PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES
The scene at the mall is vaguely based on a similar happening in Crazy-88's fic "Once More With Feeling", a wonderfully-made, epic-idea, five-star NGE fic that HASN'T UPDATED IN OVER TWO FUCKING YEARS ARGH!-!-!
So if you're gonna be slightly (or more) offended by the idea of a flamboyantly campy male hairstylist, blame Crazy-88, not me.
-CHAPTER START-
Hills Outside Tokyo-3
September 24, 2015 – 1850 Hours
The 13th Angel Bardiel was forced on the defensive immediately as Unit-00 fired rifle shots at it, distracting it long enough to Unit-02 to get in close with its axe, which bit deep into the corrupted Eva-03's right shoulder armor. The beast roared and lashed out with a kick to 02's midsection, knocking it back. It then narrowly dodged a stab to the face from Unit-01, only for the purple Eva to hit it with a lariat move, knocking it to the ground. Unit-00 was there too, and fired three close-range 3-round bursts with its rifle into Bardiel's torso, fracturing the chest armor. The corrupted Evangelion lashed out with its four arms, forcing Units 00 and 01 to leap back before they could deal any serious damage.
No sooner had Bardiel gotten back up on its feet than Eva-05 came rushing in, striking out with the drill on its right arm. Sparks flew as the bipedal Angel shifted to the side just in time, the drill scraping the armor on its left side, gouging through the armor even with this glancing blow. It lashed out at the side of 05's head with its upper right arm, only for the Eva's left arm to come up and block. Its lower right arm struck a moment later, a spearing strike aimed at 05's chest. Unit-02 was suddenly there, however, catching Bardiel's wrist and then twisting, breaking it. Bardiel roared in pain and rage, and then leapt back. It then noticed something: where was the red Evangelion's axe?
The question was answered as it suddenly felt its A.T. Field be completely cancelled out by Units 00, 02, and 05, just in time for Unit-01, which was now behind Bardiel, to swing the progressive axe with all its might, decapitating the off-guard Angel. The massive head fell to the ground with a heavy thud and was promptly crushed under Unit-00's foot; the body fell to its knees, and 00 quickly fired a few bursts down its open neck and into its body, just to be sure. The lifeless former Evangelion toppled, shaking the earth as it did.
"Thirteenth Angel terminated" Rei reported.
"So we saw" Misato replied. "Excellent teamwork, all of you. The target's Core has gone completely silent. Come on home, kids."
"Damn good thing we had a Dummy Plug in there instead of a pilot" Ritsuko muttered.
In the command room, Teana turned to Agent Washington. "I'd say that went significantly better than in the original timeline, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh yeah" the cobalt-armored man replied. "Definitely."
"…We're still gonna offer Suzuhara and his family help with his little sister's injuries, right?"
"Eh, sure, why not?"
-SCENE BREAK-
Vegetable Garden
Inside the Geofront
September 24, 2015 – 2010 Hours
Ryōji Kaji looked up from watering his cabbage patch as the man in the fancy gray suit walked up. "Mr. Kaji?" the man asked.
The double-reverse-quadruple-agent sighed. "What do the Old Men want now?"
"I do not represent SEELE or NERV" the mystery man replied. "I represent the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence; I'm part of the Section-3 attaché for the Starshot. We know now exactly what Commander Ikari and SEELE are planning to do. And we'd like your help to stop them."
"That's quite a claim you're making. How exactly do you know these things?"
The ONI agent pulled free a small, thin silver rod. In a flash, a TSAB standard Storage Device activated, and a pulse of light enveloped him and everything within 20 meters, including Kaji.
"I may not be much in the way of magical potential," he said, "but I can at least pull off a small-scale Barrier Shift spell, just to make sure nobody listens in. As for how we know? Well… Do you recall how the events of my universe were a work of fiction in that of Ms. Swanson's universe?"
"Ah, I see where you're going: the events of this world have a fictional counterpart in some other realms, don't they?"
"Precisely. And Agent Washington happens to have viewed the series in question."
"So when he pestered the Commander to use a Dummy Plug for Unit-03's activation test…"
"He knew that the Thirteenth Angel would possess the Unit. He was acting to safeguard the Fourth Child, and more importantly to safeguard the Third Child's mental state. In the 'original' timeline, young Mr. Ikari couldn't bring himself to risk harming the trapped pilot… so the Commander activated the Dummy Plug and made Shinji watch as Unit-01, now wholly out of his control, brutally ripped Eva-03 apart, ending by crushing the Entry Plug in its jaws. Less than an hour later, the Commander had to up 01's cockpit LCL pressure and knock Shinji unconscious to prevent the boy from literally tearing the NERV pyramid apart."
"Goodness…" the man muttered. "Thank God for Agent Washington's interference, then. I assume I'm the first NERV agent you all have told?"
"Yes. Miss Kirishima has been informed, but has sworn secrecy, as have the others informed; an accidental leak could force SEELE's hand."
"Or worse, the Commander's."
"Quite right. It will not be long before the Commander's agenda diverges from SEELE's, but until then a misstep could result in them joining forces against us. We need to be discreet until the time is right. We plan to 'subvert' – for lack of a better word – a small handful of NERV personnel, to undermine Commander Ikari's authority and lay false tracks to keep SEELE guessing. You're one of them, due to your unique skills and connections. …Join us, Mr. Kaji, and help us prevent Armageddon."
"…Where and when do I learn the full story?"
"Come to the coalition's groundside base near Geofront Access Point 7-B, tonight at 2130 hours. We'll explain everything we know."
The two spies shook hands in agreement.
-SCENE BREAK-
Tokyo-3 Mall
September 25, 2015 – 1001 Hours
An odd group walked through the mall that had been open to visitors as of 85 seconds ago, some members of the group being ushered/pulled along by others. It wasn't long before they arrived at their destination.
"A… salon?" Rei asked, recalling the word.
"Not just any salon" Asuka replied. "The finest in the entire prefecture! I was able to book us appointments here, thanks to who we are."
"Well, it certainly looks fancy…" Teana commented. "I'm not sure I really need…"
"Oh, c'mon, nee-san" Asuka said. "I know for a fact that you don't put much effort into caring for your hair and skin… Not that you need to; guess you got good genes in those departments. But still, you deserve to be pampered a little." She looked over at her pale, poor-complexioned fellow pilot with unruly blue hair. "Though somebody needs a makeover more than you, I'd say. Rei, what do you wash with?"
"…Soap" the girl replied.
"Nothing special? No exfoliators, moisturizers, conditioners, any of that?"
"No. …Is that bad?"
"…We're gonna be here a while, methinks."
"I can't go in there…" Mana muttered, looking at the place like it was a giant monster sizing her up for a snack. "I'm not this kinda girl; there's no way I could feel comfortable getting a m… m-makeover…"
"Oh, relax" Mari replied. "It's not like we're gonna dress you up in pink frills or something; you're just getting some things touched up – your hail, your nails, your complexion… Besides, we've got Shinji-kun along for it, too" she pulled the boy close, and he blushed lightly both from the proximity to a pretty girl and from being implicated in this whole thing.
"Yeah, but he's feminine enough that it suits him. Not like me. I don't know what this'll do to me. I… I don't wanna be some pretty little girly-girl who-"
"Enough" Asuka interrupted. "We need to start breaking you of this ridiculous 'femininity equals weakness' hang-up you've got. After today, when these people are through with you, you will be prettier, neater, with softer skin and shinier hair and all that, and I swear to the heavens above you will not be any less of a hardcore fearless badass. If I'm wrong, I will let you punch me in the face as hard as you can afterwards. Now, come on girls… and boy. Let's get this started!"
Shinji and Mana quickly found themselves being half-ushered, half-dragged into the facility by Mari and Asuka, respectively, while Rei and Teana followed close behind, uncertain. Asuka scanned her NERV I.D. card with the crimson "02" on it, validating her city-saving identity and the fact she had an appointment for a party of six, and the manager walked out.
"So what's the occasion, Sōryū-san?" she asked.
"These guys need it" she replied. "Mari-san and I take care of ourselves relatively well, but… Rei here has never washed herself with anything other than soap & water and doesn't even fully understand the concept of skin care, Teana-nee is a young soldier who's never performed the kind of delicate maintenance you all can provide, Mana-chan is a hard-ass, tough-as-nails extreme tomboy who has huge issues with her femininity and we're here to try to break her of the fear that doing or thinking anything even remotely feminine could leave her 'weak and ineffectual and girly',"
Mana felt nervous as several of the (all female) staff members looked at her.
"and Shinji-baka here is a bundle of nerves, has never really taken care of himself due to some self-esteem problems, and is feminine enough that he'll probably end up enjoying this."
"Asuka…" the boy muttered, his cheeks tinged pink.
"Well, we certainly have our work cut out for us" the manager said. "Don't worry, though; challenges exist to be overcome."
"My sergeant back in the War used to say that…" Mana thought aloud.
"Sergeant? War?"
"Mana-chan here fought for the loyalists in the Hokkaido Insurrection" Mari replied. "As a conscript. From ages six to 10. It's probably where a lot of her issues stem from."
Several of the staff members barely suppressed gasps of shock, and Mana felt embarrassed and indignant that they now looked at her with only-partially-concealed pity. Both sides in the Insurrection had used child soldiers, which was seen by the nation's people as a disgrace and a catastrophic moral failure on the part of Japan nowadays (never mind that many other nations had done that and worse during their own post-Impact conflicts; Pakistan and India nuking each other into annihilation came to mind, as did Chinese Separatists using captured civilians as involuntary suicide bombers, or Iran & Iraq wantonly fire-bombing each other's population centers), and most survivors of that hellish role were looked upon with regret and pity by the average citizen.
That was why Mana didn't go around advertising it; she didn't want to bepitied or treated with kid gloves (or worse, carted off to one of those touchy-feely psychologists whose job it was to deal with former child soldiers; Mana had been very careful to give the slip to the government personnel whose job it was to find the survivors of the Hokkaido Insurrection's child soldiers and bring them in for mandatory therapy). Why would she need that kind of treatment? She was perfectly fine! Despite what was said or hinted by the Eva pilots. Or by her compatriots of Sigma Team. Or by the TSAB and UNSC doctors who kept recommending she talk to someone. Or by Dr. Akagi and Commander Ikari that one time. Seriously, though; she only woke up screaming about once a week on average (compared to four times a week two years ago, which was solid progress in her book), nowadays she almost never went for an instinctive attack whenever someone accidentally surprised or snuck up on her, she hadn't made a dive for cover upon hearing fireworks in several months… she was fine. Really. …Right?
"If you would all follow me" one of the staff-members said. She led the six teens into a rather spacious room with several swiveling chairs; jazz music was playing over the speakers. The six patrons took their seats, and two staff moved in on each of them. They soon found their shoes & socks being removed, as the attendants got to work on their nails.
"No nail polish" Mana specified. "Got it?"
"Of course, honey" replied the lady now working on her fingernails.
-Mini-Break-
Shinji felt a little nervous as he laid face-down on the massage table, clad only in his briefs. His cheeks flushed as one of the rather attractive staff-members walked in and up to him, giving him a warm, comforting smile. He let out an involuntary gasp as he felt her soft, warm hands touch his back and begin firmly working on his muscles.
"You need to eat more" she said matter-of-factly. "I can feel your ribs much too easily."
"Circumstances conspire to k-Mn!... keep me from eating much" Shinji replied sheepishly.
"You're wound up tighter than a spring, you poor boy. Relax and let me work out this… concerning amount of tension you have."
In the next room over, Mana was trying very hard not to let moans escape as her muscles were made to relax and unwind partly against their will. That was something girly-girls did, right? So she wouldn't. She startled as she felt a curious finger trace a portion of scar tissue along her side.
"Oh" the woman caught herself. "S-Sorry, dear. I was just… a little curious…"
Mana rolled onto her side, exposing the large, jagged scar that marred a good portion of her stomach area.
"Grenade" she said. "Point-blank; I dived on it to protect my squad. I was eight years old. Ripped up a lot of my organs, and it did a number on my arms too, since I'd crossed them over the grenade to contain the blast further. They had to use some cybernetics to put me back together; if you're working on my back or arms and feel something really hard, that's probably one of my cyborg components."
She promptly laid back down on her front to avoid the shocked and pitying gaze the woman gave her, and closed her eyes again. A few seconds later, she felt the staff-member resume her work, but now the woman had apparently stepped up her game a little, and Mana bit her lip to suppress a whimper as the odd pleasure resumed in earnest. Finally, she failed to stop a rather feminine whimpering moan from escaping, to her mortification. Her tender gave no quarter, however, and the hardcore tomboy bore a blush on her cheeks as she continued to involuntarily produce very girlish sounds of enjoyment that she couldn't hope to stop.
In the next room over, Rei had already practically melted as her staff-member worked on her, lost in a haze of relaxation and pleasure that she never wanted to leave. Commander Ikari himself could've shown up and ordered her to get up, and she would've told him to buzz off.
-Mini-Break-
Asuka gave a content sigh as she relaxed into the hot tub filled with water carrying a unique mix of chemicals for healthier skin. Teana, Rei, and Mana were already in with her. As the last two people entered the room, she almost shouted an objection, but then noticed that Shinji was wearing a blindfold and had a towel around his waist, being led by a nude and grinning Mari. As they climbed in, she yanked his towel away just before he sat down in the water, drawing a surprised yelp from him and a blush from Rei, who'd been looking at just the right place at just the right time to catch a split-second glimpse. Mari sat down next to the boy, arching her back in a stretch. Asuka felt a pang of envy as Eva-05's pilot showed off her considerable assets by doing so… and couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from the sight. Mari noticed, looking Asuka in the eyes and giving a coy smile.
"I'm glad you like what you see, Asuka" she purred.
The young redhead blushed and averted her eyes, sputtering. Teana had to work hard to avoid audibly laughing at her third-cousin's reaction.
"I still feel a little uncomfortable about all this…" Mana muttered.
"Oh, relax" Teana replied. "I embrace my feminine traits, and yet I'm one of the biggest badasses in the coalition."
"I know it's not impossible for some women to be both feminine and badass" Mana retorted defensively. "I've learned that by now. I've seen what Takamachi and Aqua can do. I just think it's impossible for me to be any sort of feminine without losing any of my edge! I just… I don't know anymore…"
Silently, Rei placed a hand on Mana's shoulder.
"We'll still love you no matter what happens, Mana" Shinji said with a smile forming beneath his blindfolded eyes.
"Gee, thanks" Mana said with much snark, though she couldn't stop the blush from forming on her cheeks.
"Ooh, lookie!" Asuka said, pulling out several odd-looking gloves. "We get these cool things!"
-Mini-Break-
"I'm tempted to eat them."
"Huh?" Asuka said in response to Mana's sudden statement.
"These pickle things on my eyes" Mana replied. "I'm kinda tempted to eat them."
"They're cucumbers, not pickles" Shinji cut in.
"Whatever!"
The six teens now found themselves lying back in comfy chairs, clad only in soft cotton robes, a treatment mixture covering their face, their heads tilted back slightly as their hair was tended to (Asuka and Teana, due to the sheer length of their hair, had two people each working on them).
"Girls…" Shinji spoke up. "Not that I haven't enjoyed this, but… you must never, ever breathe a single word of this to Tōji or Kensuke. Ever. Got it?"
"If I ever let it slip to either of them," Asuka replied, "I've got some blackmail material on them I've kept in reserve that'll sure as Hell keep them quiet."
Rei, meanwhile, was in her own little world. Years of simple, bare-bones self-cleaning, coupled with all the countless times she'd been in that tank while her neural network was meticulously scanned, meant that a sizable amount of what Asuka termed "LCL gunk" had built up in and on her skin, deadening her sense of touch somewhat. The hot-tub treatment and exfoliating gloves had gotten rid of all that, and exposed new, sensitive skin directly to the world for the first time. The quiet girl was in borderline sensory overload, trying very hard not to writhe in pleasure from the cool, soft cotton robe that enveloped her, suppressing a not-unpleasant shudder as an attendant carefully washed and treated her hair, working to perform the same 'purification' on her scalp. Every sensation was like new, and she wanted more.
"You've got such nice, thick, strong hair" Shinji's attendant said to him. "I wish I had hair like yours. Mine is all thin and gets tangled all the time."
"I got it from my mom, apparently" the boy replied.
"I should bring Hikari here sometime" Asuka said offhandedly. "That girl could use a little prettying up, if only to help her with her self-image…" she smirked. "And it'd probably help her catch Suzuhara's attention more easily…"
"Yeah," Shinji chuckled, "the guy's cool and all, but I swear he's thick as a brick. How he doesn't notice the hints and signs she's giving him, I have no idea."
The two pilots shared a laugh over their friends' predicament.
-Mini-Break-
Asuka, Mana, and Rei had a seat in the three barber's chairs, seated before a hairstylist who was very, very camp (he even had a purple sweater) and the man's two female (yet equally campy) assistants. Mana had very adamantly specified nothing "girly"; the stylist, having been quietly told by one of the staff-members of what this girl was like and had been through, nodded… though he still planned to add just a little feminine flair to the girl's auburn hair. Just another step to help show the girl that she could be pretty and cute without losing her badassery (and from what he'd heard and could see, this girl would definitely still be a hard-charging, fearless badass even if she dressed in pink lace and pigtails… though actually dressing her like that would probably be a very bad idea; she'd likely end up overcompensating for the perceived 'loss of ferocity' and do something suicidally reckless).
As the three got to work, the male stylist and Teana struck up a conversation, the older redhead pleasantly surprised to find someone else fluent in Hungarian.
"{So you're a child soldier, too?}" he asked her.
"{Not quite}" she replied. "{I've been training since I was 13, and didn't see any actual lethal combat until I was 16 – which, in the culture I fought with, is the legal enlistment age.}"
"{You're quite fluent for a non-native speaker.}"
"{I was taught by my mentor Jorge. He grew up speaking English and Hungarian in concert. He was like a father to me.}"
"{Was?}"
"{He sacrificed his life to destroy an enemy supercarrier with a makeshift bomb, to save a lot of people. …And then, less than a minute after his noble death, a massive enemy fleet showed up, invalidating his sacrifice. Everyone he died to save ended up being killed anyway.}"
She was quiet after that. He let her be so.
-Mini-Break-
As the sextet finally exited the establishment and entered the mall proper, they headed for a nearby wide bench, sitting together. Mana felt a little self-conscious, residual embarrassment still present. Rei was staring into space, one arm slowly rubbing against the other.
"You all right, wondergirl?" Asuka asked.
The blue-haired girl looked at her. "…I am more than 'alright', Sōryū" she replied, muted elation in her tone. "My sense of touch has been boosted such that I can truly feel, the tension and stress of my muscles, which I'd always assumed was natural, is gone, I have gotten to spend time with you all, joining you in… enjoying all of this… I feel alive."
"Good" Asuka said. "It's nice to see you actually emote."
"Yeah" Mari said, as she put an arm around Mana and pulled her close so the shorter girl's head rested on her shoulder. "That was fun."
"I don't like feeling pretty…" Mana whispered to herself, thinking aloud. "I can't like it… So why… And why don't I feel any weaker?"
"Because you aren't any weaker" Mari replied with a gentle tone, resting her head on Mana's while her hand softly rubbed the girl's opposite-side upper arm, holding her close. "There's nothing wrong with being a little girly once in a while. You're still you. You're still Mana Kirishima, the badass special-ops soldier. Letting yourself have a little feminine enjoyment will not change that. Letting yourself enjoy being a girl won't weaken you. I promise you: you will not come out of this weaker. In fact… you're probably stronger now."
"How could… all that beauty treatment stuff have made me stronger?" Mana asked, uncertain.
"You did something girly. You let yourself be pampered. And you enjoyed it. And you're still the same person at heart that you were before. And you know it. Now, you know you can let yourself be that little bit more feminine and not be left diminished in any way as a result. You haven't lost anything. You've gained something: the ability to enjoy being cared for, the courage to let yourself be a little girly, the knowledge that you can be a little feminine without fear of weakness, without losing who and what you are. I promise you this: no matter how girly you may get, you will not become weak as a result. If anything, this will help you become strong. You have both masculine and girlish feminine traits, and with them you are stronger, you are closer to complete, and you better than ever. You are Mana Kirishima. And now you've become just a little better than you already were before."
Mana didn't understand why she gave into the urge to hug Mari and let herself be embraced closely, despite the presence of various passers-by in the fairly crowded mall. Nor did she fully understand, when she felt the other four laying gentle, comforting hands on her, why she felt tears building in her eyes for the first time in years.
-SCENE BREAK-
Coalition Groundside Headquarters
That Day – 1600 Hours
"I take it things went well?" Aqua asked Teana as she came into the room, Subaru hot on her heels.
"Yeah" she replied. "I wasn't really sure about going through with this spa treatment thing, but it was kinda nice. More importantly, though, I think we're starting to make progress on breaking through Kirishima's issues. Granted, it'll probably be a long~ time before we see her voluntarily wearing skirts of something like that, but eh, one step at a time."
"Your skin feels so soft now, Tia" Subaru said as she ran a hand along Teana's forearm. "And your hair looks so shiny and nice. They did a really good job."
Teana blushed slightly at the compliments. "Well, Asuka did say that place was the best in the prefecture…"
The trio startled as they suddenly heard a shriek. They went into motion, following the sounds, and were joined by Shinji and Mari. They came upon the room where it was coming from… and boggled at the sight of Rei, squealing and giggling and wriggling around as a grinning Asuka subjected the pale girl's newly-sensitized skin to a full-out Tickle Attack. The blue-haired girl's breathless attempts to beg for mercy could barely get past her uncontrollable laughter. Asuka, meanwhile, was having the time of her life.
After several more seconds, she noticed the sudden audience and abruptly broke off, embarrassed to be caught doing something so childish. Rei's spontaneous giggles slowly tapered off as she caught her breath. Mari was grinning ear to ear. "C'mere, Asuka~" the buxom pilot said as she advanced on the redhead, fingers wiggling.
"Oh, no" Asuka muttered, and soon the chase was afoot.
Teana smirked as she turned around and left her younger third-cousin to get what was coming to her. As she reached the common room, she found Agent Washington sitting there.
"I heard you've called in some backup?" he asked.
"Yeah" Teana replied. "I have a feeling we might need some big guns soon enough."
"…The next Angel's gonna be tough."
"Hm?"
"Zeruel, the Fourteenth Angel. He's next. In the original timeline, he took out Units 00 and 02 pretty much at the same time, in less than a minute, effortlessly. He came out with nothing worse than a few surface burns after taking a point-blank 15-kiloton detonation. Without his AT Field."
Teana's expression hardened. "That bad, huh?"
"Yeah, and the last one we handled – Bardiel, the Thirteenth – didn't have that extra arms thing in the original canon. So… who knows what Number 14 might bring to the table in this iteration. Be ready for anything."
Teana nodded. 'You guys had better get here soon, Takamachi' she thought.
-CHAPTE END-
Next time: reinforcements, recruits, and the Angel of Might.