I Was a Teenage Dummy Plug

Part 6: Jonny Quest, I'm Not

A Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfic by Logan J. Goodhue

*** Disclaimer***

Neon Genesis Evangelion is © and ™ GAiNAX, et al.

This story is for nonprofit entertainment only.

First Version, 17APR2003, Current Version 27JUN2003

******

Last time on I Was a Teenage Dummy Plug:

"Oh, no," I said in a small voice. "Please don't open the door, Asuka," I whispered. Time seemed to slow down.

Asuka bounded towards the door.

My hands seemed to rise up to my mouth of their own accord.

Asuka raised her leg for a kick.

My heart pounded.

:: DUTY. ::

The muscles in her leg tensed.

Like moving through molasses, I tried to stop her.

Shinji blinked.

Her foot began its arc . . .

Jonny Quest, I'm Not

. . . And connected with the door, sending it banging against its stops on the outside. I marveled at the bright sun, illuminating a charming little alley that was soon filled by a massive arthropod's leg. The limb tensed, and the Angel's body hove into view.

The mecha designer for the anime hadn't done Matariel justice, or perhaps the budget didn't allow for the effects shots that would have been required. They had gotten the overall look of it right; it was massive, with four spindly legs supporting a bowl-shaped body covered in staring, yellow eyes. What they hadn't been able to convey was its terrible beauty. Its carapace was iridescent, sparking rainbows along its edges.

It paused, seeming to stare at us, and I caught its aroma. It smelled like the ozone in the air before it rains intermingled with frankincense and myrrh. I took an almost unwilling step towards it, then a pair of hands dragged me back into the tunnel and the door slammed shut. I was whirled around until I was face-to-face with Asuka. Fear, anger, and a barely detectable hint of concern glinted in her eyes.

"What the Hell's wrong with you, Blue?" she asked tensely. "Why were you just standing there?" Before I could answer, she interrupted. "Never mind, let's just get to the EVAs." She dragged me down the hallway as we returned to the junction and took the hall Rei had recommended before. I wisely held my tongue. We made our way down the corridors with better speed, as Asuka seemed to be letting Rei navigate. Each junction that Rei chose seemed to irritate Asuka a little, until she finally lashed out.

"You're the Commander's favorite, aren't you, Wonder Girl?" she asked snidely. "You're always getting preferential treatment."

"This really isn't the time . . ." Shinji and I said simultaneously. He blushed and looked down. Rei ignored Asuka's comment.

"You're sooo self-righteous and smug." The redhead clucked her tongue in irritation. Her eyes narrowed as she realized she was being ignored. "Hey! Just because you're the favorite doesn't mean you can make a fool of me!"

Rei turned her head slowly towards Asuka. Her calm crimson gaze seemed to bore into the Second Child. "I'm not making a fool of you." She returned her gaze towards the front. "I'm not favored. I know that well."

Meanwhile, Shinji had made a discovery. "Um," he said, pointing at the rubble strewn across the hall, "I don't think I'll be able to move this."

I spotted the ventilation grate near the rubble and smiled. "I don't think we need to worry about that, Ace. Hey, Sis, Red."

I waved them over. "I think I've got a way to Central Dogma, but it looks like it'll be a tight fit."

After a short argument, we began crawling down the ventilation ducts. Rei led the way, I followed close behind her, and Asuka and Shinji brought up the rear. I sighed to myself as Asuka berated Shinji for looking at her butt, kicking him. Out of a perverse sense of justice, I refrained from telling her that she was probably flashing her panties to him with every kick. In fact, I grinned to myself. Misato would just love to hear about that, and we could do some double-barreled teasing.

My post-battle planning was sidetracked as the force from one of Asuka's kicks proved to be too much for the grates. With a pair of surprised yelps, Shinji and Asuka landed in a tangled heap in front of a startled Ritsuko Akagi. I turned and levered myself out of the opening and landed in a rolling crouch, while Rei made a gymnastic landing that would have earned a ten from the Romanian judge. A quick glance confirmed that we were in Central Dogma, as I expected.

Doctor Akagi's surprise turned to joy. "You made it!" she said.

I helped Asuka to her feet as Shinji used one of the chairs to get up. He turned to Ritsuko. "Um, what about the EVAs?" he asked nervously.

"They're ready," she replied.

"How? I mean, the power's out!"

Doctor Akagi smirked. "It was done manually. The Commander even helped."

Shock, pain and grudging respect flitted across Shinji's face. "Father . . ." he said softly.

"Now, why don't you get suited up and meet me at the cages?" she asked. As we turned to leave, she spoke up. "Oh, Emi-chan?"

I winced slightly and turned to face her. "Yes'm?"

"You'll find a new plug suit and special neural clips in your locker." Her smirk turned into a sharkish grin. "They should help with your little 'problem.'"

I swallowed nervously. "Right. Now, if you'll excuse me, we've got an Angel to fight." With that, I rushed to catch up with Rei and Asuka.

In the changing room, I discovered that someone had marked a locker for me across the way from the other pilots'. Glad that I could get my changing done without staring at my new sister and friend, I opened it and withdrew the packaged plug suit and A-10 clips. After I donned the outfit, I took a moment to check it out in the mirror.

It was a dark gray variant of Asuka's plug suit, with red trim where Asuka's had green and black in all the expected places. A stenciled "03" indicated my future piloting duties. The dark suit contrasted strongly with my pale skin, making me look like a vampire, compared to Rei's ethereal white. I stood there, mesmerized by the hauntingly beautiful girl in the mirror before me, until Asuka smacked me in the back of the head and dragged me along to the EVA cages, ranting about narcissists all the way.

"You can look at yourself all you want once we've beaten this angel, Emi," she said roughly.

"You promise?" I asked playfully. Asuka snorted in exasperated amusement while Rei gave me a questioning look. "We'll talk about it later," I mouthed. Rei nodded. Moments later we reached the cages, where Shinji and Doctor Akagi were waiting.

Ritsuko cleared her throat. "Intelligence indicates that the Angel is directly above the hole bored by the Fifth Angel," she said and looked at each of us in turn. "Because the power's out, we can't give you any support beyond the battery packs we've loaded that will give you five minutes of activation." She looked down at her clipboard as Asuka and Rei nodded. "Since Captain Katsuragi is currently missing, the Commander has given me orders to relay to you." She raised her head and looked me in the eye. "Emi will ride tandem with Rei in Unit Zero." I shifted a little uncomfortably. "After activation, you will take Access Corridor Seven-G to the shaft and engage the Angel at your discretion. Proceed."

After we acknowledged our orders, we dashed to our respective Evangelions. Rei and I crawled into Unit Zero's entry plug, Rei taking the controls while I stood to the side of the command seat. While there was plenty of room for the both of us, I was still a little uncomfortable. It was like an adult sitting in the rear seat of a sports coupe: While there was plenty of room for my body, the space was arranged poorly. It was understandable, really. The space I stood in was probably meant for a technician to adjust the seat to a growing pilot or to modify the controls.

Rei was intensely focused on preparing the EVA for manual launch. I winced internally as I followed her mental checklist with the one I acquired in the previous day's incident. The LCL cycled in and Rei activated the Evangelion. A brief multi-colored flash started the control interface, and I gasped a little as Rei and I synchronized with the EVA.

Where my previous synchronization with Unit Zero had gone relatively smoothly, I could feel the struggle Rei was having. Oddly, I could also feel the EVA's armor restraints as if I were wearing them myself. There was a brief flash of confusion, and then resignation, as Rei took control. Activation complete, Rei began manual removal of the cage restraints. When that was done, we joined Shinji and Asuka in Corridor Seven-G.

"This is making me look ridiculous!" Asuka complained as we made the EVAs crawl along the corridor.

"I don't think the Angels care how we look, Red," I said. She snorted in amused irritation. I looked over at Rei and saw the concentration on her face. Wanting to help, I set my hands on top of hers on the butterfly handles. Her expression eased and we looked ahead.

"We've reached the vertical shaft," Rei said softly.

Worry was beginning to knot my gut as I thought about what we were about to face. True, Matariel was the easiest Angel battle, but there were so many things that could go wrong just because I was there. As I began thinking of all the ways I could screw this up, Rei interrupted me.

"You are disturbing my concentration," she said without malice. I smiled. It was just like her to say something that would have sounded confrontational from anyone else, yet was a simple statement of fact. I returned my attention to making Unit Zero climb up the shaft.

"Is this better, Sis?" I asked.

She gazed at me levelly. "Yes." She returned her eyes to the display. "Thank you."

:: DUTY. ::

I winced at the volume of the "shout" and noticed a flash of something falling by our EVA's head. A second later, I noticed an orange splash that hissed at one of our battery packs.

"The Angel's using some sort of acid!" I informed Asuka and Shinji. "Watch out!" Rei closed her mouth, as I had just said what she was about to. A sudden burning sensation told me that some of the Angel's acid had hit Unit Zero's feet. We slipped, and suddenly, all three EVAs were in freefall.

I began to panic. While falling in and of itself wasn't going to hurt me, the sudden stop at the bottom was. Suddenly, there was a shock, and I saw stars. I blinked and struggled to breathe. After a momentary felling of helplessness, I had full control of my body again. Something was wrong, however.

I pulled myself from the back of the plug to check on Rei. My heart leaped up into my throat as I noticed the red cloud billowing in the LCL and realized that Rei was bleeding from a head wound and wasn't moving. In a panic, I reached out and touched her neck just behind her jaw. I was relieved to find a pulse. As I was trying to make sure Rei was okay, a vidwindow popped up, framing Asuka's scowling face.

"Damn it, Wonder Girl!" the redhead ranted. "Get mov- . . ." She blinked. "Emi? What are you doing?"

"Rei's hurt!" I replied, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "She must have cracked her head against the seat in the fall, because she's out cold and there's blood everywhere . . ." I was beginning to hyperventilate.

"What?" Shinji's concerned image popped up next to Asuka's. "Ayanami's hurt?"

"Whatever," Asuka snarled angrily, and Shinji flinched. "Come on, Blue, get that hunk of junk off of my precious Unit Two before that Angel drops more acid on us."

Her comment made me check the outside display. Sure enough, all three EVAs were in a pile with Unit One on the bottom, Two in the middle, and Zero on top. Wedging my way into the seat and trying not to jostle Rei too badly, I took hold of the butterfly handles. Admittedly, my situation was uncomfortable, but I felt the flash of muted sensation that indicated that I was in control of the EVA. The controls felt sluggish, and its movements were mechanical, but I was able to move it off the pile and towards the cross tunnel.

As the three EVAs entered the tunnel, the battery packs were ejected with a mechanical thunk. We gathered in a rough semicircle and began to plan our battle strategy. I knew what Asuka was going to say, and I knew it would work. I was just worried that I wouldn't be able to pull off my part of the plan as well as Rei would.

'Rei,' I thought sadly. 'I hope you'll be all right.' As the word "hope" crossed my mind, I suddenly felt a warm, pleasant sensation in my chest. It reminded me of the times when I was little and my mother would comfort me after I had scraped my knee, or something bad had happened to one of my siblings. It grew stronger as I looked at Rei, and I realized what it was.

I loved her. Not romantically, but as a sister. While technically, and according to the documents that had been forged for me, I was her little sister, I felt like her big brother, wanting to protect her, and her big sister, wanting to help her become more human. My thoughts were interrupted by the other pilots.

"- -ll we do?" Shinji asked.

"We'll destroy it, of course!" Asuka replied smugly.

"Sure," he replied nervously, "but how? I dropped the rifle in the fall and the battery packs are empty." He swallowed hard. "We only have three minutes of activation left."

"I have a three-part plan," she said simply. "Defense stays here, neutralizing the Angel's AT Field and protecting Offense from the acid. Backup drops down, retrieves the rifle and gives it to Offense. Offense then destroys the Angel with a burst from the rifle."

"Good plan, Red. I'll take Backup," I said. I smiled wryly and continued. "My synch ratio isn't good enough to project an AT Field, much less neutralize one."

"Excellent, Blue!" Asuka crowed. "I'll take Defense . . ."

"But isn't that dangerous?" Shinji asked. He sounded nervous, but even through the vidwindow, it looked more like he was worried about her.

"Of course it is, dummy!" she said. "That's why I'm doing it! Besides, I owe you one from the last battle. That of course makes you Offense, Shinji. Are we clear?"

"Roger, Red!" I answered, and Shinji grunted in assent.

Unit Two bounded towards the shaft. "Right," Asuka shouted. "Let's go." With that, her EVA disappeared up the shaft in a flash of red. I made my EVA lurch to its feet and made my way to the shaft. I tensed a bit and looked at Rei's face for a moment. With a determined frown on my face, I returned my attention to the battle.

'I've got to do this,' I thought. 'I can do this. It's my . . .'

:: DUTY. ::

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Matariel," I muttered under my breath. Yelling the traditional battle cry, I leapt down the shaft. "Geronimo!" The fall took a few seconds, and I could hear Asuka's cries of pain as the Angel's acid spattered across her EVA. I presumed Shinji was getting into position. Just as I was about to fire the retro boosters to slow my fall, a gloved hand was set on top of mine on the controls.

"Not yet," Rei said. We fell for six heartbeats, and then she nodded. "Now."

Verniers opened on the shoulder pauldroons and directed the thrust of six powerful engines downwards, slowing our fall to an acceptable speed. We landed in a crouch, right in front of Shinji's dropped Rifle. We reached down and picked it up.

"Heads up, Shinji!" I yelled, as we threw the rifle upwards. Unit One caught it easily, and it turned towards the Angel.

"Thanks, Ayanami!" Shinji replied. "Asuka, clear the way!"

Unit Two flipped around from its sheltering position and pressed itself against one wall, leaving room for Shinji to fire a sustained burst from his pallet rifle, killing Matariel in a spatter of Angel flesh.

:: COMPLETION. GODSPEED, GABRIEL. ::

Asuka's EVA lost its hold on the wall and plummeted into Unit One, which easily caught it.

"Well," Asuka said, relieved. "Now we're even."

That evening, still in our plug suits, we sat stargazing on a hill overlooking Tokyo-3. Asuka sat between Rei and Shinji, while I sat on the other side of Rei. I smiled to myself at the spectacular view afforded by the lack of light pollution. I was able to see the Milky Way and I made out several Zodiac constellations. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who found it comforting, as Shinji spoke up.

"It's ironic," he said gently, "that without the city lights, the stars are so beautiful."

Asuka shivered. "But it doesn't seem as though anyone lives there." The city lights came on slowly, producing a lightshow that rivaled the stars. Asuka smiled. "Now that's more like it!"

"Humans fear the darkness," Rei stated softly, "and, to ease their fears, scrape away at the edges with fire."

"Wonder Girl's a philosopher, huh?" Asuka said, leaning back.

"If that's so," Shinji said, "maybe that makes humans special. Maybe that's why the Angels are attacking us."

Asuka snorted. "What are you, stupid? Who knows why they do anything?"

"I think," I said hesitantly, "that they are doing what they perceive to be their duty." I got to my feet. "As much as I like hanging out with you guys, Doctor Akagi's got me scheduled for some tests early tomorrow morning. I've gotta get some sleep, you know? "I leaned down and folded Rei into a hug, then let her go. "See you at home later, Sis."

About a half hour later, I stood in front of my apartment door dressed in my school uniform. I reached into my satchel, pulled out my keys, and unlocked the door. I closed it behind me and made my way into the kitchen. I dropped my satchel from nerveless fingers as I saw someone sitting at the table.

"Why good evening, Miss Ayanami!" Ryoji Kaji said with a lady-killer smile. "I was wondering if you could tell me about . . . " He reached below the table and placed a DVD case and an open wallet on the table. ". . . this."