It was three in the morning when Kaji came to the blacked out room in the lowest depths of Nerv headquarters. He had noted that the security cameras were off on his way down. It was what he'd expected- no one could know this meeting was happening. Finding a chair with his reaching hands, Kaji lowered himself slowly in to the seat. He waited in silence for an hour. Just as he was starting to wonder if he had somehow forgotten the location for the meeting, the sound of a door opening came from across the room. Footsteps approached, and the sound of another chair pulling out scraped through the darkness.
"Kaji Ryouji. I trust you've acquired the item for us?" A voice from the dark, firm yet quiet. Kaji shivered.
"Yes, sir. The instructions were perfect- I found it exactly where it was foretold." Kaji reached in to his pocket, and extracted a small stone box, roughly the size of a cigarette case. He held it out in to the darkness. From further in to the dark than his eyes had adjusted to see, a hand reached out and took the box. It was wrinkled, but moved quickly and with enough dexterity that Kaji imagined a much younger man belonged to the other end of that arm.
"Indeed. This is the Key. I'm glad you brought it right to me, and not to Ikari. He is a strong man, but that will of his may yet bring us trouble." The voice chuckled, and Kaji heard the box being set down on a surface to his right.
"Of course, sir. Will there be anything more? It was a long trip." Kaji yawned to emphasize his point. There was shuffling in the darkness, as the man stood up and picked up the box.
"Very well. Go and rest, you have done what was requested of you. We will contact you when we next need you." The footsteps moved away, and the door closed behind them. With another yawn, Kaji stood and began to make his way back up to the residential block. In his exhaustion, Kaji didn't notice that the cameras were on again. Several floors up and across the base, a blonde woman was watching the camera feed with interest.
"Kaji... what are you up to?"
The next morning, Shinji woke up with a start. He'd had the nightmare again. Ever since the last battle in Unit-01, he had the same one most nights. In it, Unit-01 was tearing apart a black shape- an Apostolo. It was this berserker that took over when Shinji passed out. But this time he was conscious. He could feel blood spurting between his fingers. The Apostolo's head reeled and stared at him. Just as he was about to see what it was, he woke up. With a sigh, Shinji got up and made his bed. He looked at the clock.
"Good. Still time to make some breakfast." Shinji was starving. He hadn't had much of an appetite when they got back with Asuka the night before. Misato had made some instant curry for herself and Asuka while they waited for the call with Asuka's room assignment. Shinji had gone to bed early- even riding shotgun for an Eva battle had been a strain on him while he was still recovering from the last battle. Making his way out to the kitchen, Shinji was vaguely aware of a clutter of boxes in the hall. Entering the kitchen, Shinji stopped short.
"Wha...?" He tried to process. Sitting in her usual place in her usual shorts and tank top, Misato was sipping coffee and tossing a snack to PenPen. The part that threw Shinji was the similarly casually dressed Asuka, also drinking coffee, who was sitting next to her. Seeing him, Asuka waved.
"Guten Morgen, Shinji!" She pulled out the chair next to her and patted for Shinji to sit down next to her.
"Uh. Good morning?" Shinji waved back, dazed. Misato giggled in to her coffee at his confusion. She stood and walked behind Asuka to hug her around her shoulders. They both smiled at Shinji.
"Asuka is going to come live with us!" Misato explained, excitedly. "After talking with her last night I just can't send her to live in the residential block." At that, Shinji gave a resigned sigh. Like it wasn't bad enough being fourteen and living with Misato.
"I hope it's okay with you, Shinji." Asuka looked a little nervous that he wouldn't approve. Was she crazy? Shinji smiled, and laughed while scratching his head.
"So, Asuka. What would you like for breakfast?" Shinji made his way over to the counter while Misato and Asuka cheered.
"Oh well. What's one more crazy girl to live with?" Shinji smiled, and started cooking.
An hour later and Shinji was slipping on his shoes by the door. He was making pretty good time, he should be to class in plenty of time for class. Kensuke was going to flip out when he found out Asuka had moved in. Shinji smiled. This would be a fun morning.
"Misato-san, I'm leaving for school!" Shinji called out in to the house, and reached for the door.
"Shinji! Wait for me!" Asuka barreled around the corner, and Shinji gaped. She was wearing his school's uniform. It made perfect sense, of course. She wasn't going to just sit at Nerv and wait for an Apostolo. Why wouldn't she go to school with Shinji? She slid to a halt next to him and pulled on the shoes she was carrying.
"I'm new to the city, y'know? You need to show me how to get to school. After class, Misato said for you to take me to HQ too, okay?" She beamed at him. She was going to be a handful, he could tell already.
"Sure, no problem. Let's go!" Shinji opened the door, and almost like they were normal children, the pilots of Evangelion Units 01 and 02 walked to school. On the way, they made casual conversation about school, their classmates, and what there was to do for fun in Tokyo-3. It was nice to have company for the walk to school, and Shinji was struck by how nice Asuka looked in her uniform. It was a good morning, and Shinji walked through the gates of the school with Asuka blissfully. It took three seconds for the scavengers to descend on Asuka.
"Are you the new transfer student?"
"Your hair is so exotic! Where are you from?"
"Do you know what class you're going to be in?"
"She's gorgeous!"
"Wait, if you came with Ikari-kun, does that mean you're a pilot too?" At that last question, the crowd froze, waiting for Asuka to respond. Asuka smiled at them and took a deep breath.
"Hello! I'm Soryu Asuka Langley. Yes, I'm a new transfer student. I'm one quarter German, one quarter Japanese, and half American- but I've lived my whole life in Germany. I don't know what class I'm going to be in yet. Thank you," she nodded towards the girl who'd said she was gorgeous, who swooned. "And yes. I'm the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. We just arrived in Japan yesterday." She bowed to the group. There was a silence while information was processed, and Shinji took a moment to admire how easily she handled the transfer student question typhoon. The crowd recovered and swarmed Asuka again, sweeping her away towards the faculty office while chattering.
"Wait!" Asuka cried out and the crowd parted, allowing her to make her way back to Shinji. "Thanks for walking me in today, Shinji. I'll see you later, okay?" With that, Asuka kissed Shinji on the cheek. The crowd gasped, but that was drowned out by a sound from the far end of the hall. Hikari, Toji and Kensuke had come downstairs to see what the noise was about. Kensuke was... having an episode, Shinji decided was the best description.
"You son of a-" Kensuke cried out.
"Aida!" Hikari still hit hard.
Upstairs, alone in the classroom, Rei put her head down on the desk. The new pilot would be nothing but trouble.
It came as no surprise to Shinji when Asuka was standing in front of his class, introducing herself. Of course she was. Why wouldn't all of the pilots be in the same class? That way Nerv would always know where to find them. There was still whispering, as to be expected, but the class had apparently gotten the uproar out of its system downstairs. Hikari waved to Asuka, and she waved back. Kensuke alternated between glaring at Shinji at gazing dreamily at the front of the room. When it finally came time for Asuka to take a seat, Shinji knew what he had to do. He stood up and moved back a seat.
"Here, Asuka. You can sit next to Hikari." Shinji gestured to what had been his seat, and winked to Kensuke. His friend mouthed a teary-eyed thank you to Shinji, and all was forgiven. Hikari and Asuka put their heads together, whispering and giggling. Shinji was glad everyone could get along. It was around this time that Shinji's eyes finally wandered to Ayanami's seat. She was looking at Shinji, though she looked away, startled, when his eyes met hers.
"Is Ayanami... sad?" Shinji frowned. Something in her eyes just seemed so... lonely? It wasn't that she was usually a particularly social girl, but it had never seemed to bother her before. But now she found herself on the outside of the group, and it clearly wasn't sitting well. Shinji felt bad, and decided he'd make an effort to help Ayanami and Asuka become friends.
The rest of the school day passed without any further excitement, and as the other students milled out of the room, Shinji and Asuka began to set out for Nerv.
"Ayanami!" Shinji called out after her, and she turned just before reaching the door.
"Yes, Ikari?" Her voice was cold, the same distance she had spoken with after their first ill-fated battle together. Shinji recoiled slightly, but Asuka's presence behind him helped him rally.
"I just wanted to introduce the two of you. Asuka, this is Ayanami. She's the pilot of Unit-00. Ayanami, this is Asuka. She's-"
"The pilot of Unit-02. I am aware. Is that all?" The cold glare flickered briefly to Asuka.
"Um. I'm showing Asuka to the Labs today. Do you have testing scheduled? Would you like to come with us?" Shinji felt like he wasn't making any progress on his plan to help Ayanami make friends with the rest of the group.
"No. I do not have tests today. I will see you tomorrow, Ikari." She nodded to Asuka.
"Soryu." With that she turned and walked off. Behind Shinji, Asuka spoke.
"What's her problem? You were just trying to be nice." Asuka had her hands on her hips, and looked mad. Shinji tried to bridge the gap.
"Well Ayanami... keeps to herself. But once you get to know her she's really kind... and she looks out for you..." Shinji trailed off as a smile found his lips. He looked off after Ayanami wistfully. Asuka was not amused.
"Let's just get going, Shinji." She shook her head. He really had a thing for a girl like that? The Japanese sure were strange.
There was an odd tension as they made their way through the streets of Tokyo-3. Shinji must have done something to upset Asuka, but for the life of him he could not figure out what it had been. Still, casual conversation was made- mostly about how Asuka liked her first day at their school, and Asuka thanking Shinji for moving so she could sit next to Hikari. As they moved away from Shinji's mooning over Ayanami, Asuka gradually began to warm up to him again. It was during this walk that Shinji realized how alike he and Asuka were. On the one hand, they both piloted an Evangelion. But unlike Ayanami, who was not exactly your typical teenager, Asuka had the same desires as Shinji- to have a normal life outside of Nerv. Still, the two still had to check their normal lives at the door when they reached Nerv HQ... something about fate-of-the-world business made that fantasy seem trivial.
"Alright. So did Misato say where you were to report to?" Shinji turned to Asuka after they made it through security. She clearly wasn't in need of much training, if that last battle was anything to go by.
"Oh, yes. She said I needed to do an in-lab sync test. Nerv-3 in Germany sent over my files, but I suppose they want me to test here just to make sure everything lines up properly." Asuka reached her hands towards the cieling and stretched. "But... is there somewhere where we could get a drink first? It's pretty hot in Japan this time of year, isn't it?" She made an exaggerated fanning motion with her hands. Shinji laughed.
"Is it? I've never left the country before, so I guess I'm just used to it." Shinji started walking towards the refreshment area, beckoning for Asuka to follow. "Is it nice in Germany? I feel like it must be cold. At least compared to here."
"Not really." Asuka replied with just a hint of defensiveness in her voice. "It just has seasons. I knew some places had been having some environmental changes since the Dead Sea got vaporized back in 2000. But I've been all over Europe, and to America too. No one has it as bad as Tokyo-3." Asuka twirled her hair thoughtfully, but then dismissed it when they arrived at a wide wall of vending machines.
"What would you like? Coffee? Juice?" Shinji gestured to the machines.
"Coffee, please!" Asuka smiled while Shinji got their drinks. Opening the can, she looked at Shinji.
"Hey, Shinji?" Asuka's voice was oddly quiet. He looked over at her, eyebrows raised as he sipped his coffee.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She looked at him with eyes that said she was afraid to know the answer.
"What do you mean, Asuka? Why wouldn't I be? We're classmates and fellow pilots. Why wouldn't we be friends too?" He smiled at her, genuinely confused. She sighed.
"Look, back in Germany... I didn't really have any friends. I was raised to be a pilot, so I never went to school. There was a tutor at Nerv-3 who taught me instead. The only kids I ever saw belonged to the staff there, and they were never allowed to play with me. Not allowed to 'distract from my training'. Because I was 'special'. The only people I ever truly interacted with were adults, and they didn't care if I was happy. I just needed to be able to kill Apostolos. " Asuka was tearing up. "So now I show up here. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for my new start. But they already have an Eva pilot, and he's taken down three Apostolos already. But now this new girl shows up and tries to take away from what's his? Why would that boy be nice to a girl like that?" Tears were flowing down Asuka's cheeks. Shinji was aghast. He knew she had trained since she was little, but he had no idea life had been that hard for her. He tried to think of what to say, but couldn't. So instead he pulled Asuka to him and hugged her. Her crying stopped abruptly with a surprised gasp.
"Asuka." Shinji spoke with a firm, gentle voice. "I'm sorry you had to grow up that way. But..." Shinji pulled back to look her in the eyes. "You don't have to be alone like that now. Hikari and I are your friends. The guys, too. Misato and I will look out for you here. There's more to you than just being a weapon. You're allowed to be you. It's okay." Shinji smiled and wiped a tear from under Asuka's eye. She blushed furiously, either not knowing or caring if Shinji saw.
"Shinji, I-" Asuka's voice was barely a whisper, until it was cut off by the sirens signaling an Apostolo attack. Her eyes widened.
"Is that an Apostolo?" She tried to compose herself, and Shinji nodded.
"Let's go!" Shinji grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along as he ran for the cages.
By the time Shinji and Asuka made it to the Evangelions, Misato and Fuyutsuki were already waiting for them.
"We're here, Misato. What's going on?" Shinji yelled as they ran up to the adults. Misato looked grim, which made him uneasy.
"Apostolo attack. Unfortunately... it's a bit more complicated than that. There are two of them." Misato nodded at the shock on Shinji and Asuka's faces. Asuka rallied first.
"Well, that's still three against one once Unit-00's pilot shows up, right?" She tried in vain to cover up the shaking in her voice.
"It would, yes. However, repairs on Unit-01 are not yet complete. And as Vice Commander Fuyutsuki just informed me..." Misato gestured to her superior.
"Unfortunately... Professor Ikari has placed Unit-01 on lockdown until repairs are fully completed. Despite the remaining work being minimal, this operation will be limited to Units 00 and 02." Fuyutsuki frowned and turned the floor back to Misato. This was no way to keep these kids safe, just to satisfy Ikari's preferences.
"What? Misato, no! You can't keep me out of the battle!" Shinji couldn't let Asuka go out without him after the conversation they just had.
"I'm sorry, Shinji. It's out of my hands. But still, suit up too. Just to be safe." She turned to Asuka. "You get ready too. Rei will be here in two minutes and then I'll brief you. Shinji, show Asuka where the locker rooms are." Misato waved them away. They turned and Shinji brought Asuka to the newly divided locker rooms. Asuka thanked him and hurried in. She found a locker that was slightly opened, and in it, a few of her plug suits. Asuka sat on the bench and looked down at the plug suit in her lap. This would be her first time against an Apostolo not just with another Eva, but without someone else in the plug with her. Plus, two Apostolos? This was going to be much, much harder than last time. With a sigh, Asuka stood up and began undoing the ribbon of her school uniform. Sensing movement behind her, she turned to see her blue haired classmate entering the locker room.
"We need to hurry, Soryu. The Apostolos are on the move." Ayanami walked past Asuka and opened a locker. She pulled out her white and blue plug suit. The two girls undressed together in silence. Ayanami paid no attention to Asuka, though the same was not true in reverse. As they undressed, Asuka took note of the other girl, comparing herself to this unknowing rival. With a frown, Asuka observed that Ayanami had a notably larger chest, which didn't stand out nearly so much in her school uniform. But still, Asuka knew that she had Ayanami beat in terms of her legs, which she took great pride in.
"I see. So that's the score. We'll just have to see which Shinji prefers..." Asuka smiled inwardly. She wouldn't lose this one.
Across the hall, Shinji was just finishing getting changed. Throwing his clothes in to his locker, he slammed the door. He hated having to stay behind.
"It's not that Asuka and Ayanami won't be able to kill the Apostolos without me. They have way more training than I do. But... I'm still uneasy about just sitting around while there's a battle." Shinji thought about how much it must have bothered Ayanami to be unable to fight while Unit-00 was under repairs. Hearing the girls emerging from the room across the hall, Shinji stretched and went to join them. He supposed he'd just have to keep Misato company for this one. Rejoining the girls for Misato's briefing, Shinji took a moment to admire how... "flattering" the plug suits were on them. In a less dire situation, this would be quite an enviable position. Her shook off that train of thought and returned his attention to Misato.
"Alright. So here's the plan. We have two Apostolo's attacking from the coast." Misato gestured to the screen behind her, and the live feed showed the new enemies. One was humanoid, and had black, rubbery skin. Its upper torso, feet, and head were all covered in a purple, shell-like carapace. It had a blue core on its face, which looked almost like an eye. This was surrounded by six smaller red eyes. As the feed watched it trudge across the land, it slipped back in to the bay and slid away in to the depths, emerging on the other side in a matter of seconds. The other Apostolo moved on all fours, and was almost wolf like. It had black, scaled skin and moved with surprising grace despite having no eyes. Another blue core was located in the center of its chest. There were dozens of rows of teeth lining the creature's impossibly wide maw, but the truly strange things about it was that it strode casually across the surface of the water as if it was land.
"Asuka, Unit-02 will deploy near the wolf-like Apostolo. Rei, Unit-00 will handle the other. If you can take them out that way, great. If not, we'll figure out which one is weaker and team up to take it down first before moving on to the other. Other than that, this should be pretty textbook. Got it?" Misato folded her arms. Shinji could tell she was more worried than she was letting on. Still, there was nothing he could do with Unit-01 on lockdown. Seeing Shinji looking uncomfortable, Misato addressed him.
"Shinji-kun. You'll come with the Vice Commander and myself to watch from the command center. Now let's go!" Misato punched a fist in the air and everyone smiled, Rei included. There was something about Misato... no one could feel too down while she was rooting for them. Shinji turned to Ayanami and Asuka.
"Good luck out there, okay?" Shinji gave them a thumbs up. There was a silence, followed by a burst of laughter from Asuka.
"Ahaha! You're so corny, Shinji. But of course. A couple of pros like us? This'll be cake." Asuka cracked her knuckles and winked at Shinji. "But you're making whatever I want for dinner when we get back!" They smiled and the two groups parted ways. As Shinji passed Ayanami, he whispered so that only she could hear.
"Ayanami. Please... be careful. I need you to be safe."
She stopped for a brief second.
"Roger." Ayanami's voice still sounded cold. She kept walking. Shinji couldn't see it, but she was blushing... and smiling.
Shinji followed Misato and Fuyutsuki in to the command center. It was odd; he'd always been in his Evangelion, so he'd had no reason to come in here before. It was a multi-tiered room, facing a giant screen against the opposite wall. They entered from the middle tier of three. Down below, Shinji saw about a dozen Nerv personnel milling about in preparation for the battle. Looking up, Shinji saw Fuyutsuki taking a lift to the upper level, where Shinji could make out the shape of his father sitting at the lone desk, hands clasped in front of his face in a pose Shinji remembered from his early childhood.
"Shinji-kun! Good to see you." A friendly voice called out to Shinji, and he looked across the level of the control center he was on to see Kaji strolling towards him. He grinned at Misato as she passed by him. She pretended not to see it.
"Hi, Kaji-san. I didn't know you'd be here." Shinji was glad to see a friendly face. He knew Misato was going to be too busy to deal with him, but it was nice not to be standing alone in the corner of the room.
"Oh, of course. I'm staying here in Tokyo-3 for a while, and when there's an Apostolo attack, this is the place to be." Kaji gestured around to the lab techs sitting at the computers. Misato and Dr. Akagi were walking between them, checking that everything was ready for the girls to launch.
"So, I imagine you'd rather be out there with the girls, am I right?" Kaji grinned when Shinji jumped at the way Kaji almost read his mind. "I don't blame you. It's a man's place to protect those he cares about, right?" Shinji nodded at that, and Kaji clapped him on the shoulder in a way reminiscent of Toji.
"Well, I understand. But they're going to be fine... they're trained for this. So let's let them do their thing and believe in them." Kaji smiled at Shinji.
Right. They were going to be fine. Then why was Shinji uneasy? Why did it feel like he was supposed to be part of this fight?
As Units 00 and 02 hit the surface, Rei and Asuka were both hit with a wave of adrenaline. For Asuka, it was her first chance to pilot alone against an Apostolo. For Rei... it was her chance to have a purpose. Asuka came up to the wolf-like Apostolo's flank, so it didn't see her yet. Rei was not so lucky. Her Apostolo turned to her as soon as Unit-00 hit the surface. Raising the handgun she had deployed with, Rei fired at its head. To her surprise (not to mention Shinji and Misato's) the round sunk deep in to the Apostolo's head. It let out a terrible sound that Shinji had become all too familiar with. It lunged forward towards Unit-00 with its claws, the longer middle one coming right for her Eva's throat. Rei dropped the gun and managed to draw her prog knife just in time to parry the claw away.
Unfortunately, the humanoid Apostolo's cry had sounded before Asuka had fired the rifle retrieved from the nearby storage block. Like a flash, it was off across the surface of the water, moving impossibly fast. Asuka cursed and fired a shot off after it in vain. The bullet crashed through the water where it had just been.
"Unit-00! On your flank!" Asuka yelled over the comm to Rei as she took off, circumnavigating the bay to make it to her comrade. Rei didn't have time to do anything more graceful than throw Unit-00 backwards and crash to the ground, letting the canine Apostolo sail past her, jaws snapping at the space where Unit-00's head had been. Rei managed to parlay her fall in to a backwards roll, coming up just in time to knock away another claw swipe with her knife.
"Where is Unit-02?" Rei had a panicked second to think before the canine Apostolo rounded on her, pouncing again at Unit-00. There was no time to raise her knife. This was going to hurt...
Suddenly, a burst from a pallet rifle sprayed over Unit-00's shoulder, and the Apostolo howled in pain, chunks of its shoulder splattering against the ground. A blur of red shot past Unit-00 from the right and the next thing Rei saw was Unit-02 landing a flying kick in to the Apostolo's jaw. Teeth fell like grains of rice to the earth as Asuka landed, with knife and rifle in hand, between the enemy and Rei.
"Sorry I'm late, Unit-00. Shall we?" Asuka called cheerfully to Rei, and was suprised to hear the "Roger" she got in return sounded like Rei was smiling as well. While they had been focused on the four legged Apostolo, the bipedal one had managed to strafe around to the left.
"Unit-02. The claws." Rei hoped Asuka would understand her intention. She did. Rei drew her second prog knife and stepped forward, burying them both in the thing's right arm. It screamed again and blood gushed out around her blades. Asuka drove the knife in her left hand across her body and in to its other arm. Meanwhile, her right arm crossed over to point the rifle at the Apostolo's unprotected face.
"Lächeln, Arschloch!" Asuka pulled the trigger, and blew the core out of the Apostolo's head. Cheering came over the comm system. Misato's voice came through.
"Good job, you two! One down, one to go!" The link clicked off. Asuka wheel around as both Evas pulled their prog knives out of the Apostolo. The remaining enemy was sprinting towards the city, on a beeline for...
"Unit-00! It's headed for-"
"Headquarters." Rei finished for her as they both took off at top speed after it. The shields were still damaged from Unit-01's last battle with the Apostolo that had blasted through them... there was no way HQ would be able to take a direct assault. They sped up. Neither of them had ever run so hard in their lives, but it wasn't bringing them closer to the Apostolo. A voice on the intercom.
"Come on, you two! I know you can can make it!" Shinji cheered them on. Even with his life in danger, he believed in them. At last, both girls were on the same page.
"We can do it..."
"We have to protect him!" An image of Shinji flashed in their minds. Without words, they moved as one. Rei moved ahead to take point. Asuka dropped her knife and held her rifle from each end, like a board. Unit-00 leapt in to the air, and Unit-02 raised its rifle above its head, racing up behind Unit-00. Rei smiled; Unit-00 kicked off of the rifle as Unit-02 swung it forward. Rei launched forward through the air, readying Unit-00's prog knives as she flew. Asuka grinned. They did it. Unit-00 landed on the Apostolo's back like it was riding a horse, and lunged forward on it. She cried out and buried the prog knives up to the hilt in the Apostolo's core. The monster roared as the core shattered. It slid to a halt, and Rei hopped off of the limp body. More cheers came from the comm. But one voice came through above all others. It was Shinji.
"I knew you could do it."
Late that night, Tokyo-3 slept safely once more. Yet deep below Nerv, not far from where Kaji had handed a stone box to the man in the darkness, a girl named Ayanami Rei was screaming.
"Now, Rei. I understand this is more painful than usual. There are two this time, after all. But this is all part of the Plan." Dr. Akagi spoke without any real concern. Professor Ikari watched silently from the corner of the room.
By the time Rei stopped screaming, Shinji and Asuka were already at school, wondering where she was.
A/N: Okay! First off, Gainax/khara own everything, and thanks to Evageeks. I had a lot of fun with this. Starting to get in to the deeper mysteries of this version of the story is a blast. I liked working the rivalry between the girls here. With a more emotional Rei and a less vile Asuka, it creates a fun dynamic. I had difficulty deciding how to do the locker room scene. The goal was to show Asuka continuing to be super competitive, but without making it seem terribly insecure, or catty. I think it came out okay. Sachiel's proposal version finally shows up. I liked my original Apostolo better. Kind of inspired by the US Eva Wolfpac from Anima. Alright, quite enough rambling. Next time, I try and take a pretty boring series episode and make it cool- "In the Still Darkness"!
