered the eye, as well as some of the skin around it. The one called Adama tapped some buttons on the side of it and numbers and other symbols appeared on it, though they were too small and mirror imaged for Shinji to see. Then he seemed to scan the area, looking around with his eyepiece. "A planet full of weaklings," he scoffed. "All the life forms here are incredibly pathetic. Not one of them has a level of over five or six. My grandma could conquer this place in a week." He then looked at the green alien and Shinji could see the numbers on the lens drastically increase. "Except for the Namek," he said pointing to the green man. "But he's only at 1000. It's still too easy, Nariko." "Where are the Dragonballs?" Nariko said in a loud and sharp voice. Shinji became startled at his intensity, though he wasn't the one being addressed. The tone nearly matched his father's, and everyone knows that their relationship ain't so great right now. "Why don't you look for it yourself, or are you too lazy to search for them yourself?" the green man, called a Namek, said calmly. He crossed his arms and just stared back. His face was cold, emotionless, and serious. It would have matched Ayanami's, if Rei were large, green, and pointy-eared. At those words, the bigger one lost his temper. "Is that so you dirty bastard!? Maybe your damned mouth will open once I knock a few fucking teeth out!" His fist was raised and clenched in anger. Unlike the other two, this one was very easily pissed. A small, cross-shaped vein was popping out of the corner of his forehead while he blurted out his last comment for everyone in a four-mile radius to hear. Luckily, thanks to the fast-acting cowardice of Section-2, there was none. "Adama!" Nariko scolded. "Do you realize what planet we're on?" he asked again, emphasizing every word. His voice held a high level of seriousness and a small bit of alarm, which caused the very pissed off Adama to calm down. "No," he said. "What's so special about it?" "We're in one of the only inhabitable planets of the northern galaxy. This is The Blue Gem in the Dark Sky." His voice suddenly became grave. "This is Earth." The large one gasped in shock. It was like someone just told him that he was standing on a very large time bomb with a very short fuse. And someone just lit it. He looked around, furiously tapping the buttons on his eyepiece, searching for something he had no desire of finding. Adama was now very tense and on end. "Blue Gem in the Dark Sky," he mumbled to himself, repeating the words of prophecy that he wished secretly never to hear spoken seriously of. B-but,it's just a legend, right? Right?" He asked as he continued to scan for something. "It's been about forty years," Nariko said as he gazed at the night sky. "I wasn't sure when we first arrived" he said. He turned back to the humans. "But I think it might be. YOU!" he yelled at the three boys. "Unless you want to find out how it feels to have your hearts ripped out from your chests, then I suggest you run." The Namek turned back to face the boys. His face was calm but suddenly shifted to angry. "WHAT ARE YOU STILL WAITING FOR?!!!!!" he yelled. He grabbed Toji by the collar and threw him forcefully into the tent through a widow. "GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled to the other two. Shinji and Kensuke gasped in shock and ran into the tent to collect their temporarily airborne friend. They found him lying on some of Kensuke's machines, dazed but generally unhurt. "Toji, come on, we gotta go!" Shinji whispered urgently as he dragged his friend to his feet. Kensuke took the time to grab a few things from the place before rushing out to join his retreating friends. -------------------------------------------------------------- Adama laughed as the three scrambled into the woods. "This planet has the weakest species," he scoffed. "Tell me," the Namek started. "Is that tail of yours preventing blood to circulate to your brain?" "What the fuck do you mean by that?!" "One of them is a Saiyan." "You've got to be kidding," Adama laughed. "Not one of those idiots could be one of us!" "He's right," Nariko said, breaking his silence. "What do you mean? Then he could be-" Adama was cut off by Nariko. "I wasn't sure before, but now, there's almost no doubt." "Yes. Genoke's son." "NO!" "The Herald of Death exists. And that boy is one of the sons." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Omake: "If you had twenty seconds left to live" someone said. Shinji didn't know who said it. It could have been either of his friends, but he didn't know which one. All he knew was that someone said it. "how would you spend them?" "Kensuke," Toji said. "Yeah?" Kensuke gulped. He was on his knees and praying. "You got anymore of those magazines?" ===================================================================== Final Battousai: (Walks onto stage in gi and obi with a reverse-blade sword strapped to waist) Let's see... Uh... Stuff happens and uh... some more stuff... then um... I'm no good at this... Misato: (Slyly, wearing skimpy house clothes) I can help you out... Final Battousai: (Gulp) Uh... ok... Misato: (Walks over to the author and gets real, real close) That is, of course, if you pay me... Final Battousai: (Dumbly nods) Uh...huh... Misato: In the next chapter, the three boys hurry back to civilization as Adama and the Namek battle overhead. SEELE takes action against these newcomers and the EVAS are deployed to battle the a... hairy... enemy. In the next chapter: Truobled Night! You won't want to miss it! Final Battousai: Wow, that was great! Misato: (Brushes hair aside) It was the experience. (Grins) Now what do you got to pay me? Final Battousai: (Looks in pockets) Sorry, all I have is this sword. But it's worthless. (Takes off of waist) Have a look. Misato: (Takes it) Hmm... the blade is on the wrong side! Final Battousai: (Smiles) I'm afraid it's of no use for anything. Misato: (Grinning) It's got some use... Misato draws it and beats the author down, a worthy punishment for writing such a poor quality fan fiction... MIsato: (Dusting off hands and walking away) Have fun writing the next chapter. FInal Battousai: Orooooo... ============================================================================= END Hum "Fly me to the Moon" here. DATE OF COMPLETION: Version 1.0 Initial completion: 08/13/01 Revised 1.1 Released on EA Archive: 08/21/01 Revised 1.2 Released on Fanfiction.net: 08/25/01 Revised 1.3 Without any actual improvement to the story or grammar: 12-22-01 Revised 2.0 Second draft completed, finally!: 4-2-02 ============================================================================= Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion characters, situation, and elements are the product of Gainax and a dude by the name of Hideaki Anno and are usd without permission. Dragonball Z elements are the product of Funimation and A REALLY GREAT guy named Akira Toriyama.Having said that, I hope he doesn't sue us since they are also used with no permission. Though I'll stand by saying than FUNi are a bunch of idiots who over charge for DBZ but Yu Yu Hakusho rules! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes/ Ramblings/ Complaints: V 1.3 I live! Changes in this revision are: Rei's in character, more or less, random changes in prose, and fixed most grammar errors. V 1.2 I had not seen a good serious DBZ/EVA crossover in... forever and even after completing the second chapter, I have not seen one yet. There's a good parody out there somewhere. It's called Neon Genesis DBZ on ff.net. The idea was inspired after hitting the caffeine too hard at a party where sleep was prohibited. Act of God or a Mischief of the Devil, you tell me. Constructive criticism would be nice though flames are expected. TLoM Site: http://members.tripod.com/gotenks_154/ Email: ikari_the_stampede@yahoo.com V 1.1 Well, what'd you think? This is pretty screwed up. I don't think I've ever seen an Eva/DBZ crossover before. But this won't be just a crossover. I have a pretty good idea where the story's going, though you never know where one can find inspiration. About all my cracks against Shinji, there's a website devoted to preventing the mistreatment of laughing boy and I'm probably going to get hate mail from that organization. But I was only kidding when I wrote all that stuff. I consider myself to be the 857th Shinji fan in the U.S. I think it took me about a month to complete this. I usually write at night and whenever I feel like it. Schools starting soon so I don't know when I'll be able to finish the next chapter. I don't know whether it will be as long as this one, but the second chapter is coming soon. Where did I get the inspiration for this little ditty? Interesting story (though I don't think anyone will read it). I was at a party. It was me and a bunch of friends. We hooked up a bunch of my TV's, Game systems, VCR's, and DVD players in one room. It wasn't the biggest room in the world, but it suited our purposes. Two TV's were adjacent to one another and an idiot friend of mine had the wise idea of playing Evangelion on one and a DBZ movie in the other (It was the tournament where Gohan fought Bojack. Not too bad.). Keep in mind that it was about 4:30 in the morning, none of us had slept in about twenty hours, and we were basically running on caffeine. Needless to say, some of us were disoriented. Well, we were watching for a while when I heard someone yell: "Go Shinji! Turn Super Saiyajin 2 and use your kamehameha!" Or something like that. I was kind of out of it, too. I could only remember thinking one thing. WHAT????????????????? This was during the fourteenth Angel battle. At about the part where the EVA shuts down, Goku just came down from heaven and told Gohan to use his full power. So while SS2 Gohan was pounding up on Bojack and his friends, the EVA was going berserk and ripping everything apart. The timing of that was pretty scary. Anyway, some of us collapsed and the first person who fell asleep had a KICK ME written on their forehead. "Have fun at your soccer game, Chris!" Anyway, after I had recovered, a twisted fic started brewing in my already dysfunctional head. After about two or three months of deliberation, I came up with this. By the way, I didn't waste those two or three months. I came up with a very interesting outline. So stick around. This is probably my best work to date and going to become my masterpiece. Questions, comments, criticisms, and death threats will be taken with good cheer at taimaishu76@yahoo.com TLoM Website: members.tripod.com/gotenks_154/ (It's so cool!!! Okay, not really but go there anyway!) SEE YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ V 1.1 "You know the saying 'There's more than one way to skin a cat?' In the neighborhood I grew up in, it went 'There's more than one way to steal a stereo.'" --SFC Carlos R. (Retired) V 1.0 "She is intolerable, but that is her only fault." -Talleyrand, of a young lady of the Court