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Chapter 9: Dance-Dance Evalution

The constant summer sun beat down on the sweltering city of Tokyo 3 like a hammer, forcing most of the populace either inside air-conditioned buildings, or to the shores of lake Ashino. The occupants of Class 2-A had to endure the heat best we could, while we waited for the air-conditioning repairman to show up, so we had swarmed outside as soon as the bell at the end of the first lesson had rung. Fights where breaking out near the water fountains and any large patches of shade.

I was stood in the shadow of the gymnasium, my status as an Eva pilot and my physical size had discouraged anyone from trying to dislodge me, watching the group clustered around Toji and Kensuke 's makeshift stall with interest.

Kensuke had taken advantage of the fact that most of the boys in school thought that Asuka was the most attractive girl at the moment and that they were too nervous to approach her directly, to sell pictures of her to anyone who could pay. It looked like he was making quite a profit.

I let the crowd draw away, clutching their precious photos, before approaching the pair myself,

"Hey Tanus!" Toji greeted me cheerfully, "What can I interest you in?" he gestured to the sample pictures,

I shook my head, "Nothing, thanks. I just wanted to warn you."

"Warn us about what?" Kensuke asked, counting a sheaf of banknotes, "Nothing wrong with making a little money is there?"

"Not if you live to spend it." I said, kneeling down to examine one of the pictures, it was a good profile shot of Asuka in her school swimsuit, Kensuke must have been very lucky to escape without being spotted, "When Asuka finds out that you've been doing this, she'll remove certain parts of your body."

The two boys exchanged worried glances,

"You make a good case," said Kensuke after a few seconds, "I think we have enough for today, right Toji?"

"Yeah, we can always sell some more later."

I shrugged as they began to gather up their things and tossed the picture back onto the pile, "Its your funereal. Don't say I didn't warn you."

I left them shoving pictures into their schoolbags and went to lean on the wall that overlooked the basketball court, another crowd had gathered at the base of the stairs, and my eyes made out the shape of Asuka standing on the nearby flowerbed and Rei sat on a bench just beside it.

I had just made myself comfortable on the wall, ready to watch the fight of the decade, when the redhead turned on her heel and stormed off, the crowd dispersed, and Rei returned to the book on her lap.

I watched Rei turn a few pages while I drank another mouthful of warm water, before I slid down the railing to the bottom, and sat down next to her.

"Good morning, Rei."

"And to you, Pilot Harrab." She replied with her signature nod, closing the book and placing her hands on top of it, and I noticed that her brow was dry; the heat wasn't affecting her at all.

"Everything alright?" I asked her as I drained my water bottle and threw it over arm into a distant rubbish bin, "No one bothering you?"

"Few decide to talk to me, Pilot Harrab."

At that moment, two cell phones began shrieking in unison, and it was with a sense of foreboding that I pulled mine from my pocket and answered it,

"Hello?"

"The government has issued a special state of emergency for the Kanto and Chubu regions, surrounding the Tokai district," the recoded voice told me in her falsely confident voice, "All pilots are to return to headquarters and prepare to sortie." The line clicked closed,

I stood up and began to sprit towards the school entrance, Rei a few paces behind, as the sirens began to wail mournfully across the city. Along the way Shinji fell in behind me, accompanied by Asuka.

"Come on!" I yelled over my shoulder, "Last one there is Angel Bait!"

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Ten minutes later,

"Tokyo 3's intercept system is still under repair from the last Angel attack," Misato informed the three active Eva pilots as our respective machines backed towards the catapults, "Its only at twenty six percent effectiveness, for practical purposes, that's zero."

There was a thud and we crept slowly up the launch tubes, pausing about halfway, then the section of railing we where on tilted so we were lying flat on our backs, then it spun ninety degrees and connected to another line of rails, after a two second pause we shot off at full speed, this time heading parallel to the ground.

"We'll use Liner route 26 to get you to the coast," Misato explained from her mobile command car, "you must intercept the target before it makes landfall, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am" we chorused,

"Good, Units one and two will attack in turns, close combat load out, Unit five will act as support and a final blocker. Don't let it get past."

"Understood," I said with a grin, "We'll hold the line."

Misato nodded and the link snapped closed,

"This sucks," came Asuka's voice over the squad net, "My first fight in Japan and she wont let me handle it solo. Why do I have to bring you losers?"

"Don't worry," Shinji assured her, "its just SOP, you see?"

"Besides," I interrupted, "someone needs to look after the Rookie."

"I'll show you who is the real rookie!" she spat back, "Both of you stay out of my way or I'll make you regret it!"

The link closed, Shinji gave me a shrug, then his closed as well.

We emerged into open sunlight, and came to a halt with a thud, the restraints snapping open with an audible click,

"Well that was fun." I said sarcastically as I made Unit five stand up, "remind me to thank the captain."

I was stood on the edge of a sunken city, the buildings poking out at odd angles through the surf, and a long, wide beach connecting the ruins to the new shoreline.

Shinji and Asuka had already dropped into the water and strode through the ruined buildings towards where the mobile generators and weapon carriers sat on the sand, behind them a UN armoured company rumbled into positions behind the NERV deployment, the tanks turning their cannons towards the sea. As if their artillery could make a dent in the target.

We connected the cables then selected weapons. Unit one taking the reliable Pallet rifle, while Asuka took a sonic halberd, extending it to its full length with a satisfied huff. I shouldered a missile launcher, hesitated for a moment, and then picked up a second.

"Oh yeah." I said confidently, spinning the weapons in my hands, like a cowboy with his pistols, "Bring it on!"

Unit two led the way into the knee-deep water as my targeting computer registered a large energy reading approaching rapidly from the bay, Shinji followed close behind her while I remained where I was, bracing myself for massive recoil my two weapons would produce and linking my targeting computer to the other Evas.

Suddenly the Angel surfaced, a biped with its arms and legs extruding from a narrow torso, it reminded me of a streamlined version of the first one Shinji had faced but with a broader pelvis and bow shaped lags. Its tiny eyes regarded us expressionlessly.

"All Evangelions are cleared to engage." Misato informed us, "Begin the attack!"

"Music to my ears," Asuka spun the halberd above her head, its blade leaving a bright trial in the air, "you two better watch my back."

"You want us to cover you?" Shinji asked, confused,

"Yeah, ladies first!"

Unit two moved forwards as we opened fire, missiles and shells slamming into the Angel's flickering AT field and obscuring it behind a chain of explosions.

"This one's mine!" Asuka yelled, leaping from building to building as she closed with the target, the Angel watched her approach with an almost curious expression, blinking quickly as if unused to the bright sunlight.

Two of my rockets smashed through the orange wall, causing the Angel to stagger backwards as they hit home, just as Asuka launched her assault, weapon held two handed above her head as she used the force of her leap to add power to the cut, and she sliced the Angel right down the middle, her blade dissecting its round face. The two pieces sagged pathetically.

"That was fast," I said in surprise, Shinji nodded,

"Beautiful!" Misato cheered, "Excellent work Asuka!"

"It was nothing," the German replied with false modesty, "I can do way better."

The red Eva pulled its weapon free and started to walk back towards the shore, its pilot giving me an arrogant sneer. I ignored her, all I cared about was killing the Angels, and instead linked my mind with the presence, hoping to feel its pride in a job well done, but it was focused on the twitching corpse, and it was filled with suspicion.

"What's wrong?" I thought at it and it gave me its attention briefly before returning it back to the Angel, mistrust and wariness crossed the divide.

Falsehood. Trick.

I stared at the corpse again, increasing my magnification to examine the cut, its twitching was too rhythmic for my liking.

"Asuka, it's still moving!"

She spun around in time to see the two halves leap apart, and then they shed their outer skin, revealing two angels, both identical to the original.

"What?" Asuka spluttered, "That's cheating!"

The two clones stood, water and the blood from their birth poured down their flanks, then they charged forwards.

"They are attacking again!" Misato warned, "Take them out!"

Two more missiles were already airborne, and they blew off one of the Angels' arms, the AT field providing no protection from the barrage Shinji and I unleashed at it, my targeting computers ensuring that all our shots hit the target.

"Oh come on!" I protested, as the limb regenerated, "Nothing re-grows that fast!"

The other angel leapt at Asuka, and she hacked at its flailing claws with her blade, sending it into the water, again it was replaced.

"What the hell?"

The first twin ducked past her and lunged at Unit One, ignoring the dozens of rounds he pumped into it as it drew close, and smashed him to the ground with a swipe of its claws.

"Unit One has stopped transmitting." I heard Maya report, "He's in no shape to fight,"

I was moving before I had realised it, missile launcher held like a club and I crossed the open space swiftly and hammered my makeshift mêlée weapon into the Angel's face, sending bits of metal flying as the strength of the blow crushed the barrel and forced the target to lose its footing but the angel recovered its balance like an acrobat and circled around me wearily as I dropped the useless missile launcher, pulled my progressive knife from my pylon and held it before me, shimmering blade parallel to the water, standing over my fallen friend protectively.

To my left, Asuka was raining blows on the other clone, scoring deep cuts into its flesh although they healed almost immediately,

"Why. Won't. You. Die!" she shrieked,

"Asuka, aim for the core!" Misato advised, and sparks flew as the German girl thrust her blade into the red sphere.

My opponent continued to circle, making feints towards me, trying to lure me out into deeper water, away from my fallen comrade, and seemingly unaware of its twin's imminent death. I stayed were I was, waiting patiently for Asuka before trying to tackle this one by myself.

Unit five was designed for mid- to long-range fire support, not hand-to-hand combat, and no amount of training or tests could remove the hindrance of the F-type Armour. Its targeting computer and other advanced systems would be horribly exposed with any lighter, giving an opponent handholds and weak spots to exploit. Ritsuko had said something about final parts to complete my Eva's frame that would make it more agile would be arrive soon, but that information was useless at present. Now that I had closed with the foe I couldn't disengage without being cut down as I tried to run. And I would not abandon my friend.

"Its no good!" Asuka yelled, pulling her blade free, "It just keeps regenerating any damage I do!"

. The Angel twin leapt towards me and I knew this was no feint as I raised my knife to parry. Its assault altered direction faster than my eyes could follow, changing from a frontal attack to weave past my raised arm to slash at the back of my right leg, causing me to drop to my knees. I screamed as the pain cut through my metal shield.

"Tanus!" Asuka yelled, the sound of my pain diverting her attention for a second, the Angel took full advantage. Grabbing tight hold of her leg and shoulder, it lifted her above its head and threw her out into the bay. She landed heavily; armour buckling at the impact, then rolled a few hundred yards, and lay still.

I tried desperately to stand, but my strength was trickling away through the phantom wound, and I began to shake as the weight of my own Eva threatened to overwhelm me.

"Tanus!" Misato yelled through the descending darkness, "you've got to stand up! They are going to break through if you don't get up now!"

The Angels were moving away towards the shoreline with speed unusual in something that size. I felt my panic rise as they ran up the beach, the tanks' shells bouncing from them like pebbles.

I forced my Eva to stand, gritting my teeth against the pain and leaning on a ruined build to compensate for my useless leg, and reached for Shinji's pallet rifle. The Angels were nearing the edge of the ruined town, at the limit of the rifle's effective range, the rifle stock met my shoulder and I pulled the trigger, hoping that this volley would stop them or at least lure them back towards me.

The firing pin came down on an empty chamber and I swore as the targets broke through the UN tanks and headed westwards towards Tokyo 3.

"Stand down Tanus," Misato's voice echoed through my entry plug, "We are abandoning the operation. Hyuga, inform the UN that I am transferring command to them. We failed."

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"Today at 11:58:15 am, Eva Unit One was attacked by one of the targets, Alpha, witch had separated from the other target, and was disabled by its close range attack,"

Back at NERV HQ, in the briefing centre, Shinji shuffled in embarrassment in his seat, as the screen in front of us showed a photo of unit one lying with its back against a half-submerged skyscraper, in the corner of the photo I could see Unit Five charging forward.

" At 12:02:03 pm, Unit Five, which had advanced to cover the fallen Unit one, suffered heavy damage to its lower right leg." The voice of Maya continued from the booth at the rear of the room, the screen now showing the precise moment that angel's attack had landed, and it was my turn to be embarrassed. Unit five had its knife raised in front of it, but the angel was ducking around its right side, avoiding the hand that held the blade and its claw was tearing through the exposed flesh of Unit Five's calf.

"At 12:02:06 pm, Unit two was thrown by the second target, Bravo, a distance of approximately three hundred and twenty eight yards, suffering damage to the torso and ceasing to function at 12:02:23."

Asuka gave an angry snarl as the screen showed her Unit face down in the water and surrounded by UN rescue craft.

"This is all your fault!" she yelled, leaping to her feet and pointing a finger at Shinji and myself, "if you had given me halfway descent support, I could have defeated both of them easily!"

"Our fault?" I yelled back, also standing, "it was your reckless charge that caused it to split in the first place!"

"Me, reckless? Well, excuse me for trying to defeat the Angel!"

"If you had informed us of your plan of action, we could have provided better covering fire." Shinji pointed out angrily, "You disregarded the operating procedure in your haste to show off!"

"What was that? You couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag!"

"Brave words coming from the drowned rat." I spat, pointing at the screen, where the photo remained, "It took you out pretty easily."

"How dare you say that to me? You're a pathetic excuse for a combat pilot!"

"And yet I was the only Eva left standing!" I retorted, nodding to the new photo of Unit five leaning on the building, "The Advanced Combat model has proved its superiority over the Production type in this battle."

"At 12:03:00 pm," Maya continued loudly, causing the three of us to fall silent, "NERV transferred command of the operation to UN-2."

"We've been completely humiliated." Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki growled, glaring at the three of us, I avoided making eye contact.

"At 12:05:00, the UN made an attack with an N2 mine." The picture changed from B52 bombers to a massive explosion visible from orbit, "The attack succeeded at burning off twenty eight percent incineration of the target."

"Well, it looks dead." Asuka muttered, the newest photo showing the charred shapes of the two angels.

"That is only temporary." Fuyutsuki corrected her, "the second assault is only a matter of time."

"You three," Commander Ikari interrupted, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the small room, beside me Shinji stared down at his feet, "Do you know what your jobs are?"

"Piloting Eva?" Asuka guessed and flinched when Ikari turned his gaze to her,

"No." he said coldly as he stood up, "it is to defeat the Angels."

The three of us remained silent, Shinji still staring at his feet and Asuka was chewing her tongue, holding back her anger with difficulty while fixing me with a death-glare.

"I'm sorry sir." I replied, breaking the silence. "It will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't. NERV does not need this kind of negative attention."

The room was silent as the two commanders left the room and Maya turned off the projector,

"Why does everyone get do angry here?" Asuka asked the room as she collapsed back into her chair.

"Adults have a thing about credibility," Kaji replied, he was sat right behind her, "we don't like to be humiliated."

"Where's Misato?" I asked him, "She was in charge of this operation, shouldn't she be here?"

"She's clearing things up," Kaji said, "One of the duties of the director of operations is to take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

I nodded and scratched the back of my leg; Ritsuko had forced some of that damn ointment onto the irritated skin, so now the bandages itched like crazy.

"What'll we do now?" Shinji asked, ignoring my furious scratching, "Doctor Akagi said that the Eva's need days to be repaired."

"Don't worry," Kaji reassured him, "The MAGI have predicted that it'll take the same amount of time for the angels to regenerate the damage they suffered. I'm sure that Captain Katsuragi will have a plan before then."

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The walk home later that afternoon was longer then usual, Shinji having to adjust his pace to mine, due to my bandages I could only limp, and occasionally one of us would look nervously towards the east as if expecting the angels to burst over the ridge and attack.

We made most of the trip in silence, until Shinji broke the silence,

"I never got the chance to thank you," he said as we waited at a crossing, "for earlier."

"Hmm?" I said distantly, "Oh, right. Don't worry about it. Like I've said before: we're all in this together. I'd do the same for Rei and even the Baroness if necessary."

"But," he protested, "You could have been killed."

"So could have you if I hadn't. Therefore it's worth the risk."

"You're not afraid to die?"

I punched his shoulder gently, "Of course I am. Do you think I'm made of stone? I can't just stand back and watch a friend die."

I turned away and looked towards the west, my mind travelling back through the years towards the day my life changed forever,

"Not again."

I shook away the dark thought as a delivery truck rumbled past and I crossed the road quickly, eager to get back to the apartment where my only worry was Misato's cooking and the only annoyance was trying to find where pen-pen had hidden my socks.

Once again the lifts in the apartment building were broken, and the two of us climbed three flights of stairs without compliant, the end off an awful day was in sight.

I unlocked the door and stepped though, something slid under my foot and I fell backwards, smacking my head on the doorframe, tried to stand again and slipped on something else in the darkness of the hallway.

"Son of a bitch." I muttered in English from my prone position, having decided to accept the majority vote for the moment, before switching back to Japanese, "What the hell was that?"

"Erm, it looks like a bra," said Shinji, picking up the offending object,

"Misato had better start tidying up after herself," I growled angrily as I carefully stood, "or I start disabling certain electronic devices, like the water heater while she's having a shower."

Shinji flicked on the light switch and revealed stacks of boxes almost blocking the hallway, a half open orange suitcase lay by the door, clothes hanging out of the opening.

"What is all this crap?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head "has Misato started ordering things from the Internet?"

"Don't be so rude!" a voice yelled from behind the pile of boxes, "These are my personnel belongings."

Shinji peered over the stack and went pale, "You? What the blazes are you doing in our house?"

"Why are you two still here?" said Asuka calmly as she stepped into view, "Yeah, you guys have been ditched for the newer model, it's a natural choice considering my superior tactical abilities. I'm sure that now we are living together, Misato and I can come up with a fool-proof plan to destroy the Angel."

"You what?" I said as she drew closer, an arrogant smirk on her face,

"You need me to spell it out, Tech?" she said sweetly, her face inches from mine although she had to stand on tiptoe to do it, "Misato will be living with me, although I'd rather live with Kaji, you two will have to find new accommodation."

She smirked again and lent back against the wall, my confusion and anger making it difficult to talk,

"Hey, Third Child, why are Japanese houses so small anyway? I could only fit about half of my stuff into my new room." She jerked a thumb down the corridor and Shinji gagged at the pile of his things that occupied the rest of the entranceway, it seemed she had already staked her claim to the front bedroom.

"And how can you live in rooms without locks?" the German continued as Shinji went to rescue his belongings from the rubbish, she opened and closed the living room door for emphasis, "haven't you heard of the need for privacy? Unbelievable!"

"That's because the Japanese way is to look after the needs of others before one's own." Said Misato six inches from my spine, her officer's stealth catching me out once again, "How's the move going Asuka? You guys will be getting along real well."

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked, knelt amongst his possessions,

"This is part of your new training regime." Misato explained, stepping through into the living room carrying a radio, the three of us followed her, curiosity winning out over anger. Misato sat at the table and gestured for the three of us to sit opposite. Asuka on my right and Shinji my left, and waited while Misato set the radio down next to her and drained her first beer can of the evening.

"There is only one way to destroy this newest Angel," she said, slamming the can on the table between us, spraying beer dregs over the varnished surface. Shinji flinched, "Execute a simultaneous attack on both cores while the Angel is separated."

The other pilots and myself exchanged glances, where was she going with this?

"To that end," Misato continued, sweeping a stern gaze over the three of us, "I want the three of you to live together from now on."

It was like flicking a switch. Asuka exploded, leaping to her feet angrily, Shinji went pale and I was half stood myself, staring at my latest guardian with disbelief. Share a house with the Baroness? Might as well share it with a dragon, there would be less arguments for one thing.

"No way!" Asuka was protesting, "a boy and a girl should not share a room after the age of seven, and now you want to force two in with me?"

"Keep your shorts on," I interrupted, "I'm not exactly happy with this arrangement either. The line for the bathroom in the mornings is long enough already."

"The Angel is currently regenerating itself," Misato continued over the two of us, "it will begin its next assault in a few days, this is the only way."

"But its impossible," Asuka moaned, slumping back into her chair, "defeating the Angel can't be worth this!"

"We have a way of making it possible," Our CO assured her, "The three of you will learn the master attack pattern choreographed to this music."

She pressed play on the small radio and music drifted out, some kind of classical I guessed, Misato continued. "I have secured equipment to help with the training. We begin now, we attack in six days."

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The lights of the sixth cage gave the two men on the walkways above a grand view of the techs and cranes swapping the plates and wiring that acted as Unit Five's protective skin. Several wearing diving equipment leapt into the deep pool of LCL that surrounded the machine and vanished under the dark surface

The shouted orders carried up to the two watchers, mixing with the clang of metal on metal and rumble of cranes. One of them spoke, the lights beneath them putting his old face into sharp relief.

"The plans for Unit five where finished long before the Forth Child was chosen. Yet its two-year-old upgrades change its appearance. What does the finished Model remind you of?"

The other man was silent, the light from below reflecting off his glasses as he watched the organised chaos below, after a few seconds his companion turned to him.

"You do remember his father?" the first man continued, "You were part of the Katsuragi research team as well."

"Colonel Nesfer Harrab was in charge of the security forces." The man replied. "I had few dealings with him. Although I understand he was a powerful man, very charismatic, and the men under his command spoke very highly of him. Nesfer never had to repeat an order."

Silence fell on the walkway as the men below continued their work, slipping the new green armour into place, each plate slotting together and overlapping like the scales of a serpent.

"I expect he wasn't happy with his assignment," the first man said after a while, "Babysitting scientists must have been boring for him."

" He left the administration work to his second in command, and took turns patrolling the perimeter of the facility while we worked. I believe he was on such a patrol when Second Impact occurred."

"And his nickname?" the first man pressed, turning his gaze to the Evangelion below, and a small smile crossed the other's face as he replied.

"The Cobra."

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"Shinji! Pay attention to the music! You're being far too self-conscious!" the yell of Misato, our self-appointed dance teacher, cut though the composition like a blade, causing the two figures on the dance mats to freeze, their limbs locked halfway through one of the movements.

"I'm sorry." The boy replied, lowering his arms and staring at the floor, Asuka smirked at his discomfort until the older woman turned her attention to her,

"Asuka, slow down! Stop leaving the others behind; you need to be in perfect harmony if we are going to be successful. How many times do I need to tell you?"

"I could do that," the girl muttered, "But you're asking me to lower my abilities to their level, shouldn't they try and match me?"

"We would," I said irritably from where I was sat against the patio windows, shifting uncomfortably in the half-leotard, half-shirt "Training Suits" Misato had forced the three of us into, "If you had any ability at all."

"Enough!" Misato cut off Asuka's furious response before it was launched, "we've been at this for three days, and not one of you has managed to pace yourself with any of the others. We haven't even figured out a mission roster."

She stood, pulling on her uniform jacket as she did so, "I need to retrieve a few things from headquarters. Tanus, you need to raise your leg higher about mid way through, its putting you off balance for the rest of the steps, work on that while I'm gone. We have only three days left to get it right."

"Yes Captain." I sighed, also standing, taking a headset from Shinji and readying myself on the mat. Misato stared at me for a few seconds longer, then left with an angry mutter.

"Start the music." I ordered, from my crouch, Asuka mimicked me on the next mat, a feral grin on her face. It was a duel then.

"Ready to see how its really done tech?" she hissed,

"Sure," I replied calmly, as Shinji rewound the tape, "Just get me a mirror."

My friend pressed play; music drifted from the speakers, and the two of us on the mats leapt forwards into the first of the dance moves, our bodies and gestures in almost perfect harmony.

I watched the girl out of the corner of my eye, she seemed to be rushing through the moves like it was a race, and so I increased my own speed to match. Finishing the spins and weaves a fraction of a second behind her.

"Keep pace, damn it," I muttered, when one of the moves brought our heads close together for a moment "Stop rushing off."

She gave me a wordless snarl as we leapt up from a crouch to deliver an uppercut to our imaginary opponents then we both spun round into a roundhouse kick, before finishing it with a solid punch to where the angels core would be.

The tape finished with a click and both of us stared at each other for a second, sweat glistening on our exposed skin and our chests heaving as we fought for breath.

"Thought," I gasped, "Thought you could leave me behind huh? I'm not as slow as you think."

"I'll believe," she replied, also as breathlessly, "I'll believe that when I see it."

I collapsed back at my spot near the patio, my respect for the Second Child raising a fraction, she had just practiced the same moves with Shinji moments before and she still had energy to try and compete with me.

I saluted her with my water bottle before pressing the ice-cold plastic to my forehead. Shinji threw me another one from the cooler by the table. It slapped into my waiting hand and I took a swig.

"That was pretty good." He said, sitting beside me, "I think that you did better than I did."

I shook my head, "I'm not built for this kind of thing, I'll bet it was just luck that I didn't end up flat on my back."

To our surprise, Asuka sat down to my right and took the water from my hand, "You elephants have drank all the others," she explained as she drained the bottle, "Misato needs to buy more if we're going to keep this up for the rest of the week."

"No arguments here." I replied, "Could we also move the training to somewhere with a decent air conditioner? This place is a oven."

"What are you? Stupid?" the red-haired girl shot back, "I'm not appearing in public wearing this stupid thing!"

"We could ask Misato if we could move it to NERV headquarters." Shinji suggested, "It must have tons of rooms we could use."

"What was that? An original idea from you?" Asuka looked amused, "I'm surprised at the sudden display of initiative."

"This was not what I had in mind when I signed up to be an Eva Pilot." I said to the room, ignoring Asuka and pulling at the suit I was wearing, "I mean look at this! How the hell is this supposed to help?"

"It creates "Atmosphere", remember?" Asuka explained, she changed her voice to a passable imitation of Misato, " "Appearance is vital to create mood, and you need to be in the right mindset for this." "

The three of us laughed,

"That was a good impression," I said, "Who's this?" I altered my voice to Commander Fuyutsuki, " "We've been completely humiliated!""

The other's laughed harder and Asuka tried one of Ritsuko, " "This is pathetic!""

"Come on Shinji!" I said to my friend between the laughter, giving him a nudge with my elbow, "you try one."

"I don't think I can-" he began, but Asuka cut him off,

"C'mon! Don't be such a worrywart!"

"Yeah," I agreed with a nod of my head, "Lighten up a little."

"Well, okay." Shinji pushed his back against the glass door, locked is hands together in front of him and adopted a stern expression while staring at us over the top of his fingers, "Do you know what your jobs are?"

Asuka and I froze, just for a moment it had been the older Ikari sat next to us, before we had hysterics again, doubling over on the floor as Shinji dropped his unsympathetic expression.

"Its Commander Sourpuss himself!" Asuka sniggered.

We ran though all the base staff we could remember, a task that took several minutes, each of us trying a different person and arguing over some of the stranger ones while the music played in the background in its continuous loop until the doorbell rang.

"Fun's over." I said with a sigh, "Misato's probably forgotten her card again."

"We'd better get back to work." Shinji agreed, "I'll get the door."

I faced Asuka across the mat and gave her a polite bow, "Shall we dance?"

The German girl rolled her eyes and adopted the starting pose on the mat while pulling on one of the wireless headphones; I imitated her on the other. The radio clicked and started the minute long track again; we tensed, awaiting the assigned point where we would begin.

This time the movements flowed together, the two of us acting in perfect sync with the music, the dance steps, and the other pilot. We grinned at each other as we began the complicated mid-section and I focused my mind, this was the part I always messed up.

Shinji slid open the living room door then, and was followed in by Kensuke, Toji, Misato, Rei and Hikari. I felt Asuka freeze next to me as her friend entered, and the scoreboard blared the ERROR message that was so infuriating.

"Scheisse!" she spat, throwing the headset to the floor, "there is no way I can lower myself to the level this animated turnip lives at!" she pointed a finger at me and I fell over with a curse of my own, I really hate that mid-point.

"We were doing alright before." I muttered from the floor,

"So this is what you where doing the past few days." Said Kensuke with a chuckle, "Playing dress up with Asuka and Tanus."

My water bottle was already airborne and it hit him in the face, closely followed by Asuka's, knocking his glasses to the floor.

"I've had enough of this," the girl muttered, "It's not possible."

"So you're giving up?" Said Misato calmly, while Kensuke fished through the mess of empty bottles and cans by the table for his glasses.

"Well, you don't have anyone else who can pilot Unit two!" Asuka replied smugly, "I'll have to do."

"Rei," Misato said, her eyes still on Asuka, "Why don't you and Shinji try?"

"Yes ma'am."

The blue haired girl nodded to me as she picked up the fallen headset and took Asuka's place, Shinji took mine nervously and I passed him my headphones,

"Go for it," I said encouragingly and moved to sit by Hikari,

The First and Third children, knelt on the white plastic as they waited for the music to restart, Asuka watched them critically with her arms folded.

"This ought to be good." She muttered in German as the pair began to dance.

It was better than good, the two children moving together without pause, following the moves exactly as Misato's briefing video had shown us three days ago and passing though the difficult mid-point without a hitch.

"Well, it looks like we have a final mission line up." Said Misato triumphantly, "I'll have Ritsuko ready Unit Zero on D-day, Shinji and Rei will handle the operation."

"What?! NO!" Asuka yelled, "That's not fair!"

"They've proven that they have the skill to do this." Said Misato, still using that annoying calmness, "Survivability takes priority over being fair."

Asuka slammed her foot into the carpet, "Fine! You won't need me anymore! I'm out of here!" and with that she turned on her heel and stormed off.

"So even the devil can cry." Toji muttered, pulling a drink from the fridge,

"Hey lay off her," I retorted, "Why don't you try if you're so smart?"

"Oh, the big scary Englishman is standing up for the she-daemon." Kensuke teased, "When are you getting married Tanus?"

"Oh, shut up," I said with a sigh, standing up, "I'll go get her back Misato. These guys are driving me nuts. I could use some fresh air anyway."

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Hunting Asuka down took several hours, it seemed she had gained a good knowledge of Tokyo three's back streets and alleyways in the short time she had been in the city and I only found her by luck when I stopped off in a small convenience store on the opposite side of the city to the apartment.

She was knelt in the snack foods aisle, a half-full shopping basket beside her, pretending to read the rear of a packet of instant noodles while I walked up beside her.

"Don't say anything." She growled as I drew close, "I know that I have to pilot my Eva and learn that stupid dance."

I took a knee beside her and waited quietly while she made her selections, and walked alongside her once she had paid for them.

The sun was sinking into the western mountains when she finally spoke, climbing atop of a statue of some solider from the wars after Second Impact overlooking the city centre, sitting on the smooth plinth and let the setting sun shine in her face.

"I'll show them!" she swore, her voice echoing over the railing and across the city, her feet swung alongside my head. I pushed them away, "No matter the cost, I'll put Shinji and the First Child to shame!"

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" I suggested from where I was sat beside her, "you don't need to squash them-" her furious response cut me off,

"You're over simplifying things, even more than a normal male." She drained a can of juice and threw it off the edge of the railing to fall towards the street below, "I must avenge my wounded pride. It's a matter of honour now, even you should be able to understand that, Tech."

I nodded, Honour wasn't something to be taken lightly, and Asuka gave a satisfied grunt.

"We need somewhere to practise." She mused, cupping her head in her hands and staring at the sunset, "If they are going to pair Shinji with, with Wonder girl, we should team up as well."

"Wait, team up?" I asked, "Haven't they already chosen the pilots?"

"Verdammnt, do I have to explain everything? We still have three days left for training, Misato hasn't called me to say otherwise." Asuka held up her mobile phone as proof, "she must have been trying to guilt me into practising with Shinji."

"Right,"

"So, the final line up must still be undecided, if we show her that we can perform even better than Shinji and the First, we'll snatch the places from under their noses."

I stood, matching the German's grin; " "Survivability takes priority over being fair". "

"Now you understand, we destroy the angel and avenge our pride in one stroke."

Asuka stepped off her perch, grabbed her shopping bag and beckoned to me, "C'mon. We need to get back to the apartment; we can get at least another hour's training done before dark."

She started to run down the empty street, red hair streaming out behind her, and I found myself following, something about her drive to succeed was infectious and I was somehow going along with her crazy plan.

"The Angel is living on borrowed time." I thought confidently, glancing at Asuka out of the corner of my eye, "We will not lose to it again."

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The journey back to the apartment we both called home somehow turned into a race, with the two of us jumping over rubbish bins as we competed to find the fastest route.

We tore down alleyways, across parks and finally staggered our way up the flights of stairs to the fourth floor, our pride refusing to allow either of us to use the lifts, and where met by a seething Misato at the doorway that stopped us in our tracks.

"Where have you been?" she hissed, pulling us though the opening by the ears, "In between tantrums and childish antics, the Angel has gained another day on us, a day we can ill-afford. We need the two of you to get in perfect sympathy, remember that mankind depends you children to protect it."

"Yeah, yeah," said Asuka casually, "We were present at the briefing, Misato. You worry too much."

"Wait a second," I said after a few seconds, "Why did you say "The two of you," I thought Shinji and Rei where the selected pilots?"

Misato sighed and ushered us through to the dining room where our dinner was waiting, Shinji was sat at the table and I noticed he was wearing his old white shirt and black trousers combo, "I got a call from NERV a few minutes ago, and apparently the Magi have predicted that you and Asuka stand the best chance of succeeding. Something about cultural background similarities, I forget the details, so Shinji and Rei have been placed on standby. Units Five and Two will handle the op."

Asuka gave a triumphant arm pump behind our guardians back while she was pulling a beer from the fridge, and somehow managed to squeeze in an evil grin for Shinji before Misato had turned back around.

I however concentrated on my plate, some kind of seafood I guessed, and gave it a prod with my fork. It had the air of Misato's cooking about it and I had the right to be cautious.

I took a careful bite, prepared to spit it back out at the first hint of chilli powder and was surprised when none appeared. With my worries silenced, I began to shovel the rest into my mouth, while watching my new partner push the food around her plate, she hadn't gotten used to Misato's cooking style yet.

Shinji seemed more relaxed than normal, with his homework papers littering the table beside his plate he cold have passed as any normal fourteen year-old boy. He gave me a friendly nod when he noticed I was watching him.

"Happy to be out of the line of fire for the time being?" I asked him,

My friend gave me a nervous grin, "It seems that I'm always the one chosen to fight. I welcome the break. Anyway, you guys seem at lot braver then me when you're fighting."

"There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity." I replied. Leaning back in my chair, "as my conduct with the Forth Angel showed. Your method seems to have worked for you so far."

"You all have the potential to be top-notch Eva pilots." Misato encouraged us, "You wouldn't have been chosen otherwise. The process is quite thorough when analysing potential candidates, few people make it past Marduk's second phase."

"Makes me wonder how the these guys got through," Asuka said, seizing the chance to abandon her food, "I've been training for ages!"

"My father was a Colonel with the UN, and my mother was a member of Geherin since it's founding," I mused, staring at the ceiling, "Perhaps my skills were inherited from them. I know my Mother taught me to paint."

"You paint pictures?" Shinji asked, looking up from his work, "like portraits?"

"No, garden fences and sheds. Of course portraits."

"Oh, you're so macho." Asuka said with a mock swoon, but still managed to dodge my thrown spoon with ease, Pen-Pen stole her plate.

"Just because I'm a big guy doesn't mean that I have to be a sports fanatic. I have enough trouble with the Englishman stereotype, thank you very much."

"Asuka, what do you do with your spare time?" Misato asked, swirling the dregs of her beer around the bottom of the can, "You can't be training twenty-four seven."

"Oh I play the violin," she said quietly, "And I liked to go scuba diving on holidays."

"I understand that the coral reefs around Okinawa are quite spectacular." I said thoughtfully, watching the penguin retreat into his fridge with his spoils held proudly overhead, "I would like to see them."

"Isn't that where we are going for this years school trip?" Shinji asked, resuming his work, "The class representative was putting up notices last week."

"Oh yeah, that's probably where I got the thought from. Here was me thinking I was being original."

"All this talk about school trips is a little premature, don't you think?" Asuka interrupted, standing up, "We still have an Angel to defeat."

She marched towards the living room, grabbing my collar as she passed, and dragged me through the door, "C'mon Tech, we need to make up for lost time."

"Like it wasn't your fault we lost it in the first place."

"What was that?" her hand connected with my face with a resounding crack, "Stop complaining! You're wasting even more time!"

"God dammit woman! That hurt!"

"Just try not to fall over before the music starts Tech."

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The next two days passed in a blur of music, arguments, endless repetition of the same moves until I almost went insane. But, something happened that made Asuka and myself suddenly flow together in perfect sync.

It was unusual, and not just because the two of us had stopped quarrelling. If one of us shifted in our seats at the dinner table, the other would mimic it at exactly the same moment. Sneezes now came in stereo, and unfortunately I would find the bathroom occupied at the very second I needed to use it. Asuka was still faster than me in some areas.

I had spent most of the evening before the Angel's attack playing chess with Shinji while I waited for Asuka to finish with the shower. I had long gotten used to her excessive use of the hot water, as disagreeing with her achieved nothing.

"Is it just me, or does Asuka shower every two hours." I asked Shinji over the board, he merely grunted, and removed one of my bishops from the black and white tiles with a rook I hadn't noticed,

"Check." He said, and returned his headphones to his ears. Someday I would find out what he actually listened to.

The sound of running water suddenly cut off and I heard the curtained divide into the kitchen slide open accompanied by approaching footsteps on the kitchen's tiled floor.

"Where's Misato?" Asuka asked, stepping into the living room-turned-barracks where the four of us slept each night, wearing one of our guardian's dressing gowns. Shinji and I quickly returned our eyes to the game; Misato didn't choose gowns with large amounts of fabric.

"She's at headquarters." I replied, Shinji looked incapable of coherent speech, "She called while you where in the shower, she's pulling an all-nighter. It's D-day tomorrow."

"So," she said softly, running her finger along the back of the sofa as she walked past, "just the three of us here tonight."

She picked up her bedroll and blanket, carried them into the dining room then slid the door closed with her foot.

"Odd girl." I muttered, and counter-attacked Shinji's rook with a knight, Suddenly the dining room door burst open revealing Asuka knelt amongst her bedding and leaning out the opening towards us.

"This door is now the impenetrable wall of Jericho." She said, and I fought to keep my eyes locked with hers, a drop to the exposed skin below would equal death, "Any man who takes even a single step over this wall is dead meat, understand?"

Shinji and I nodded, and Asuka gave a huff of satisfaction and slammed the door closed again,

"Time for bed children!" she called through the divide, "Lights out!"

The room was plunged into darkness and I gave a sigh and pushed the board away in the dim light of Tokyo three's distant skyscrapers.

"Guess I should get some sleep," I whispered, as I crawled towards my own bed, "Before my "Partner" storms over the wall and kills us both. See you tomorrow Shinji."

The dark shape that was my friend nodded, "Good luck."

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"Control to Units Five and Two, Targets are approaching from the east. Spread your AT fields as soon as the music starts, then follow the operation choreography. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Captain." The two of us coursed, and I felt the adrenaline coursing through my veins, this was it.

"Remember the moves, Tech. Lets blow them away!" Asuka said to me, her Eva running a thumb along her spears head, we had the bare minimum of restraints enabled, just enough to stabilise us as we rocketed up the launch tube. The changes left our arms free to move.

"Full power and maximum speed." I responded, "We'll be done in sixty-two seconds."

"Targets have just breached our defensive line and are entering ground zero." Aoba reported, a note of fear in his voice,

"We won't fail this time," Misato assured him, "detach external power."

I felt the power cable leap clear of my Eva's back and the one minute timer appeared on my HUD,

"Eva launch!" Misato bellowed, and the catapult activated, the first notes of the music drifting through my radio link to the control room as I rocked upwards, my mind found the presence, and strength and trust flowed through the link.

Far above I could see a small square of blue sky, rapidly growing larger as I drew closer and the final safety locks disengaged just as I cleared the surface, Sonic Spear clutched to my side.

I caught sight of our targets as I rose above them, bending their backs to follow our ascent until they and the buildings they strode through were laid out below us like children's toys,

I brought my arm back, and threw the weapon, Asuka releasing hers at the same moment to send two steel-tipped lances tearing downwards as we reached the top of our arc and leant forwards into the first flip.

The two Angels deflected our weapons before they found their cores, and the two of us landed behind them just as the armoury buildings on either side of the board high street opened, revealing a pallet rifle each.

The rifles snapped up with trained precision and a short controlled burst of gunfire was already streaking though the gap between us as the Angel's turned, impacting as the tiny faces turned towards us, their eyes ablaze.

The ground in front of us exploded and we flipped backwards, avoiding the attack.

"This wasn't in the script," I said as I back flipped though another explosion,

"Just wing it," Asuka replied, her Eva moving like a shadow cast by my own, "We can still beat these guys."

Our feet slammed down onto an armour deployment plate, and the five metre thick sheet of metal rose between the Evas and Angels, screening us from view. The plate buckled as the Angel's ranged attack hit it.

We paused for a second than blind fired our weapons around the sheild, temporarily confused by this deviation from the plan.

My targeting computer shrieked a warning as the two Angels rapidly closed with us,

"Incoming!" Asuka yelled, "Evade!"

I dived to the left as the Angels' claws dissected the armour plate, Asuka dived right and we rolled to our feet, weapons raised, and we ran towards each other, meeting up again before emptying the weapons into the rear of the targets.

"Covering fire!" Misato yelled, "All interception buildings, full barrage!"

Missiles and shells burst from several nearby buildings as well as some from a nearby UN artillery company; the Angel's were shrouded with smoke, they slowed under the weight of the bombardment that rained down on them.

"Lets finish this!" I yelled, hearing my cry emerge from Asuka's mouth as well and we discarded the empty weapons, charged forwards and somersaulted into the attack.

My foot hit something brittle under the smoke and I felt it shift under my weight and a bright light cut through the smoke, one underfoot and one slightly to my right.

I realised I was still yelling in fury as the force of our charge pushed the dying Angels down the street, the two Evas riding them like novelty surfboards before they exploded, demolishing several of the outer city buildings and sending us sprawling.

I managed to push myself of the ground before something heavy hit me in the back and my internal batteries drained, the walls of the plug returned to their pale green.

I reached down and pulled the Entry plug eject handle, and breathed a small sigh of relief as the plug slid back, a quick pull of the hatch release handle allowed the morning sun into the small space.

A red hand reached through the opening and gripped my wrist and I gave Asuka a thankful smile as she pulled me through, she returned it with one of her own than brought her hand round to leave a red mark on my face,

"You jerk!" she yelled, pointing her other hand at the tangle of limbs beneath us, "What are you doing on my Unit two?"

"What?" I replied, trying to focus after the sudden assault, "You're the one who fell on me."

"Maybe if you kept time with me, we could have landed properly!"

"You said we had to wing it!"

"I didn't mean go crazy! Your brain must still be tired, you were making a lot of noise last night."

"I couldn't sleep! I was worried about today's battle!"

"Yeah, I'll bet!" suddenly her face took on a look of horror and she pointed a finger at me assumingly, " You were "Choking the Gopher" weren't you?!"

"I was what? What sort of sick minded bitch are you?"

I could make out the distant forms of approaching VTOLS through the smoke before another full palm slap connected with my cheek, and I stepped off the back of Unit five to land in the deep crater to avoid another attack.

I stood in the shadow of the two Evas and watched the approaching aircraft while ignoring Asuka's yelled insults behind me.

"Ah the peace and tranquillity." I said with a sigh, "Just another day in Tokyo three."

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Right, I'm sure to get flamed for replacing Shinji's part with Tanus in this chapter, but my reasoning is that Shinji wan't the focus for all the episodes, ( 10, 22, and 23 being examples.) and i feel Tanus deseves some time in the spotlight, he is a pilot as well.

Unit 05