Shinji Steel 9

Disclaimer; I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Max Steel. Wish I did, though.

(NERV Brig; next morning)

As Shinji lies on the cold metal cot, minus the standard mattress, in his brig cell, he sighs out loud.

"That could've gone a lot better."

"Yeah. And it could've gone a lot worse too, Shinji. If you'd followed…" Kat's voice brings a slight smile to Shinji's face before he gives his reply.

"I know. I made the best possible decision and the Angel died with no serious injuries to the innocent bystanders." Letting out a snort, he adds, "I bet the fuckhead's pissed I called him a dumbass."

"That'd be a safe enough bet right there." Josh lets out a chuckle as he adds, "I just wish I could've seen his face."

"You might get your chance yet. Sooner or later, he's going to want to confront me about my battle and calling him what he is."

"What a dumbass."

Berto's comment gets a cackle out of all four just as the cell door opens. Letting in highly bright light. Shinji closes his eyes to let the light filter through his eyelids before opening them back up. Standing in the doorway is the Section 2 Agent that had led Shinji's escort to the brig.

"On your feet, Third Child. The Commander wants a word with you."

"Does he now? Good, as I have a bone to pick with him myself." Getting up from the cot and stretching, Shinji asks, "Enjoy your laugh-fest?"

"Oh yeah." The Agent lightly chuckles before adding, "I gotta admit, kid, you took your brig stay far better than most others did in the past."

"Really? By how much?"

"You're still alive whereas those before you killed themselves." Nodding his head up to the ceiling before looking at the cot and then Shinji, he goes on. "Usually by hanging themselves by the sheets or suffocating themselves with the mattress."

"Ah. That explains the 'no mattress' on my cot."

"Correct." Shinji lets out a sigh and shakes his head.

"Would you please do me a favor and tell the concierge that I had better rests in a falling airplane that was aflame as it plummeted to the ground?"

The Agent doesn't answer as he's too busy laughing as he guides Shinji to Gendo's office. Five minutes later, as they arrive at the office door, the Agent's laughter tapers off. The Agent knocks on the door and they both hear Gendo's immediate reply.

"Enter."

The Agent opens the door and escorts Shinji into the office. Shinji can't help but feel annoyed at how big the office is. Neither can Josh.

"For Gendo to have an office this big must mean he has a very small dick." Shinji's barely able to stifle a loud laugh, yet he does so. Resolving to laugh once he's out of the office and out of Gendo's earshot.

"Commander Ikari, the Third Child, sir."

"Leave us, Agent." Silently, the Agent turns and heads to the door. Once the Agent's exited and the door's closed, Gendo begins. "Do you know why you're before me right now?"

"I'd guess it's because I chose the quickest way to defeat the Angel before it could do any real damage. While limiting civilian casualties in the process."

"Not only that, you also used a derogatory word toward me."

"Well, let's see. If you wouldn't act like such a dumbass, there'd be no need for it."

"I can simply send you away, forget you even existed."

"True. But then who'd fight the next Angel? Ayanami's recovery has not yet been completed. Should you send me away with no pilot to do so until she's fully recovered, and an Angel attacks, you'll be caught with your pants down. And that's an image the world can most certainly do without." Josh, Kat, and Berto's disgusted laughter come through to Shinji loud and clear.

"I can simply find another pilot. I really do not need you as you were only the catalyst for activating the EVA." Glancing down onto his desk before looking back up, he adds, "As this is a war, you are to prepare yourself to cause collateral casualties. Your refusal to pull back shows you are weak."

"I disagree. If humanity is to be saved, shouldn't all people to be protected from harm? Valuing human life is not weakness."

"Three dead civilians outside the shelter are more acceptable than the world being destroyed."

"Maybe to you. Not to me. And look around you now. The world still exists and the Angel's dead."

"It would seem we are at an impasse, then. Two opposing views." Looking back down at his desk and looking back up, he asks, "Who was that girl that greeted you at school yesterday?"

"My girlfriend."

"I see." Nodding stiffly, he adds, "You are to sever your relationship with her."

"I don't think so."

"I do think so. And, if you don't sever it, well, there are other ways. Ways that are unpleasant and far more economical." At that, Shinji starts seeing red. As do Josh, Kat and Berto as they don't like what Gendo's saying.

"You even think of going near her, I will feed you to EVA-01."

"Threatening a superior Officer is a major crime, Third Child. I could always have you thrown back into the brig. Making your girlfriend an easy target."

"Anything happens to her, there is no telling how hard I will bring you down." Shinji's voice drops to a snarl as he goes on. "The remaining Angels won't mean shit to me. The war won't mean shit to me. The brig won't mean shit to me. You being the source of my genes won't mean shit to me. I will destroy you and all those involved. Is that clear, 'Dumbass'?"

It's barely perceptible, with the tinted lenses on Gendo's glasses, but Shinji can see Gendo's eyes go wide at his words. At that point, Shinji knows that he'd made his point. Gendo lets out a grunt before nodding.

"You may go now, Third Child. But remember what I said."

"You do the same."

Without any further word, Shinji turns around and heads for the door. Once he's out the door, he spots a restroom and goes in. The next three minutes are spent retching into the toilet. With Josh, Kat and Berto reassuring him over the link. Wishing that they were there to rub his back comfortingly.

Back in his office, Gendo is nowhere to be found. A door to the right of his desk then opens and a relieved Gendo walks out. Walking to his desk, he pulls open a drawer and brings out a bottle of water, a packet of Alka-Seltzer and a cup. Dropping two tablets into the cup, he then pours the water in and watches the tablets fizz into oblivion.

"My scenario will not be denied." Taking a gulp of the now-fizzy water, Gendo hits a number he assigned to a 'specialist' for matters like these.

"Psycho here."

"Psycho, I have a little errand for you to perform."

"What kind?"

(New Takamiya house)

Finishing tying the ribbon on her uniform, Ritsuko exits her room and heads to the kitchen. Strangely enough, she smells nothing cooking.

'Strange. It's not like her. Mom likes cooking breakfast. Maybe she's still asleep. Yeah.' Upon reaching the kitchen, she spots Deidre sitting in a daze. Eyes wide open.

"Mom!" Racing to her side, she checks for a pulse and finds one. 'Okay, she's alive.' She then shakes Deidre, yet she doesn't stir.

"Mommy! Wake up!"

Pressing her head to Deidre's chest in case the pulse was false, she soon feels a hand gently caressing her hair. Looking up, she sees Deidre smiling softly at her. Ritsuko smiles in relief before wrapping her arms around Deidre. With Deidre returning serve.

"I was so scared, Mommy! What happened?"

"I'm sorry, baby. I had some thoughts in my mind that took my consciousness from me."

"What were they?"

"Oh, just a former associate of mine from long ago."

"What happened? He ask you on a date?"

"NO!" At her shout, Deidre blushes lightly before calming herself down. "He and I just did some catching up, is all."

"No better way to catch up than on a date." Next thing Ritsuko knows, Deidre's tickling her ribs. Causing her to laugh wildly. "I give! I give!" The tickling ends, an amused Deidre smirking.

"That'll teach you, you little priss." Standing up to stretch, she then yawns and says, "Since I'm unable to make breakfast or lunch from being sleepy, you'll have to do it."

"Okay, Mom. I'll leave a lunch out for you for when you wake up again."

"Thanks, Ritsy."

Giving Ritsuko a small kiss on top of her head, she gets in one last tickle before going into her new bedroom. Without undressing, Deidre just plops herself down onto bed and nods off. Her mind recalling her encounter the previous night.

"YOU!" The form pressed its hand against its face before recognizing her.

"'Nelle?" Deidre rolled her eyes at the short-form name that only one person had dared to use on her in the past.

"That's not me anymore, Psycho." The human-masked cyborg looked around to ensure no one was listening in.

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"I'm a Mother now."

"Dragonelle, a Mother?" Psycho gave her a measuring glance before shaking his head. "The world really did come to an end. First Max Steel becoming a Foster Dad. And you're a Mother?"

"Yep." Deidre beamed proudly, adding, "98 pounds of bouncing baby girl."

"That's a big baby." Psycho's comment got a loud laugh out of Deidre before Psycho asked, "What's so funny, Dragonelle?"

"She's adopted, you silly cyborg." Looking around, she then spotted an alleyway and grabbed his human arm. Dragging him into the alleyway, she asked, "What are you doing here in Tokyo-3?"

"I work here now." Peeling off the mask, revealing his eternal metal grin, Psycho went on. "For NERV's Section-2 under Captain Chiron. You?"

"Ritsy's starting to feel her maternal instincts kick in. So we drove down here so she can try getting knocked up by her boyfriend."

"Whoa, wait, wait, wait. Knocked up? Just how old is she anyway?"

"She's fifteen now." If Psycho's eyes were able to bulge out, they would've. But, since they couldn't, Psycho only shook his head in disbelief.

"I've heard of your early starters, but this is ridiculous."

"I know. But, with a disaster like Second Impact happening, changes must be made to repopulate the planet."

"True." He then asked, "What's the name of her boyfriend?"

"Shinji Ikari."

"Oh, shit."

"What? What is it, Psycho?" The cyborg can only shake his head before replying.

"If you didn't hate me before, you're going to hate me now."

"If you're talking about Shinji being in the brig, then don't worry about it."

"You already know about that?"

"Yes. Through his guardian Captain Katsuragi." At Psycho's groan, she asked, "Why would you think I'd hate you for that?"

"Because I was the one that escorted him to the brig after he exited Unit-01."

"Okay. That just begs a big old 'why' as to why he's in the brig instead of trying to impregnate Ritsy."

"His Father is the Commander of NERV. But I'm sure you already know that."

"I do. The man is a dumbass." Psycho lets out a chortle, prompting Deidre to cock an eyebrow. "Was that a laugh of agreement, Psycho?"

"You bet it was, 'Nelle."

"Dammit! Don't call me that or Dragonelle! Anymore! Got it?"

"Easy, easy." Sighing, Psycho nodded before replying, "Yeah. I got it. So who're you now?"

"Deidre Takamiya."

"Deidre." Psycho experimented with the name and found he liked the way it sounded. "It fits you."

"Thanks." Deidre then shook her head and asked, "Who'd have thought our lives would turn out like this after Dread died?" Psycho gave her a nod before snickering.

"I know. You a Mother and me an Agent for a UN chartered outfit for planetary defense. I bet Dread's rolling over in his grave right about now." Deidre let out a slight snicker of agreement before sighing.

"Do you keep in touch with Bio-Con or Vitriol?"

"Nah. Not anymore. My phone died while I was underwater about eight or nine years back." Deidre cocked an eyebrow before smirking in amusement.

"You swam with your phone?"

"Not exactly. More like I was walking along the ocean's floor for about eight or nine years before reaching shore." Deidre can't help but burst out laughing. "Hey! You try walking along the ocean floor in frigid as Hell water for eight or nine years and see if your phone still works!" Examining what he'd just said, Psycho can't help but laugh wildly at how hilarious that had actually sounded.

Three minutes later, Deidre and Psycho had calmed down enough to talk. Deidre grimaced as she pressed a hand to her stomach.

"Laughter may be good for you, but too much can be very painful."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay." Deidre gave Psycho a slight smile until she noticed an expression she's too familiar with. A sheepish expression Psycho was able to conceal from everyone except her. "What'd you do, Psycho?"

"How long has your daughter known Shinji?"

"A year. Why?"

"Did she meet him last summer?"

"Yeah." Starting to get cross with him, she said, "This had better be going somewhere."

"Yeah." Psycho let out a grunt and asked, "You've by now heard about a guy named Birdman having been caught in Germany?"

"Yeah. I did. But that happened like, what, about two weeks ago?"

"It did. He was caught by Shinji Ikari." Next came the words that stunned her. "Also named Max Steel Jr."

"WHAT?" Calming her temper back down, Deidre said, "You've got three minutes to tell me everything."

"It was his Father's wishes that Shinji suffer a setback to render him weak-willed."

"I'm listening."

"I infiltrated the head of 'N-Tek's Okinawa home and found a satellite lab. In that lab I found a newer version of what Dread had sent me after when Max Steel first showed up."

"The MAX probes?" At his nod, she then put it together. "You changed the plan, didn't you?"

"Yes. Instead of rendering Shinji weak-willed, I helped him get stronger. Inadvertently, of course."

"Of course." Her jaw dropping, she then said, "If Ritsy gets impregnated, what do you think the kids will be like if any of those probes got into them?"

"I dunno. But I think you're going to have a very interesting game of 'Hide and Seek' while they grow up."

"Don't you get started with me on that note, Psycho! The very idea of grandchildren able to go invisible and excel at sports is worrisome as it is." Shaking her head, Deidre then asked the biggest question of all. "Why did Commander Ikari want his son to be rendered weak-willed?"

"Not did. Does. Shinji's an ongoing 'project' with him. To what end, I have no fucking clue at all. But, I'll tell you this much. Shinji's gotten to be stronger emotionally because of the family that took him in."

"Josh McGrath, Kat Ryan and Berto Martinez."

Deidre can't help but smile fondly at the thought of Shinji growing up to be as much a hero-type as the ones that defeated her past self and Psycho so many times in the past.

"Ritsy has good taste in men, it seems."

"Yeah. Oh, got any pictures of her?"

"But of course." Reaching into her handbag, she brings out the most recent picture. With Ritsuko and Shinji together in formal clothes. "This was taken five months ago at a social in Kyoto-2."

"She's beautiful." Smirking, he added, "Just like her adopted Mom." That in itself gets a smile from Deidre.

"Are you trying to flirt with me, Psycho?"

"Depends. Wanna go make some trouble for old time's sake?"

"Love to, but I can't. Sorry. I have grocery shopping to do while Ritsy's doing her homework."

"Well, as an old friend of yours, I can't very well let you go about it alone." Putting his human-face back on, he asked, "Why don't I come along and help you with your bags?"

"Sure."

From there, the two went grocery shopping. After they got done, as he walked her home, Psycho told Deidre about his encounters with Shinji when the latter was Max. Deidre, in turn, told Psycho about how happy Ritsuko had been ever since she and Shinji met. She even told him about the numerous condoms she'd found in the trash in Ritsuko's room. The whole thing had Psycho laughing uproariously.

When they got to the house, Psycho looked around, unsure about what came next. Only Deidre provided the answer. Gingerly extracting the bags from his hands, she stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on his left cheek.

"Thanks for the help, Psycho."

"You're welcome, Deidre." She lightly nodded before Psycho gently pressed his lips to her cheek, adding, "I'll see you around, 'Nelle." Instead of berating him, Deidre only nodded before going into the house.

Once inside, she put the groceries away in a daze. Once done, in a daze still, she sat down.

(Three hours later)

Deidre snaps awake and looks over at her mirror. Picturing herself as her previous form from before her life changed for the better.

'The former me wouldn't have given a shit about Ritsy. I'd have just gone on by and left her to die. The former me wouldn't have withstood her crying at all hours of the night. Let alone tolerated her 'Terrible Twos' or temper tantrums afterward.'

Sighing softly, she asks, "So why did I stop to begin with? What prompted me to begin caring about what happens to others?" Getting up to stretch, she groans as she cracks her neck muscles. "Did Second Impact make me soft?"

(Katsuragi/Ikari apartment)

Misato paces anxiously by the door to the apartment. She'd been pacing ever since she was called by a Section-2 Agent that Shinji had been released and was on his way back. Before she could ask him for more information, the call was ended. Annoying her to no end. Her pacing soon ends as Shinji opens the door.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Shinji." Giving him a worried glance, she asks, "You okay? You don't look too good."

"Considering Rits' life was threatened by the dumbass, I think I've got the right to look like this."

"He threatened her?"

"Yeah. He wanted me to sever my relationship with her. Or else."

"How'd you respond?"

"A counter-threat. He even goes anywhere near her to hurt her and I will feed him to Unit-01." Misato's arms going around him prompt him to return serve. "I know Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki said I shouldn't foster a relationship, but I don't want to give it up, Misato."

"Then don't." Glancing down at him, she goes on. "You two are made for each other, Shinji. Don't let that dumbass wreck one of the good things you have going for you."

"I won't." Checking the clock, he nods and says, "I've just enough time to make the afternoon class. I just hope Rits will understand my delay. Along with my plans."

"What kind of plans, Shinji?"

"The kind to keep her safe, Misato."

(Tokyo-3 High School; ten minutes later)

A worried Ritsuko paces in the classroom during the remainder of lunch break, checking her watch.

"Where is he at? He should've been here at first bell."

Next thing she knows, she feels a pair of hands go over her face. Covering her eyes.

"Guess who." Ritsuko smiles softly at the voice of her beloved.

"Shinji." Once the hands are taken away, a still smiling Ritsuko turns around, saying, "You almost missed… you're not Shinji!" A panicked Ritsuko backs away from a man she'd never seen before. One with a metal arm attached to his right side.

"Indeed!" His metal arm then unfolds into a claw and clasps her firmly. Yet gently at the same time. As Ritsuko struggles to free herself, the man just laughs. "It'll do you no good to struggle! No mere human has ever escaped from Psycho!"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Nothing personal, girly. I got orders from your boyfriend's old man. He wants you disappeared. Yesterday. Before breakfast! Before eggs! Scrambled!"

"Shinji." Two tears drop from her eyes as Psycho carries her out of the classroom. Only to stop suddenly. "I hope this means you changed your mind about obeying the dumbass that abandoned his son." Next thing she knows, she hears an unfamiliar voice.

"Let the woman gently go, 'Smiley' and we can play."

"Ah, Max Steel Jr. How nice of you to come. Saves me the trouble of finding you."

"If this is your way of giving me a gift, it really needs practice."

Even though she's scared silly, Ritsuko can't help a giggle at the wisecrack. For some strange reason, she can't help but feel a shudder from Psycho. A shudder of genuine amusement.

'A bad guy with a sense of humor. What are the odds?'

Next thing she knows, Psycho gently puts her down, only to grab her roughly by the shoulder. Turning her around, he allows her to see a young man she'd never seen before.

"This is my practice, Steel."

In his position, Max sizes up the situation. With Berto including his input.

"Psycho's not really trying, hermano. It's almost as if he was waiting for you to arrive before he grabbed Ritsuko. Like he was watching out for you." Max gives a minute nod that Ritsuko catches.

"What's your game, 'Smiley'? This really isn't like you."

"True. I don't really need the girl to get the better of you."

Ritsuko, understandably enough, is confused as Hell.

'Just a short time ago, he was talking about Shinji's dumbass old man. Now he's holding me as a bargaining chip? Psycho's right for him. He's nuts!'