Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the property of Gainex and Dual: Parallel Troubled Adventure is the property of Pioneer. I am just a humble ff writer trying to bring a little joy into the lives of others and myself.
Author's Notes: Well, it has been nearly three years since I've updated this story. After re-reading it myself, I decided to do a re-write. I tried to take some of the waff out and add some additional character development as well as restructure the story so each chapter is about the same length. I hope you like the results. I'd like to extend a word of thanks to Sanji Himura for beta-reading this chapter for me. Thanks Sanji. ^__^
After reading this chapter, if you enjoyed what you read, please take a moment of your time to let me know, and even if you didn't enjoy it, please let me know why. Thank you and now I present, "In the Hands of a Real Hero'"
An Evangelion/Dual crossover
In the Hands of a Real Hero'
Description: This story takes place nine months after the end of episode 14 of Dual. Zinv is being readied for space travel. Kazuki Yotsuga is the only one capable of piloting the extraordinary mecha. Professors Sanada and Rara head the project under U.N. supervision. Mitsuki Sanada is following in her father's footsteps as his assistant while Kazuki and Mitsuki Rara share a growing relationship that started six months earlier.
In an alternate universe, the headquarters of NERV in Tokyo 3 are a buzz of excitement and grave anticipation. Rumors run rampant that the Dead Sea Scrolls predict the eminent arrival of the third angel. In anticipation of this event, the commander of NERV has summoned his son, Shinji Ikari to Tokyo 3.
Chapter One: Laying the Ground Work
Story begins in the Dual universe.
In the Zinv simulator at the launch center in the southern end of Saitama Prefecture north of Tokyo
"I am securing the first solar panel to the main housing now." Kazuki relayed to the control center. From his vantage point inside the simulator, it appeared as if he was slowly maneuvering the large panel array into position and using a giant specialized drill to secure the first one in place.
"The first panel is secure." Kazuki holstered the drill. "I am moving on to the next panel." He added as he moved weightlessly into position in front of the second panel.
"Make sure your umbilical cord is a safe distance from the panels," instructed Commander Sanada.
As if on queue, Zinv's lifeline connecting him to the shuttle, that also provided power for the drill, struck the array sending the chain of 10 panels twisting away from the station. The force exerted on the bolt that Kazuki had just secured was too great for it to handle and it snapped sending the entire structure sailing away. Kazuki desperately tried to grab it but only managed to lose his equilibrium and went drifting off, spinning head over heals.
A frustrated young female voice commanded, "End simulation! End it now!"
The monitors within the simulation pod went black as the rear floodlights came on and the hatch opened, revealing a frustrated and sweaty pilot with his elbows on his knees and his head hung low.
"Nice going, Second Lieutenant Yotsuga-san, you just managed to lose over five hundred billion yen of equipment to the vacuum of space."
"Can it, Mitsuki." The young seventeen-year old pilot snapped back without looking up at her.
"Don't act so familiar. That's First Lieutenant Sanada-san to you," retorted Mitsuki.
Kazuki slowly lifted his head and glared at her for a moment, then went on. "You know as well as I, First Lieutenant Sanada-san, this simulation was for work that won't be done on the space station for at least a year still."
"That may be true, Kazuki-kun, but that error was still a basic one. You need to keep closer track of your umbilical cord." Commander Sanada informed him.
"Yes sir." Kazuki looked off to the side for a moment, trying to regain his composure. With his emotions in check, he finally asked, "are we done for today?"
"Yes, Kazuki-kun, I think twelve hours in the simulator is enough for one day," declared Commander Rara.
The pilot gave a nod and exited the pod, making his way to the lockers.
"Don't you two think you're being a little hard on the lad?" Rara asked looking from Ken Sanada then to his co-commander's daughter.
"We need to be hard on him," Mitsuki replied, "once he's in space, there won't be any room for errors like this one. And we won't be able to just stop like with the simulator and start over again."
"Mitsuki's right, but he has been working awfully hard these past six weeks. Perhaps a little time off before the launch on Saturday would help him clear his mind and allow him to refocus," Sanada suggested.
"I agree. We don't want him burning out just before the launch," Rara concurred.
"I'll let him know," Mitsuki said as she set her clipboard down and headed out of the simulation center.
Looking after his friend's daughter as she left the area, Rara commented, "She really turned out to be a chip off the old block, hey Sanada. You must be very proud." The shorter, round commander smiled.
"Yes, she's everything a proud father could want in a daughter." Sanada smiled then remembered Rara's daughter and her decision not to get involved in the program. "Well, what I meant is… You see…" The commander started to turn red faced.
"That's alright old friend. I'm very proud of my Mitsuki too. She's beautiful, intelligent, a great cook and engaged to the most eligible bachelor on the planet. What more could an old-fashioned man want for his daughter." He smiled.
They both stood there for a moment, smiling and counting their many blessings since the fusion of the two worlds before Captain Schwael approached them and cleared her throat.
"Commanders, shall we go over the flight plan again?" She held up the 1200-page document that covered every detail of the 90-minute flight that was to take place in just three days.
Clearing their throats in embarrassment, they nodded and agreed in unison, each grabbing their own copy of the document and headed for the command center.
As Kazuki approached the men's locker room, he spied his fiancée in the distance. Seeing her brightened his spirits instantly and he quickened his pace, eventually breaking into a light jog. As he came close, he extended his arms and engulfed her in an embrace, but it only lasted a second.
"Ewww! You're all sweaty." Mitsuki backed away.
"Well, that'll happen after twelve hours in the simulator." He chuckled and scratched that back of his head, "but I missed you." Kazuki's expression became very serious and he tried to take her into his arms once again.
This time she raised her hands to his chest to stop his advance. "How about a kiss now and a hug after you've showered and changed?" She smiled sweetly at him.
"Oooh, alright," he said with fake disappointment. He leaned in so they could share a simple light kiss.
"Are you done for today?" She took another step back and lowered her hands.
He nodded. "Yeah, but two more days of this and they'll be sending a corpse up into space on Saturday."
"Don't say that. Not even joking," Mitsuki raised her hand to her mouth.
"I don't know why the commanders are pressing so hard. I've run through the flight plan over a hundred times already without as much as a hiccup and now they have me performing simulations on stuff I won't be doing for almost a year. I don't get it. It's almost like they're just trying to find things to keep me busy." An exasperated Kazuki sighed.
With genuine concern etched on her face, Mitsuki replied, "would you like me to speak to my father? Perhaps I can persuade him to lighten your load."
"Not likely," came a firm female voice from down the hall. They both turned to see Mitsuki Sanada approaching.
"Hello, Mitsuki-sama," Miss Rara said bowing respectfully.
"Hi, Mitsuki-san," Miss Sanada responded flatly.
"Now what do you want?" The young pilot snapped. "If you've come to drag me back into the simulator, you can forget about it. I'm through for the day. You can find someone else to bark your commands at."
"Kazuki-kun" Mitsuki Rara gasped.
Placing her hands on her hips and scowling at her subordinate, Mitsuki Sanada replied, "I didn't come to BARK commands at you. I…"
"So you just came to let me know what an awful job I did on the simulator today. Well, save it. I've got the flight plan down pat. I could go through it in my sleep, so keep your criticisms to yourself." He shot back.
His fiancée placed a hand on his arm which he quickly shook off, causing her to take a step away from him in fright. Mitsuki Sanada narrowed her lips and glared at him. She took several deep breaths to try and calm her rage. "I didn't come to criticize or command. I came to tell you, you've got tomorrow off. Not that you deserve it, you arrogant little shit." With that she spun around and marched back to the command center.
Kazuki gaped and his eyes went wide. "Mitsuki, wait!" He called after her, but she gave no response. Hanging his head in shame and disgust over his behavior, he whispered, "Damn."
"Kazuki-kun, what came over you? You've never spoken to Mitsuki-sama like that." His fiancée hesitated a moment before placing a worried hand upon his shoulder.
Turning toward her with eyes filled with sadness, he shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know why I did that." Seeing her expression, he added, "I'm sorry I scared you."
She smiled back at him. "It's okay."
Looking down the hall once again, he reasoned. "I'll have to apologize to her the next time I see her." He turned back to his fiancée and smiled. "Well, one good thing. We've got tomorrow and the next two nights together."
Mitsuki smiled and walked up to Kazuki, placing her arms around his sweaty neck and kissing him passionately. "Yes, we do, but before anything else, you need to find Mitsuki-sama and apologize. We won't be able to really enjoy ourselves with this hanging over your head. Okay?"
He frowned for a second before his smile returned. "You always know the right thing to do." He nodded. "Meet me at the car? I'll be out in a few minutes after I shower and change. But I'll find Mitsuki-san first." He added to halt her expected protest.
She smiled and nodded, kissing him once more before heading for the exit.
Watching her as she walked down the hall till she turned the corner, Kazuki couldn't help but to be thankful he had someone so loving and understanding in his life. As opposed to someone who is demanding and overly critical. Sighing once again, he turned around and made his way towards the command center.
Leaning against the wall just outside the command center, Mitsuki Sanada stared at the floor with her arms folder over her chest. Murmuring to herself, she considered the pilot's words. "Am I really that demanding? Am I really that critical?" She closed her eyes as her inner-self provided her with an answer she preferred not to hear.
Suddenly, the words, "yes, you are," reached her ears. Mitsuki opened her eyes slowly and stared questioningly at the floor. "Okay, did I just answer myself out loud or am I hearing voices now? And since when was my inner voice a boy's voice?"
"Since now and I'd say probably the latter," Kazuki said with a smirk, now standing just a few steps from her.
Mitsuki gasped with surprise, and then glared at him once again. Turning towards the door, she spoke coldly, "I'm busy now, Second Lieutenant. I don't have time for idle chit chat."
"Mitsuki-san, wait." He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Please, give me just a minute."
Turning around to face him, she folded her arms over her chest again and gave him a blank stare.
"Mitsuki-san, yes you can be demanding and critical but you know what? Those are actually good qualities for someone in your position. You need to be demanding to get the best out of all of us, me especially, and you need to be critical because of what we're about to do."
Struggling not to smile, Mitsuki replied, "you know, you're not telling me anything I don't already know."
Nodding his understanding, he went on. "I just wanted to let you know, that I know this too; even if I forget sometimes… like I did earlier. I'm sorry for jumping down your throat like that. It was uncalled for. I really do appreciate all you bring to this program, even if I don't always show it."
"Well… you better get out of here now before I change my mind about that day off." She smirked.
Kazuki straightened to attention and saluted. "Yes Ma'am."
When she returned his salute, he spun around and made a hasty retreat back to the locker rooms.
Staring after him for a moment longer, Mitsuki couldn't help but wonder what might have been had she not hesitated so long and allowed Mitsuki Rara to make the first move. But then she reasoned; its better this way. I couldn't date him and be his commander. I couldn't handle that pressure. Shaking the thought from her mind, she turned and entered the command center.
10pm on the road from the launch site to their apartment
Kazuki admired the view as he stared at his fiancée intently from the passenger seat. Every now and then she would glance over at him and see him smiling at her, his eyes never coming off her.
Grinning self-consciously as she drove, she began to blush. "What?"
"What?" Kazuki asked back innocently.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she clarified.
"Because you're so beautiful, and I just can't take my eyes off you," he answered.
"You're so sweet." She giggled lightly and stole another glance at him. "But please stop, you're making me nervous."
"Am I?" he asked wickedly as he leaned closer to her.
Feeling his breath on her cheek and her hair sent a shiver up her spine. "Please Kazuki-kun, I'm driving."
He leaned in just a little more to give her a quick kiss on the cheek and then sat back straight. "Okay, no more teasing." He smiled.
Taking a minute to regain her composure, she asked him, "so what would you like to eat?"
"Just something light, some ramen maybe, I'm too tired for a full meal," he answered as he looked at the countryside pass by.
"Okay."
They continued in silence for a while. Mitsuki knew that although she was the daughter of the commander of the space program, her decision not to be an official part of the program meant she was limited to what information she could be told about it. This limited what Kazuki could say about the work he did. For his part, Kazuki was simply too tired to try and strike up a conversation.
Finally, Mitsuki thought of something that had been a small problem a few weeks ago for him. "So have you had any problems with security recently?"
Turning towards her, he replied, "No. It was just that one time. All the other guards already know me; it was just that new guy." He took a deep breath. "I still can't believe he thought I was some kid trying to pass off a fake ID to get into the facility."
"Well, you do look young for your age," she retorted.
"Not that young."
"I don't know about that. Remember when we were in the grocery story last week, when I left you down the snack aisle so I could get my tampons."
Kazuki nodded, blushing brightly at the mention of the feminine product.
This did not escape Mitsuki's attention and now she had an opportunity to return some of his earlier teasing. "Oh, Kazuki, are you getting a fever?" She reached out with her hand and pressed it against his forehead. "You're all red. Maybe I should take you to the doctor." She struggled to keep a straight face.
Kazuki to her hand into his hands and kissed it. "No, I don't have a fever." Then he returned her hand to the steering wheel. "And remember, you're driving."
Mitsuki gave a soft giggle, then went on with her story. "Well, on the way back, I had a middle-aged woman verbally assault me and threaten to call the police on me for dating a fourteen year old boy," she told him.
"WHAT! No way. I may look young, but I don't look fourteen. That lady must have been blind." He insisted.
"Maybe, but she refused to believe you were any older than fifteen."
"What did you do?"
"I just walked away from her."
"Why didn't you tell me?" A faint frown crossed his face.
"You had a pretty rough day that day and I didn't want to bother you with the rantings of some strange woman."
He reached over and caressed the back of her arm. "You're always looking out for me, always taking care of me."
"It's what I love to do." She smiled.
At their apartment, they ate a simple meal together then got ready for bed. Normally they stayed at Commander Sanada's home, in separate rooms but with the launch quickly approaching, and his heavy workload, Kazuki decided to get an apartment closer to the base. He made sure to get a two-bedroom apartment so Mitsuki could move in with him, with her parent's approval. And while they each had their own room, Mitsuki's constant sleepwalking convinced him that the best thing for her was for her to share his bed. And it worked because her sleepwalking stopped. Though they knew it would not look good if anyone were ever to enter uninvited in the middle of the night, but they had an unspoken agreement to wait until their wedding night in seven months to consummate their relationship, so they felt no guilt sleeping together.
Kazuki lay on his back in a fresh pair of pajamas staring up at the ceiling. He wanted to stay up till Mitsuki came to bed. They hardly spoke at all that day. He had left for the base before she woke up that morning and the few words they exchanged at the base and during the drive home could hardly count as a real conversation. They spoke briefly during dinner but since they only had ramen, the conversation was over much too soon for his taste. Normally, they would stay up and watch the news together and discuss matters of interested that came up. I haven't had a chance to ask her how her day was, he mused. He turned his attention to the bathroom where his fiancée was taking a shower. The sound of the running water was very soothing, a little too soothing. Slowly his eyelids took longer to open after each blink, until eventually they closed and did not reopen.
Ten minutes later, Mitsuki came out of the bathroom in her nightgown, brushing her hair. "So what would you like to do tomorrow, Kazuki, since you don't have to go to the base?" she asked as she headed over to the mirrored dresser to make sure she got all the tangles out of her hair.
After a minute, she realized her fiancé had not reply. She turned and saw him sleeping peacefully, his right hand tucked under his head and his left arm stretched out to the side. She smiled at him and blinked away tears that threatened to escape her eyes.
"You work so very hard, always giving your very best. I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy you think I'm worthy of your love." She closed her eyes and sighed then set the brush on the dresser, turned off the light and got in bed. She scooted up next to Kazuki's side and rested her head on his chest. "I love you, Kazuki Yotsuga. I always will." She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The next day started lazily enough. Since he did not bother to set his alarm clock, they both slept in until nine. While Kazuki showered and dressed, Mitsuki made breakfast. During breakfast she asked what he would like to do for the day. After taking a minute to think about it, he suggested they go on a picnic. He commented on how beautiful the countryside looked as they drove between the apartment and the base but they never had the time to really enjoy it. She agreed and started making a picnic lunch. Meanwhile, Kazuki watched the news to get caught up on current events.
Recent electro-magnetic disturbances had been reported in and around the town of Hakone in the Kanagawa Prefecture. The last Kazuki heard, the cause for the disturbances was still unknown and though Hakone was no where need the base, delaying the launch was seriously considered. In the end, it was decided that there should be no problems and the launch remained on schedule.
After preparing a picnic basket and gathering up a few other things for their day in the country, Mitsuki came into the TV room and sat down next to Kazuki, resting her head on his shoulder. "Is there anything new about the disturbances?"
"No, apparently they've stopped. They said there hasn't been one in over six days," he responded.
"Well, that's good. I know the commanders don't think there's a problem with it but I just feel better knowing there isn't some strange unexplained anomaly happening right before the launch." She looked up at him and offered Kazuki her lips, which he met with his own without hesitation. "Are you ready to go?"
"Mmm" He nodded and turned the TV off. Helping her off the sofa, the young couple made their way past the kitchen to pick up the basket and went out the door.
NERV Headquarters, Tokyo3
In the control room of the testing lab, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi looked over Maya Ibuki's shoulder and allowed a small hint of a smile to cross her face for just a moment.
"Very good, Rei. That is enough for today." She told Unit 00's pilot over the communication system.
"Yes, Doctor." The soft whispery voice of the pilot came back over the comm. system.
"When will we be able to fully activate Unit 00, Doctor?" The tall dark haired man in sunglasses asked while staring out the observation window at the unit in question.
"We still need to go over all the data but assuming all indications are green, final activation should be able to commence in seven days," she replied.
"Good." He turned and started heading for the exit, stopping briefly to add. "Inform me if you find any anomalous results."
"Yes, Commander." She watched him and the sub-commander leave the facility, then turning her attention back to the job at hand. "Has the pilot been ejected yet?"
Shigeru Aoba checked and double checked his readings. "Ejection procedures are currently in progress."
"Excellent. Maya, archive the test data as soon as possible. I want to begin analysis this afternoon."
"Yes ma'am," Maya quickly got to work on it.
Akagi turned to leave the facility, stopping long enough to say, "by the way, good work everyone."
"Thank you, doctor," the three technicians said in unison.
"Seven days, won't that be cutting it close?" Kouzou Fuyutsuki asked as he and his former student walked down the corridor of NERV Headquarters heading for Terminal Dogma.
"Not at all. Seven days provides us with more than enough time to prepare for the arrival of the third angel," replied Commander Gendo Ikari.
But what if the date of its arrival is wrong? Or what if Rei fails to fully synchronize with her eva?" The sub-commander queried, playing the devil's advocate.
"The dates are correct. The Dead Sea Scrolls are never wrong. As for Rei failing to synchronize with Unit Zero; contingencies for that event are already in place." Ikari assured him.
"What sort of contingencies?" Fuyutsuki raised a questioning brow.
To this, the commander remained silent.
After a few short moments, awareness flashed in the older gentleman's eyes. "You don't mean, the Third Child?"
Ikari only allowed the faintest hint of a grin to cross his face for just a second, and then it was gone.