Disclaimer: See initial chapter

"Why do you fight?"

Rei became silent for a minute and turned away to look forward. Shinji began to believe that she wouldn't answer him, but then she did. "Because...it is my link."

"To my dad...?"

"I have nothing else" was the quiet response. "It's like I was born to fight the Radham. If I stopped, I would have nothing left. That's the same as being dead."


Chapter 8

Fiery Persona; Asuka Sohryu


"I think this is going to be a good day, don't you Shin-chan?"

It has been a week past since the last battle with the Radham. Misato and Shinji were once again aboard the elevator of the Space Ring to retrieve the Blue Earth. But in addition to that, they were to pick up something, or better yet, someone, who was of greater importance to NERV.

The Second Child.

"I mean, I get my ship back and we get a new tekkaman.." Misato went on while Shinji stood beside her. "It's about time we had a break."

"Do you know what the Second Child is like, Misato?" Shinji asked. Personally, after what happened to him before, Shinji had been (greatly) hesitant in going to the Space Ring again. But Misato insisted that he'd come, replying that there would be times that he would be required to fight in space, so it would be better to deal with it now instead of later. So to get his mind off of the fact that he had fallen of the said Ring, Shinji inquired about their new soon-to-be co-worker.

"She's very bright, with quite a personality." Misato answered. "Graduated from a German university college at fourteen."

Shinji's gasped. 'No way!' Out loud. "What? A university?"

"Yep. And rumor has it that she seen her share of combat and managed to take down an entire Radham force single-handedly."

Shinji mouth fell open. An entire force...on her own? Even Shinji couldn't do that, at least not without any help. Not only was this new tekkaman powerful, but having graduated from a college university indicated that she was quite smart as well. It didn't take Shinji long to start to feel seriously outclassed. Noticing his awe-stricken expression, Misato gave a slight smile and added slyly.

"And she quite a looker too."

That, of course, caused Shinji's face to snap back and down, hiding the blush that threatened to come over his face at the mental image. "Oh...uh..."

Misato snickered and prepared to tease the boy more when the elevator finally made it to the top. Exiting, the pair walked through the corridors toward the docking bay. As they did, Misato thought back to an idea she had prior to coming. She had wanted Rei to accompany them as well, believing it would be good if all three of the Children were to meet at the same time (Or in the very least, get some more material to tease Shinji with). But instead, she had learned that Rei would be unavailable as she was needed for testing. Misato wasn't told what the testing was however.

'Go figure...'

Meanwhile, Shinji looked about as people went about their normal activities. There didn't seem to be any sign of nervousness or anxiety on their faces at all, just the general behavior. It was as though the attack that had occurred just a few days ago hadn't happened.

But it did happen...

Reaching the area they were to go to and showing their clearance, Misato asked if the Second Child was in. The guard in charge informed her that she was currently in practice, to which Misato had Shinji wait while she dealt a few other assignments. After she left, Shinji, immediately become bored, moved over to one of the window panels. It still unnerved him, being up in space and looking down at the Earth.

How could he get used to this?

A flash of light caught his attention and his gaze shifted and widened. On the underside of the Ring, a red form swooped about on the Ring. Surrounding it were several orbs, all firing at it, but not hitting her at all. It didn't take much for Shinji to figure out what or rather whom he was looking at.

The Second Child... Tekkaman Niigoki...

Long red hair flowed about from the figure's head as she moved about. Or danced about. That was what it appeared to Shinji anyway. A flicker of light shone in her hand and in a single moment, two of the orbs were slashed in half and the red tekkaman was wielding a long twisted rapier-like lancer in her hand. The three remaining orb all came at her simultaneously and soon enough met the same end as the previous ones

Once again, Shinji's insecurity kicked in. There was no way he could even compare to her. The way she moved was without flaw. Graceful and elegant. It was quite similar to the way Rei moved about, without any doubt as to what she was doing. Furthermore, she showed absolutely no worry about fighting or even being out in space. She just stood there staring at the Earth with her hair flowing about in the zero-g.

Her head turned slightly and in a flash, she was gone. Shinji however, remained by the window a little longer, his sullen feelings keeping him there for a bit. So much so that he failed to notice the feminine form entering in from the side exit, a frown on her face upon seeing her.

"What are you doing here? Civilians are not allowed back here."

Started, Shinji turned about and froze as he saw who was speaking to him. The girl looked about the same age as him, with golden red hair and cerulean eyes. She was wearing an equally red skintight uniform with the number 02 label on it.

"You're... the Second Child."

"Yeah." She scowled. "What about it?"

"I'm..."

But the girl cut him off almost immediately. "Whatever. Look, I don't know how you got here, but you better leave now. Only military and NERV personnel are allowed."

Shinji choked, not quite gaining his ability to speak properly yet. "Wait a minute..."

"What are you deaf?" the redhead now snarled. "Get lost!"

This evidently, provoked a response from Shinji for as she yelled, his tekkaset flashed on his forehead. At that same moment, her own tekkaset shone from hers as well, causing her to gasp in surprise and reel back.

"Who are...?"

"A bit quick, aren't you Shinji?"

It was at that moment that Misato decided to return, her teasing remark not missed by the Third Child, but at the moment, he was too stunned to care. The girl however, turned to Misato, her expression still one of surprise and then back to Shinji.

"Shinji?" she stammered. "As in, Shinji Ikari, the Third Child?"

Misato found herself scratching the back of her head. "Guess introductions are in order." Standing in between the, she lent out a hand toward the girl. "Shinji, this is Second Child, Asuka Sohryu." Then her hand motioned over to Shinji. "Asuka, this is Third Child, Shinji Ikari."

"Yeah." Shinji said meekly. "Hi."

From behind, a technician came up to Misato and said something to the woman. Nodding, the captain began to walk back toward the exit, only to stop briefly to look at the two.

"I'll be right back, so you guys get acquainted, okay?"

Shinji wanted to protest, but Misato was already long gone, leaving him with the Second Child, a girl who had displayed such marvelous abilities as a tekkaman. The same girl who, right now, was looking him over with a look of displeasure.

"So you're the Third Child? Not much to look at."

"Huh?" Once again, Shinji found himself stunned by the girl, but not in the impressed way as when he first saw her in space, neither was it the surprise of seeing what she really looked like. This was in regards to her attitude, which was clearly a negative.

"What's NERV thinking, recruiting an untrained boy to be a tekkaman?" She went on, peering at him with her hands on her hips as though he was a little kid to her. "Is Tokyo-3 desperate or something?"

Sadly enough, Shinji just couldn't retort to her taunts. "Uh...well..."

"Great." she exclaimed to herself. "Not only am I fighting the Radham, but now I have to baby-sit too."

At this point, Shinji was about to shout back when a loud scream echoed from beyond the exit. Shinji immediately recognized the owner of the scream.

'Misato?'


NERV HQ

As large as the pyramid building was, it wasn't hard to believe that there were areas hidden within it. Add to the fact that there were facilities underground and it it was simply a reasonable conclusion. Even more so since these hidden areas were purposely designed. In one of these areas, two figures stood around the middle of a chamber. Illumination was scanty, with the majority of light coming from a pod in center of the room, with only a single object stationed within it.

A girl...

Ayanami Rei floated within the pod, naked, with her arms crossed in front of her nude form. Her eyes were closed as if asleep, but in fact she was quite awake. One of the figures outside the pod -female- stepped closer to the pod. After a brief examination, she turned to the other figure, who nodded and stepped forward as well. Upon this figures' approach, Rei's eyes slowly opened to look at him, her tekkaset shining upon her forehead.

"I can feel them." she spoke quietly. "They are coming."

"Excellent."


"...can't believe you're here!"

"Well, I am Asuka's guardian after all. Are you really so surprised?"

Shinji and Asuka both made their way from the area they were in toward the docking area where the Blue Earth was stationed. Beneath the sapphire ship was Misato and a man, dressed casually with a ponytail on the back of his head. His face was unshaven, but the grin he was giving the captain was clear to see. The same could not be said for Misato, who was a good two feet away from him with a look of horror and anger on her face.

"Kaji!"

Surprised again, Shinji watched as the redhead quickly ran past him and toward the elder man, smiling all the while as she clasped onto the man's side.

"Hey, Asuka. Done with training already?"

"Yep." she smiled brightly.

The man's gaze lifted and he saw Shinji stand in the backdrop. "And I take it this is the famous Shinji Ikari. Hello."

"Famous?"

"Quite." Kaji replied. "The young tekkaman who fought an entire Radham force and practically saved Tokyo-3, all without any prior training."

"Oh...well... it wasn't..." Shinji stammered, not quite expecting praise given the abilities Asuka had shown who at the moment was glaring daggers at him. "I was just lucky, that's all."

Kaji shrugged. "Maybe. But luck is a part of ability. The fact remains that you did save Tokyo-3. A couple of times if I'm correct."

Shinji began to look up at the man in wonder. From the way he said it, it was as though Shinji had really done something amazing. That he was some kind of hero or something.

-"That's it, Shinji. That is the city you helped save."-

Mentally, Shinji shook his head. He wasn't a hero. He had just fumbled his way through that first fight and managed to wreck a part of the city in the process. And as for the other battles, he barely made it through in one piece and he didn't do it alone.

"Well, actually, Misato and Ayanami helped me through those."

"Ah. That's reminds me of another thing. I've heard you've moved in with Katsuragi, right?" When Shinji nodded. "Tell me, does she still sleep sprawled over the bed?

Both Misato and Asuka gasped in shock as Kaji asked that question. Misato more so, adding a glare that promised violence if the man went on further.

"Hey!"

"Yes, actually." Shinji answered, furthering the shock of Asuka and especially Misato. "She sleeps late so I always have to wake her up."

"Now wait a minute!"

It was at that point that another one of the technicians came up from behind the group. Misato almost bit the technicians head off, but calmed herself enough when she saw the serious look on the technician's face.

"Excuse me, Captain. We have a transmission for you from NERV HQ."


"Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Ritsuko's head shook on the transmission display screen. "I'm afraid not. A Radham force has been detected between the lunar space and Earth. Your mission is to intercept them before they reach Earth."

Stepping back, Misato placed a palm on her forehead. "Just when I thought today would be a good day..."

"Actually, it's not that bad. For one thing, there's no risk of damage to anything." Ritsuko explained. "And another, you have both the Blue Earth equipped for battle as well as Asuka with you. The Radham force is sizable, but its nothing that hasn't been dealt with before. If anything, the odds are more in your favor."

"That's my Ritsuko for you. Always for the odds."

The doctor eyes lifted to see Kaji in the back. "Nice to see you too, Kaji. Still giving Misato a hard time I see."

Kaji merely grinned in response, which caused Misato to let out a low growl under her breath. 'I jinxed myself. I know it. First Kaji and now the Radham. And this really seemed like it was going to be a good day.' Despite this though, what Ritsuko said did ring true to her. There was no last-minute immediate danger like the previous fight, neither was the battle to take place in the city or even on Earth for that matter. And now they now had Asuka to fight with them as well.

"In any case, we're on our way."

The transmission cut of and Misato turned to face the two Children who were standing behind her. "Okay guys, you heard the mission, so you know what we have to do." Her gaze settled on Asuka. "Asuka, since you're already familiar with space combat, you'll take point." She then looked over at Shinji. "Shinji, you will back her up."

"Okay." Shinji replied quietly.

"Wunderbar." Asuka grinned. "Now I can get to really show my stuff."

Misato continued. "I'll be supporting you from the Blue Earth, but for the most part, it's going to be up to the two of you. We leave in fifteen minutes so get yourselves ready."

"Roger." the two said in unison


Moments later, the Blue Earth jetted from the Space Ring and out into open space. Misato could feel the smile threatening to come over her face. She had always like diving or flying vehicles and she especially love flying the Blue Earth. The only reason she didn't have a full smile on her face was because of the presence of her co-pilot.

'He just had to have authorization, didn't he?'

In the seat beside her, Kaji sat perfectly relaxed and though she wasn't looking, she knew there was a grin on his face. Behind the two, Asuka and Shinji sat in wait. With a grimace, Shinji looked down at his suit. Correction, Asuka's suit… Since Shinji's suit had been left behind at NERV and no one had bothered to place any spare ones aboard the Blue Eath, it was decided that Shinji borrow one of Asuka spare suits. Needless to say, young man was less than enthused about it.

For that matter, neither was Asuka...

"Stop your groaning. You think I like you wearing one of my suits?"

"She's right, Shinji." Misato added in. "You should consider yourself lucky."

Lowering his head, the boy moaned. "I don't feel lucky."

The pilot/captain gave a thoughtful hum. "Well, if you don't mind us seeing you naked, that's fine too."

"Misato!"

"Eww! That disgusting!" Asuka shrieked. Pointing at Shinji, she shouted. "Figures you'd be a pervert too!"

"Hey, I didn't...! I..."

It was at that moment that the beeping of the alarm sounded, silencing everyone and turning their full attention to the front. In the black of space, multiple forms could be seen dotted across the expanse. Just as NERV had detected, a wave of Radham were making a b-line straight toward Earth. Misato veered the Blue Earth toward the swarm and called back to the Children.

"Okay you two. Remember the plan, okay you two. And be careful out there."

"Roger."

With that, the two teens made their way to the back and into the airlock. As the door closed behind them, Asuka lifted her palm up and called forth her crystal. As Shinji looked, he wasn't surprised by the color of it; a glittering ruby. The crystal itself was with six points, with the top two being the shortest and the bottom two the longest.

"Just don't get in my way, Third." Asuka quickly snapped at him.

"Airlock depressurizing." Misato announced over the intercom. This caused Shinji to blink in attention and summon his own crystal. As the light in the chamber went out, a new source of illumination came, in the glow of their crystals that soon engulfed the two Children.

"Tekkaman Niigoki! Tekkaman Shogoki! Engage!"

"Teksetta!"


AN: Sorry about mistakes I've made in the previous chapters in regards to Misato's rank. I'm so used to writing her as a Major instead of a Captain. But just to clarify, she is a Captain now. She'll become a Major later on. So just ignore the previous mistakes, at least until I correct them.