Neon Genesis Evangelion
Pilot's Table
By D.A.
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Title: Behold, Eva!
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 32 (Discover)
Word Count: 1400+
Rating: T
Summary: Though they called for Shinji, Asuka will Pilot.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or anything connected to it. I don't own anything connected to Xena. I do not own anything connected to Tang either.
Notes: I've come across a few fanfics where Shinji and Asuka knew each other when they were little, before Eva. Well, let them discover Eva. Together since the crib.
Part one of the "Co-Pilots" arc. Minor edits.
Obviously AU. Not an X-over.
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"Shinji…" Asuka turned to Shinji and whispered, both of them standing behind Misato, the odd woman conversing with a blond in a lab coat who had introduced herself as a Doctor Ritsuko Akagi.
"Yeah, Asuka?" he whispered back, glancing for a second time through the booklet Misato had given them when she picked them up.
"Pull your nose out of the book for a minute and pay attention!" she hissed, annoyed at him for not paying attention, while the blond doctor argued a point with the purple haired captain.
"Didn't you hear Miss Katsuragi?" he asked her, jerking his gaze up from the booklet, confused as to why she upset with him.
"She said something about Eva. I know I remember hearing about it before, and it wasn't from reading that booklet!" she returned, frowning at him. How could he believe he'd find something by looking a second time when it wasn't there the first time?
"How do you know it isn't in the book?" Shinji asked her, puzzled.
"Because," she said, sounding as if she were talking to a young child, which really they both were, "I looked through it while you were gawking at the Geofront."
Shinji ducked his head, wincing under the focused attention of his fiery friend. It was at this point that the elevator stopped at its destination, the door opening to reveal a catwalk over pink-tinted liquid and a dock with an inflatable boat waiting. Once they had all climbed aboard, Misato started its motor and set out for the far side of the cavernous room. Upon reaching the dock, and getting out of and tying off the boat, Ritsuko lead them to the heavy security door and put in her code.
"Build the suspense why don't you!" Asuka snapped once they had entered the darkened room beyond the security door, annoyed further.
Floodlights clicked on, filling the large room with harsh white-yellow light, and revealing the huge head and broad shoulders of a purple monster. Both Shinji and Asuka jerked back from it, and Asuka's breath caught in her throat.
It was the wrong color, and the face was shaped wrong but…
"Mama…" she breathed, barely loud enough for Shinji to hear her, a faint memory suddenly becoming sharp in her mind and triggering a faint recollection in his. He spared her a glance before the lights in a room hanging from the roof flickered on to reveal the reason Shinji, and thus Asuka, was there: Supreme Commander Gendo Rokobungi, Shinji's father and Asuka's godfather.
"It has been awhile, Shinji, Asuka." his voice echoed in the room, calm, if ever so faintly sad.
No one seemed to noticed anything beyond the calm.
"Father…" Shinji breathed, unsure how to react to Gendo. They'd avoided each other completely for two years now, their only link being Asuka and her determination not to be ignored by her godfather.
"Awhile? How about: For. Freaking. Ever!?" Asuka snapped, not effected by the attempt at intimidation in the slightest, her annoyance peaking.
Ritsuko arched a brown eyebrow, and Misato gaped open-mouthed at the two Children. Or more accurately, at Asuka. Asuka ignored both of them however.
"I will admit to being remiss in my visits as of late, and will correct that… Later. For now, you must be briefed on this beast, and the threat you met when the Captain-" here he directed his calm gaze at Misato, "retrieved you from the train station."
Taking that as her queue, Ritsuko stepped towards the Children and gestured to the purple thing in the center of the pink lake, a gesture that made it seem as if she were presenting a trophy. Which, in a way, she was.
"This is Evangelion Unit One, the second completed, combat-capable, cybernetic fighting-vehicle that is Nerv's primary tool in the defense of Earth against the Angels."
"I know what it is." Asuka said curtly, her memory of a red Evanglion mostly clear, startling the three adults, though Gendo didn't show his surprise, "It's just like the one that took mama. What I want to know is what you want us here for."
"One of you must Pilot it." Gendo said simply.
"I'll do it." Asuka stated firmly, "Just tell me what to do."
She would take the risk. She could feel the danger, or she imagined she could, surrounding this thing. It was a tool for combat, for fighting. For hurting.
For killing.
Shinji wasn't meant for fighting, he was meant to be playing his cello, or cooking great meals. He should be a doctor, not a fighter. Fighting was Asuka's domain, and she preferred the routine that the two of them had built-up over the last few years.
Xena, that's who she was. A guy had called her that once, a year back, when she had kicked him and his cronies out of the schoolyard when they had been bullying Shinji, for what reason he never told her. She'd looked it up, and found she liked the image of a warrior princess.
"Are you sure she can Pilot it?" Asuka heard Misato ask Ritsuko, the Doctor calling out instructions to some of the techs around the Cage, "I thought Shinji was the intended Pilot?"
"If Unit One won't accept her, then it will be as simple as pulling her out and sliding Shinji in." she replied off-handedly. Asuka stared at her. She'd what?!
"Do you even care what happens to these kids?" Misato asked, incredulous. Ritsuko shot her a glare out of the corner of her eye before replying.
"Hell of a time to grow a conscience, Katsuragi." Ritsuko's reply was short and cold, her tone of voice told Misato she'd asked the wrong question of her best friend.
"I'm sorry Ritz, it's just-"
"I know." Ritsuko cut her off gently, then turned to Asuka, "We don't have a plugsuit that would fit your figure. We had only been expected Shinji."
Asuka smiled inwardly at Ritsuko's comment about her figure, but frowned slightly at her mention of thinking only Shinji would come.
"Thus, you'll simply have to Pilot as is." Ritsuko waved her hand, as if to cut off any comment from Asuka, "We'll have spare clothes in your size by the time you return from this sortie."
Asuka frowned, why would she need spare clothes after Piloting a giant robot? She'd just sit in a chair and use whatever controls are there. Probably a couple of joysticks, a few buttons, and a lever or two.
"Shinji," Asuka said, turning to find him waiting nearby, watching her with a nervous expression, "Stay safe."
"I will Asuka."
Next, Asuka turned to Misato, and said fiercely, "You're going to the bridge, or wherever? Take Shinji, and guard him with your life."
Misato nodded, feeling despite herself like she had just gotten a direct order from the last person she ever wanted to cross. A fourteen-year old girl with a crush. Or was she a fourteen-year old sister? This wasn't quite the Asuka she remembered watching over back in Germany before they moved to Japan.
Asuka smiled at Shinji one more time, then followed Ritsuko across the catwalk and around to behind the Eva. Ritsuko briefed her on the basics of Eva Piloting while the entry plug, as she learned it was called, was removed and prepped for her to Pilot in.
It was both deceptively simpler and yet more complex than she had thought it would be.
Think walk and it will. Thought makes action. Got it.
Asuka climbed into the plug and sat in the command chair. It was obviously sized for someone her age. She was comfortable sitting there in her jeans and t-shirt and, when the plug sealed-up, felt safe. The controls consisted of two butterfly handles, which had several switches in the hand guard, and looked like they could be pulled back and up into regular joysticks.
Asuka took a deep breath, and a window opened up to her right. A crystal-clear flat-hologram floated over her right hand and displayed an older, dark haired version of Ritsuko.
"Hello Asuka, my name is Naoko Akagi." the woman said, sounding very much like Ritsuko, though her words weren't as clipped, "I'll guide you through the activation of the Evangelion. Ready?"
"Yeah, just get it over with. I've got a monster to beat up." Asuka returned, ready to get this all over with and go home.
As the Plug filled with a strange orange-tinted liquid, she wished she hadn't have been in such a rush.
What is this stuff? Tang?!
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