[A/N] Interesting direction that poll has taken, I'll have to hold out drafting that chapter in order to see how that turns out. Well I've tried to get this one out in record time but, as I said, chapters only get longer and longer from here (though to be fair this one is marginally shorter than the last) and again I apologise if any of you got impatient, especially those who are just waiting for me to finish rereleasing chapters and, as some have asked, has there been any major changes to the storyline. Well, as I said there will be tweaks and bits added as needed, but it'll still remain true to how it was, but enough of me, let's carry on, oh and the parts of the Seele Council and Keele Lorenz have been digitally replaced by twelve Ewoks and Hayden Christensen…
Chapter 11: Force of Rhythm
"Oh, come on!" barked Shinji, jumping to his feet to cut off Asuka, who had been in the midst of explaining why their catastrophic defeat by the Angel was entirely his fault, and that he had only been bringing down her perfect battle skills.
He stabbed a finger at the monitor, "You did about as well as you did in the battle against the Sixth Angel, and I wasn't even piloting then!
By God, you look like a trapped mole!" he finished, gesturing at the image of Unit-02, which currently had winches attached to its legs in an attempt to unstick it from the earth where the Angel had planted like some giant red vegetable.
"Ooh, that's big talk coming from a big drowned fish!" Asuka retorted, stabbing her own finger at Unit-01, which hadn't really fared that much better.
"Hey!" interjected Commander Fuyutski before the pilots decided to try drawing blood from each other, "Do you two have any idea what your job is?"
Asuka was about to retort when Shinji raised an eyebrow and spoke first, surprising most of the people in the room with the almost sarcastic tone in his voice, "By all means, enlighten me, sir. Because sometimes, I really do wonder," he said, rolling his eyes and not noticing Fuyutski looking stunned for just a brief instant.
"Piloting EVA?" Asuka offered, who missed also the relieved look on Fuyutski's face as she inadvertently set him back on track for his chewing out.
"No, It's to beat the Angels!" he snapped, and was about to continue when Shinji cut in once more.
"Beat the Angels, Huh?" Shinji echoed, nodding his head in exaggerated thought, "Why don't you just let me write that down in case I forget," said Shinji through slightly gritted teeth and pointedly turned to a nearby table, tore off a piece of writing paper and wrote down in deliberately oversized Kanji whilst audibly mumbling "hmm beat…mmm…the…Angels...period," he paused with his pen hovering over the paper, glancing up at Fuyutski, who was glowering down his nose at him, "Anything else you'd like to add to that, sir? I don't know…children perhaps?" he asked, "I really wouldn't want to be caught not doing my job, after all."
Fuyutski seemed totally caught off guard by the mirth in the normally obedient pilot's voice.
'What the hell am I doing?' Shinji found himself thinking, suddenly picturing what was going on in his head from the outside. He found himself, surprisingly, needing to force down a smirk, 'Feels kinda good though…'
Fuyutski, collecting himself as much as one could after being chewed out by a fourteen year old boy, regarded his subordinate icily, "This is insubordination, pilot," He said, teeth gritted, having been pissed as it was with just the loss against the Angel without this being added on top of it.
"I was just making a point…sir," he replied, calming himself down.
Fuyutski just sighed tiredly, not letting himself be baited further, "Your 'point' has been made."
"See that it has." added Shinji, taking the last word for his own.
The commander hissed a calming breath through his nose and continued, "The fact of the matter is, NERV does not exist to make grotesque public spectacles like this!" He said, beckoning his hand at the screen.
'And I would just love to blurt out why NERV really does exist. Wouldn't that be a spectacle,' contemplated Shinji with slight rebelliousness, marveling at how the slightly less stony of the two commanders could act as innocent as he does whilst knowing what is going on around him.
"And that is why you two must learn to work together!"
"Why should we?" Both children chorused, Shinji snapping out of his mental monologue.
"Enough…" the sub-commander breathed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he hit the down control on the elevator and descended from the darkened bridge.
The commander glanced up once, eyes training on the Third Child with a frown, and briefly caught sight of his dark blue orbs, regarding him back from within the darkness.
As he descended alone, a brief shudder went through the commander. Those eyes, that look; for an instant the boy reminded the old professor of his father.
No, that wasn't right. It was worse than that. For just that second, the boy had the eyes of the one person with more calculating intelligence than the supreme commander could ever hope to muster.
Fuyutski suppressed that chill once more.
The boy had his mother's eyes.
-Z-
"God, why is it that everyone has to get so damn angry around here, Kaji?" asked Asuka, turning to mister five o'clock shadow himself.
Kaji leaned back against the console behind him, folding his arms,"Adults get really hyped up when it comes to credibility, although usually it ends up being the person in charge who has to dig us out of the hole."
Shinji nodded with understanding, "Misato…"
"Bingo," confirmed Kaji with a grin, "And might I be so humble as to ask what was up with that little outburst of yours?" enquired Kaji, who was still smiling, but his eyes held an inquisitive glint, as if he were only now truly interested.
Shinji shrugged, "I don't know, it's just what he said seemed a bit hypocritical after everything that's happened, and I mean it's not as if he's the one going out risking his life fighting giant monsters, is it? And… I kinda got a lot of things on my mind," he explained, his eyes falling slightly.
"Like what?" enquired the Second Child with a frown.
"Nothing you really need concern yourself about, Asuka…" replied the boy softly, standing up and walking out of the room before another word could be said.
"Whatd'ya think he meant by that?" asked Asuka, frowning at the door the pilot had left through.
"Who knows…" Kaji replied with a somewhat dismissive shrug, though from the look in his eyes he seemed far more intrigued over the development than he was admitting.
"So, Kaji, do you think Goku will just take those two things out while they're all fried up?" Asuka enquired, nodding at the image of twin Angel, which was currently incapacitated due to an intense N2 bombing raid.
"Well, maybe," said Kaji, a slightly roguish smile on his face, "but I've asked him to hold on while we try out just one last little thing."
"And that is…"Asuka prompted as the man walked off.
"You'll see, Asuka…" He said, grinning mischievously back as the door slid shut behind him.
"Mysteries, mysteries, mysteries…" Asuka groaned, flopping back in her chair.
"Welcome to the happy world that is NERV headquarters," commented Maya from behind her with a slight chuckle, Asuka merely sighing tiredly in response.
-Z-
Shinji walked down the long steel-covered corridors of NERV deep in thought.
True; there wasn't any particular time he ever had to be out of headquarters by, and therefore was basically free to do as he pleases outside of duty times, he just had to make sure he didn't get in anyone's way or draw attention from certain suspicious characters.
Or Section 2 as it says on their ID badges.
Normally by this time Shinji would have been halfway up the elevator to ground level by now, desperate to get out of headquarters, but not today.
He wasn't exactly doing anything wrong by walking about randomly, but he really couldn't help it; after all he had learned recently, everything now seemed so… "Interesting,"
He felt like a child exploring a new playground as he went from corridor to corridor, cataloging certain things in his mind.
It was just as he reached another service elevator that he stopped, narrowing his eyes in thought as something occurred to him, a thought that cracked into a spark of curiosity, a spark which then blazed into a need to know; there was something he had to check.
He spun round completely and headed off toward his intended destination.
-Z-
"I'm just thankful to God Ikari isn't here," said Commander Fuyutski to nobody in particular as he stood in thought, staring down through the observation window overlooking the cage containing Unit-00 and the newly secured Units 01 and 02. "If there's one thing Ikari enjoys, it's chewing people out," he added with a tired smile as his eyes drifted from EVA to EVA.
His visual survey came to a halt before reaching Unit-02, his mind registered what he had seen.
At first, for just the briefest of instances, he thought it was Commander Ikari, but the fact that his old student was hundreds of miles away on other business kind of negated that theory.
He blinked his eyes to clear them and immediately recognized the figure standing there, and also why he had made his mistake: It was because the form below was standing in almost exactly the same position as Gendo Ikari, during which the supreme commander would seemingly spend hours looking up into the lifeless yet somehow aware eyes of Evangelion Unit-01. But no, it was not Gendo Ikari who stood below...
"Shinji?" whispered Fuyutski, frowning. It was not so much the fact that the boy was down there, it was the fact that the sub-commander could swear the Third Child was now staring up at Unit-01 in almost exactly the same way his father would, though his gaze did seem tinged with much more curiosity than the supreme commander's.
'No…' thought Shinji as he regarded the EVA up close, 'They can't be right about it, can they?' he contemplated, staring up and staying eye-locked with the purple mecha. The pilot stayed like that, caught in a bizarre staring contest with the biomechanical monster.
Shinji found himself almost unable to move, and yet after a minute he felt his right foot lift, as if on its own accord, and step forward. He suddenly found himself drifting step by slow step towards the giant form. And, as if in a trance, his hand rose slowly up, the boy gently extending his palm, resting it on the cold metal surface of the EVA's head.
"It can't be…" whispered Fuyutski as he observed the younger Ikari's behavior, coming up with several different hypotheses for it; not particularly liking any of them, especially the one that he found himself breathing out, "He can't possibly know."
Shinji stayed there for at least three minutes, concentrating on anything. Anything that would prove something for or against what he had been told about the EVA by the Saiyans, and yet somehow, deep within the depths of his very soul, he knew Vegeta was telling the truth.
He knew it was the truth because he had felt it, each and every time he sat in that entry plug. Shinji's eyes drooped slightly as he felt his body slump, leaning up against the cold hard surface of the EVA as if it were his only support and, with his head resting against the armored surface, said desperately, almost inaudibly, "Mother, " he whispered, "Show me…" and, an instant later, as if waiting for the opportunity, the EVA decided to blast Shinji Ikari's doubts into atoms…
"What?" Kozo gasped, staggering back a pace as Unit-01's stoic eyes suddenly burst into life. The EVA's eyes stayed glowing for a just a few brief seconds, the image of its berserker form, as the rest of the EVA did…nothing.
Shinji had staggered backwards, slipping on some stray coolant and landing flat on his backside, looking up at into the glowing white orbs of Evangelion Unit-01.
Shinji's face wore a mask of shock, awe and horror as the young pilot slowly pulled himself to his feet, his eyes never once straying from those of Unit-01.
Shinji rose back to full height again, eyes still locked with the EVA's as the glowing faded away, leaving the mecha as lifeless and calm-looking as it had been before.
"So that's it, huh?" Shinji barely managed to whisper as his mind struggled to cope with just what this revelation meant.
The sub-commander reached quickly over and hit the loudspeaker control, "Shinji! Are you okay?".
Shinji's eyes flicked up to spot the officer for the first time. A ghost of a smile graced his features as he inclined his head once.
"Oh yes, sir," said Shinji in a tone Fuyutski had never heard from him before, "everything is just fine…" finished the pilot ambiguously who, without another word, slid his hands into his pockets, turned about and walked calmly away.
The sub-commander stood, staring down at the cage deep in thought.
This was nothing to be taken too lightly; Unit-01 had just effectively reactivated itself, and also effectively at what appeared to be its own pilot's whim.
Fuyutski's eyes narrowed, "Just what in the hell does this mean?" he murmured, his brow clenched into a frown, watching Shinji until he left the cage before training his attention fully on the now silent form of Evangelion Unit-01.
-Z-
As Shinji walked towards the nearby surface elevator, he slid the white cell phone he had been given free from his pocket. He flipped it open and began punching in a quick text message:
QUEEN IS ON THE BOARD
'It seems the game has begun to tip in my favor already,' contemplated Shinji, flicking the phone closed and slipping it back into his pocket. He halted as he waited by the elevator, feeling a strange tingle of satisfaction that he couldn't quite pin down.
"Not such a good day huh, Shinji?" asked Maya as Shinji boarded the elevator and hit the ground floor button, leaning back against the wall behind her.
"I don't know, ma'am," said Shinji with a tone of amusement, "I've had worse, I gotta admit," he explained, the lieutenant turning her attention to him, regarding the pilot as he laid back, looking entirely too relaxed in her opinion, certainly more relaxed than she'd ever seen him anyway.
"I doubt Captain Katsuragi would agree with you."
"Well," said Shinji, inclining his head acceptingly, "That may be so, but in contrast to most, I'd say this day turned out to be very…" he paused, humming as he thought of the right word before looking at the lieutenant head on, "…enlightening.'"
"Learn from your mistakes, huh?" She offered as the elevator bell dinged and the doors opened, Shinji moving past her as he departed.
"Yeah," he said, tilting his head around to regard her, "something like that," He added, a tiny smile on his face as the doors closed between them.
"What did he mean by that?" echoed Maya with a frown; Fuyutski obviously wasn't the only one a little confused by the normally reserved Third Child's behavior.
-Z-
Several hours later, Shinji returned home from visiting Kensuke's apartment. He approached the door to what was both his domicile and also what he now considered sanctuary from the pains of the world around him, especially now that the threat that was Misato's teasing seemed virtually invisible.
Little did he know, there were a group of people in said domicile ready and waiting to smash said metaphoric sanctuary into lots of lovely little pieces…
-Z-
"What the hell is all this?" Shinji shouted as he walked into the apartment, his eyes met by the sight of dozens of DHL removal boxes.
For a brief instant he wondered if he'd accidentally wandered into the wrong apartment, but dismissed this thought as quickly as it came, realizing even he wasn't that stupid.
"And just what are you doing here?" A horribly familiar voice demanded to his left, the confused boy swinging round to come face to face with the sight of a smug-looking Second Child.
"Me?" Gaped Shinji in disbelief, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Oh, didn't you know?" she asked sweetly, "I'm going to be living here from now on."
"You what?"
"Yeah, that's right; you're officially being dumped for the newer model. Misato will be living with me now," said Asuka with a grin, flicking her hair out smugly and began to reiterate how the new arrangements were only sensible considering her supremely superior skills, all the while Shinji's jaw somehow manage to drop further without dislocating as he noticed his own possessions had been hastily gathered and dumped in a box in the hallway in order to make room for even more of the Second Child's extensive collection of personal belongings.
The boy completely ignored Asuka as she went on to commentate her views on Japanese living styles, also missing Misato's somewhat mysterious appearance behind the German girl, instead choosing to let his frustration simply boil over, dwarfing out the explanation Misato was about to offer.
"What the hell is going on here!" Bellowed the pilot as the confusion became too much for his already overworked synapses to bear.
"Ahh," said Misato meekly, a little taken aback by the outburst, "perhaps we should all go through and discuss this…shall we?"
"Shall we?" echoed Shinji sarcastically, shaking his head as Misato lead the teens through into the lounge, a small stereo slung over her shoulder.
As the trio entered the living room, Asuka skidded to a halt ahead of the others as she noticed the presence of another person sitting and looking somewhat impatient in an armchair with his arms folded.
"Who the hell are you?" demanded Asuka with a scowl, not entirely sure how the man had gotten in when she been busy in the hall for the past two hours unpacking.
"Vegeta…" said Shinji with surprise as he saw the Saiyan lounging in one of the chairs.
"Comfortable?" Misato asked of the Saiyan prince who, from what she could tell, was somewhat difficult to please.
"I'm fine," growled the Saiyan, "can we just get on with this, I have more important things to do than to play introductions to some bratty teenage girl," he grumbled, despite it being a total lie; he had nothing else to do, he just really didn't want to be there.
"Hey, just who the hell do you think you are?" Shouted the understandably offended Asuka at the high strung Saiyan, who in turn shot her back a glare that caused the girl to recoil back a few steps.
Shinji edged up to Asuka's side, "Umm, he's the person who seems to enjoy blasting Angels into non-existence with literally one hand behind his back, you know, that kind of person," he muttered, more as a genuine warning than an insult to her intelligence.
"I… see," She said slowly, keeping her eyes trained on Vegeta as one might a dangerous predator, smartly deciding to let the insult slide.
"Vegeta, Asuka, Asuka, Vegeta," said Misato dejectedly, waving a hand between them, a bit late in her introductions.
"Whatever," scoffed the Saiyan "get on with it, woman."
"Fine," huffed Misato, muttering, "jerk," under her voice as she dropped down into a chair, indicating the children to do the same.
"look," said Vegeta with his usual impatience, "the only reason I'm here is because your boyfriend visited me and asked me to refrain from reducing that Angel to dust, supposedly because you claim to still have a plan. And since I was in such a good mood, I'm going to give you ten minutes to convince me to give you another chance."
"My boyfriend?" snapped Misato, "He's not my boyfriend!"
"I bet he wouldn't see it that way," said Vegeta with a smirk.
"Drop it will you, you pointy haired jerk! We have more important things to talk about," barked the Captain, letting her anger override reason.
Ignoring the insult to his hairstyle, Vegeta just hmphed, "Fine, now get on with it. Nine minutes left."
"Okay then, where do I begin?" said the captain, rubbing her chin as a familiar looking hot spring penguin waddled into the room looking for attention, taking a seat in front of her owner. Misato reached down to ruffle his feathers as she began summarizing her plan to defeat the currently regenerating Angel...
-Z-
Shinji summed up his opinion of the plan, and their subsequent living arrangements, with just one word, "…What?"
Needless to say, Asuka wasn't so calm, "You gotta be kidding me!" She shrieked, jumping to her feet and slamming a fist into the coffee table, "Me live under the same roof as this hentai?" she demanded, using her other hand to stab an accusing finger at Shinji, who merely rolled his eyes.
"You're too late, Asuka," replied Misato calmly, "It's already been decided and approved."
"What nut would approve something as crazy as this!" demanded Shinji incredulously.
"This one," declared Misato, proudly pointing a thumb at herself.
"Humph, that explains it I guess," grumbled Asuka.
Vegeta sat, ignoring what he saw as pointless prattling between the trio as his mind worked over the woman's plan and its chances of success. He made his decision, 'Alright then, she can have her week. It'll give me a chance to prepare further,' the sly Saiyan contemplated, narrowing his eyes as a tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, 'besides, this I've just got to see…'
"Enough, "declared Misato, "it's what's been deci-" she was cut off however by Vegeta's voice as he suddenly spoke.
"You've got you're seven days, Captain," he stated matter-of-factly, eyes still narrowed in thought.
"You're going along with this, Vegeta?" said Shinji, gaping at the Saiyan.
"See, even he thinks we can pull it off," said Misato smugly.
"You've got one chance, Captain. If your first attack fails, then I take matters into my own hands," he said, pausing to glance at the Captain, "Understood?"
Misato understood that it wasn't a question, but she really didn't mind, since for her it simply made it a win-win situation, "Understood," she said, nodding once.
Shinji sighed a defeated breath, "So when do we begin?"
"As soon as Asuka's moved in and we get the preparations laid out," replied Misato.
"Misato," said Asuka a little too sweetly, "can I have a quick word with you in private?" She asked, wanting to get one last stab at reasoning with the lavender-haired officer.
She would fail.
"Okay," Misato said, smiling as she followed Asuka into the hallway.
This left Vegeta and Shinji sitting alone silently in the living room, a somewhat curious Pen-Pen eying the stranger in the chair.
All was quiet with the exception of the sound of Asuka's audible complaining out in the hall.
Shinji drummed his fingers together, "Umm…I'll, ah, get you something to drink then," he said uncomfortably, pointing a finger in the Kitchen, realizing just how uncomfortable the silence was with a frustrated Saiyan in the room.
"Fine," responded Vegeta with little interest.
Vegeta was enjoying the brief silence when a ruffling of feathers brought his attention downwards to regard the only other presence in the room. Said presence was currently looking up at him with great interest, tilting his head to regard the spiky-haired stranger.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the bird as it leaned in and pecked his leg, as if testing him for edibility. The penguin leaned back to peck the other and suddenly found himself locking eyes with the Saiyan, who was frowning at him with growing impatience.
Both suddenly found themselves caught in a very odd Saiyan vs. Penguin staring contest, with Vegeta still sitting with his arms folded and unmoving. And, for those who would actually need commentary on such an event, it went thusly:
Vegeta stared.
Pen-Pen stared back.
Vegeta glared.
Pen-Pen stared right back some more.
Vegeta scowled.
The bird kept his scrutiny going, budging only to ruffle his feathers.
Vegeta's eyes narrowed, fingers gripping his knees.
Pen-Pen tilted his head.
"What?" Vegeta finally barked, glaring his teeth at the annoying avian, suddenly wondering if Penguin was edible and how much energy it would take to flash-fry one.
Sensing his welcome worn, Pen-Pen let out a panicked, "Wark!" and quickly waddled off as fast as his feet would carry him.
The war was over.
The might of the Saiyan race had overcome the penguin menace.
Vegeta cocked an eyebrow, regarding the bird with some bewilderment as it ran off with wings flapping, "Strange…" he murmured as Shinji re-entered, nearly tripping over the fleeing bird in the process before offering the Saiyan a can of juice before sitting back down.
"Your message," prompted Vegeta after downing half the can in one swig.
Shinji hesitated to compose his response before speaking, "I wasn't sure at first, especially since I didn't feel anything different during the fight with the Angel, but now…" he paused, eyes narrowing in thought.
"Well?" Vegeta pushed curiously.
"I've confirmed it. I'm not sure how, but I know there can't be any mistake," he answered finally.
"So we were right," Vegeta muttered.
Shinji nodded once in reply, his mind replaying what had happened over and over.
"What happened?" inquired the prince.
"I'm not too sure myself. For some reason it seems kind of hazy. I remember… reaching out and touching the EVA, and I remember how I allowed my thoughts, my feelings, to reach out, but for some reason once I started they just kept coming, like I was drawn to something for a second… I'm sure I remember even calling out for her, and then…" he paused, doing his best to explain.
"And then?" prompted Vegeta.
"It… Reactivated itself," said Shinji, staring forwards as if in a daze.
Vegeta tried to keep his voice down below the level of the women arguing in the hallway, "Reactivated itself? What did it do?"
Shinji shrugged, "Nothing; Its eyes just glowed as if it were, I don't know, alive in some way. It didn't move, but I knew it was active for those few seconds." Explained Shinji, his eyes meeting Vegeta's now.
"Interesting," muttered the Saiyan, "Did anyone see this happen?"
Shinji's eyebrows rose as he shook his head, "I'm pretty sure Commander Fuyutski saw what happened. But the weird thing was that he didn't seem to do anything about it afterwards, and because of that, I think this means I can move the game even further in our direction."
Vegeta smiled slightly, "The Queen is indeed on the board then. The question is which side she is going to be playing for."
"Well if I can reach her, then maybe-" Shinji paused as the door suddenly opened and Misato entered, followed by a pouting Asuka, who flopped down onto the sofa, Misato doing the same but seeming much more pleased with herself.
"Right, now we've got all our little scruples out the way, perhaps we can begin," stated Misato, aiming the words at Asuka and Shinji who both nodded reluctantly in response.
"I'm out of here," said Vegeta, downing the rest of his can and standing up, "I'll see you prior to the battle." And with that the Saiyan exited the apartment without another word being said.
-Z-
And so the seemingly unending days of droning music and synchronization practice began.
It took a couple of days for Misato to realize that it wasn't going too well as both she and Goku kept constant supervision over their practice.
"Ah scheiß!" Asuka cursed as the indicator to her left blinked up an error, the girl having moved a beat ahead of her partner.
"You can't blame that one on me!" Shinji snapped straight away, frustrated at being implicated as the only reason for their constant failures.
"If you would just speed it up a bit!" retorted Asuka, "How can I possibly sink down to such a level as you, you animated vegetable!"
"All right, Miss Sohryu," sneered Shinji through gritted teeth, barely constraining his tempter as he flicked his headphones to the floor and jumped up to meet Asuka eye to eye, the female pilot finding herself backing up several paces for safety, "Let me put it to you in words you can understand," he said, and began counting off on his fingers, "Eins; your legs are partially longer than mine, zwei; our arms are also of different lengths. This leads on, surprisingly, to drei; if two people with different limb sizes put in the same amount of effort, one will always be ahead of the other.
Therefore, I ask you, how in the hell could I possibly match up with you when you're not even attempting to synch yourself with me and just moving at your own pace?" he practically ranted, keeping the girl eye to eye and closing on her step by step as he spoke, Asuka soon finding herself backed quite literally into a corner by the Third Child's argument.
Asuka shook her head as if she were trying to dislodge the shock caused by Shinji's words and in turn try to find her own voice again. She flicked her hand up and stabbed a finger back, retorting in as forceful a way once can with the Third Child glowering at you from point blank range, "Well if you weren't so damn slow then maybe it would be easier!"
Shinji shook his head in utter frustration, looking about ready to tear his own hair out, "God, you just don't get it, do you!" He shouted back in her face, the Second Child backing up her only free step and finding herself bumping into the wall.
Shinji seethed for a second before shaking his head and storming off towards the door, swerving to avoid Misato's hand as she attempted to put it on his arm. As he reached the exit, he suddenly felt that all the attempts he had made at solidifying any friendship with the girl, all the effort and emotional strain he had put himself under an attempt to figure out the German redhead, had been entirely futile.
It was also in that instant that he decided to drop the effort in its entirety. He was tired, his mind had been under so much pressure lately, and the constant negative oppression from the girl that he had tried to be friends with burned up within him.
His face fell from a frustrated glare into a cold snarl as the Third Child suddenly halted at the threshold and, staring straight ahead, said in a voice that was as calm and cold as it was teethed with venom, "We're done, Asuka…"
And, saying nothing more, he walked out of the apartment, the only sound audible being the mechanical hum of the door opening and closing behind him.
Misato could barely breathe from the shock of the outburst. Asuka however, her face looked like someone had just scored a clean punch to her gut.
Misato watched as the redhead forced her emotions into anger, her teeth grinding as she desperately held back the feelings she dared not face, the ones hidden behind that dark door in her mind... the one with the ripped doll behind it.
"And you're just going to let him talk to me like that?" The redhead shrieked at the Operations Director, who was now massaging her temples.
"This is not good," She mumbled under her voice as Asuka began to rant incoherently over the Third Child's attitude and how he dared use such words against her, "Goku, could you-" Misato halted as she noticed that the Saiyan, who had been standing next to her just moments before, had disappeared. The captain sank down into the chair behind her, head in hands as Asuka continued shouting in the background...
In truth, what the redhead was doing was trying to silence with all her might the voice from behind that darkened door, the one that had suddenly begun whispering to her one word, over and over and over…
'Alone…'
-Z-
"That was a bit harsh, you know," said Goku as he leaned with his back against the guardrail that separated the Saiyan encampment from the sheer drop over the cliff, the pilot himself leaning forward over it and listlessly staring out over the clouded city. The Saiyan had taken Shinji away back to their camp after slipping out of the apartment after him, knowing the Third Child needed some time away from that environment, if only for a brief period.
"Really?" asked Shinji with a grunt, "I thought it was a rather fair statement."
"Do you really believe that?"
There was no response.
Goku sighed, "You know she isn't as happy or as strong as she's making out."
"Been reading her personnel file have you?" muttered the pilot in response, still staring out over the cityscape.
"Not at all," said Goku with a small shrug, "It's written all over her face. She's baring a great pain, and if you ask me, she just doesn't know how to feel about, well, anything really."
Shinji nodded slightly. At the core he knew this already, and like usual, Goku voiced what he was feeling, and also what was frustrating him, "I don't have to like her you know. I've just got to work with her."
"I think though," said Goku, "you would prefer to do both."
"But she's too painful to feel for…" said Shinji quietly after a pause.
"Maybe…" admitted Goku, "But I think she needs you, or at least your compassion. Even if she does make it painful to give, she still needs it anyway."
"Are you saying I've go be the hero on this front too?" asked Shinji, managing a weak smile.
"Such a mind reader…" said Goku, grinning sheepishly.
Shinji laughed softly, "And I thought that was your department."
Goku smiled as silence returned between them. After a moment, the Saiyan let out a long breath before asking, "Ready to go home now?"
"Am I ready to go dance with the devil?" Asked the pilot, pausing for a moment before turning to Goku "Sure, why not," he said, smiling confidently, "Sounds like fun…"
Goku grinned and grasped Shinji by the shoulder, both disappearing in a shimmer a second later.
-Z-
Shinji walked up the stairs of the apartment building slowly, his thoughts more clouded than the skies above him as he desperately tried to work out how best to handle the situation. To say he lacked decent interpersonal skills would be a stark understatement, so just how was he supposed to deal with an emotionally unstable and, apparently, unhappy girl?
He reached his own floor, eyes still narrowed down in thought as he approached the apartment door.
He then suddenly noticed the presence of the person blocking his path, and was clearly waiting for him.
"Asuka…" said Shinji has he looked up, his storm blue eyes meeting her sapphire blue ones.
The girl stood, blocking the door with her arms planted firmly on her hips. She said nothing, just staring into the eyes of her co-pilot with an unreadable expression like a red-haired roadblock.
'This is going nowhere,' thought Shinji with a sigh, moving to pass her and, as if on cue, just as his arm moved to gently nudge her aside, Asuka's hand suddenly shot out and grasped firmly onto Shinji's own.
Shinji didn't have time to question anything as the redhead suddenly moved, dragging him off towards the stairwell, 'well…' he thought with bemusement, 'I guess this is something,' and, to his surprise, as the Second Child reached the stairs, she turned and headed upwards, tugging Shinji along all the while with a shockingly firm grasp.
'Well, either she wants to talk on the roof or I'm about to be hurled to my death. Either way; issues resolved.'
After two flights, the Second Child burst free onto the rooftop and kicked the door shut behind her. In one fluidic movement, Asuka swung around and pinned the Third child up against the nearby fence, her lower arm pressed firmly against his throat. She brought her face up level to his, eye-to-eye once more...
Silence descended again.
Shinji didn't move, nor could he courtesy of Asuka's knee pressed into his lower abdomen. He let Asuka hold his gaze as both seemed to search for what to say.
Two minutes passed.
"Why?" Asuka suddenly whispered, tilting her head and keeping her eyes locked with Shinji's.
Shinji's voice was surprisingly level considering his position, "I think you know why."
"Then what am I supposed to say then?" demanded Asuka, her voice still a coarse whisper.
"Oh, I think you know that already too," replied Shinji, his gaze narrowing.
Asuka held for half a minute, before slowly managing to breathe out under her voice, "I'm sorry…"
"Likewise," said Shinji instantly, smiling abruptly and sliding to the left out of Asuka's pin, striding slowly across the roof, one hand behind his back and the other subtly rubbing his throat.
"W-what?" she stammered, "Just like that?"
Shinji stopped and turned around, grinning, "Just like that," he replied, nodding his head, "I'm sorry for what I said, and you're sorry for what you did: QED, we're all happy, God's in his heaven and all's right with the world," explained Shinji rapidly before turning about and sitting down on the nearby stone bench.
Asuka walked over to the guard rail in front of the bench and leaned against it, speaking quietly once more, "Then tell me why," She asked, "I need to know."
Shinji's smile vanished as he felt the mood shift, his voice slightly melancholic, "You make it painful for people to get to know you, Asuka. You haven't exactly been the nicest person to me or to my friends. And so the answer to your question I suppose, is another question; what motivates you to push people away when they try to get to know you?"
Asuka's slender fingers gripped the rail as she thought, her head dropping slightly, "That's not a simple question, Shinji. I am the way I am."
"Why?
"I just am!" She snapped, her head still down and Shinji noticed her hands gripping the chain link fence dangerously tight.
"Alright," said Shinji quietly, "I'll accept it." He said, reaching over and grasping her wrists softly, pulling them back.
Asuka gasped as she felt the soft contact of the Third's hands, idly noting that he really did have the gentle touch of a musician, and not a warrior who fights giant monsters on a regular basis. She allowed her hands to slip free of the fence and be pulled back. She smiled despite herself, "Now don't you get too familiar, Third Child," said Asuka, finding it difficult to put conviction in her voice however. Her eyes cleared as she stood back up fully, and yet not pulling her hands away from the boy's grasp.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, my lady," joked Shinji, sliding his hands away and slipping them back into his pockets.
Asuka growled, she could feeling Shinji smirking behind her, "And don't you forget it. Now come on, Idiot, we've got work to do!" She suddenly ordered, spinning round and walking off, Shinji not noticing her gripping her own arms, as if trying to retain the memory of contact for some reason.
"Yes, ma'am," called Shinji, mock saluting her before following on behind.
'He's right, I guess,' thought Shinji as he walked, 'I don't want to hate her,' and, smiling as he went, the Third Child departed the roof, ready to restart their coordination drills.
-Z-
It was three days into their training that the two remaining stooges decided to take a look in on their missing pal.
"Three days and nothing," said Aida as the elevator ascended.
Toji frowned "Yeah, I wonder what Shinji could be up to that would keep him out of school like this."
Both stepped onto the landing, immediately noticing the presence of the class representative as she departed the other elevator.
"Hey, it's the class rep."
"Well If it isn't two of the three stooges." replied the girl with pleasant surprise.
"What are you doing here?" asked Aida as they approached their respective destination.
"To check up on Ms. Sohryu, and you?"
"To look in on Shinji," replied Aida as they found themselves stopping outside the same door.
"Why did you stop here?" All three chorused as they hit the doorbell.
Another pair of disturbingly chorused voices replied over the intercom, "Coming…"
All three looked to each in confusion, turning back to the door as it opened.
Suddenly, standing there in the doorway was the very unpleasant sight of Shinji and Asuka in matching leotards.
"By god!" Aida recoiled in abject horror.
"Y-you've betrayed us!" Toji added with a similar look of disgust.
"My eyes," cried Kensuke, "they burn!"
Hikari's eye twitched, the inappropriateness of the situation hitting her hard.
"I can't believe this!" groaned Toji.
"Neither can we!" the pilots chorused in union, "It's all Misato's fault. Because of her we've gotta eat, breathe and even sleep together!" And no, they didn't think about how that sounded until after it left their mouths.
"Eeek!" Came the almost girlish shriek from Kensuke.
"Oh by God, Shinji, you've sold you're soul to the devil! How could you!" said Toji, "I mean I know she's not the ugliest girl in the world but jeez!"
"I can't believe you're living in sin, that's awful!" Hikari finally snapped, hiding her face in her palms.
"No, you don't understand. It's not like that!" they both said, again in unwilling synchronization.
"Then what is it like?" moaned the class rep, unwilling to look up again.
"Hi there, everybody!" chimed Misato from the side, all turning to see that the purple haired woman had arrived in the corridor, accompanied by the smiling form of Goten.
"Would you be as kind as to explain all of this to us?" asked Toji, stabbing a thumb at the pair of blushing pilots.
"Please do," said both pilots in time with each other, "they're not listening to a word we say."
Misato smiled, "Well, why don't we all go in and chat then. Coming, Goten?" She asked, smiling at the small child, who she had decided to let tag along after her visit to see the other Saiyans.
The others began filing in after the pilots as Goten entered alongside Misato. He glanced up at her as they entered, "Hey, what's up with their voices? Did they do fusion and somehow mess it up?"
Misato just smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Something like that..."
"ooh."
-Z-
"Jeez, Shinji, you could have at least told us about that part first!" joked Toji, his relief clear in his voice now everything had been explained; thankful to the gods that the demon hadn't swallowed his friend's soul after all.
Hikari was also relieved to say the least. She patted the interesting warm water penguin on her lap, said Penguin having been pretty much the center of Goten's attention for the past five minutes. The situation seemed mutual as the avian regarded the boy back, Goten's stare arguably more clueless than the bird's.
"ahh…hi!" Goten finally said after gawking for a long moment.
"Wark!" The bird replied, flapping its wings once in greeting.
"Wark!" echoed Goten with a grin.
The bird suddenly looked quite taken aback, primarily due to the fact that 'small spiky human-but-not-human' as the avian had dubbed him, had just said 'hello' in prefect Penguin, albeit with the penguin equivalent of a Canadian accent.
Hikari laughed as she watched them communicate before turning her attention to Misato, "So, how are their drills coming along, Miss Katsuragi?"
She sighed, "Well at first it seemed like a doomed cause, but as you can see... they're not doing too badly," she said with mild surprise, indicating the two pilots as they practiced their manoeuvres, both with an intense look of concentration as they attempted to match one another's pace.
"I gotta say, I'm surprised," said Toji, "I wouldn't have thought it possible in a million years for those two to work in harmony."
Misato inclined her head acceptingly, "Yeah, at first I was seriously skeptical. I even considered bringing Rei over as an incentive for Asuka to try to match her pace better; reverse psychology and all that…" Misato said, her tone quiet lest Asuka hear what she had been planning.
Toji grinned as he saw an opportunity," Yeah, I'm just surprised Shinji has lasted this long without seeing his girlfriend. How frustrated he must feel," he said, just loud enough for Shinji to hear.
Kensuke took the incentive, "Yeah," he sighed, "how lonely his blue haired beauty must be feeling without her man around."
Both teens smirked as, seconds later, a loud crash filled the room as Shinji, who had been in mid-twirl on the pad, slipped completely up on the smooth surface and landed with a smack face-first into the carpeted floor.
Asuka turned left at the sound of the error buzzer to see the collapsed form of her co-pilot. Shinji pulled himself up, sporting a large red mark on his cheek which he now cradled in one hand.
"What's wrong?" asked Asuka with a frown, disappointed at the screw-up considering how well they had been doing that round.
"Nothing," groaned Shinji, sneering over his hand at the two boys, "I just got kind of…distracted," he muttered, glaring at Toji and Kensuke, who could only burst into laughter at the response.
"Now, boys," chided Misato from behind her beer can to hide the grin on her face, "don't tease. This is important you know."
"Yeah," snapped Asuka, "put a sock in it stooges! Or would you prefer that Angel to come along in a few days and stomp you into mush…though personally I feel that may be an improvement in your case."
Both fell silent, realizing that correcting the Second Child by mentioning the Saiyan presence would only serve to anger her further.
"Let's get on with it," sighed Shinji as he stood up, attempting to refocus his attention on the task in hand.
Toji and Kensuke were right about just what was the reason was for his mistake. What they didn't know however, was the emotion behind it.
Shinji was still getting to grips with what he knew about Unit-01, and he was deathly certain that there was one thing he knew he still wasn't ready to deal with right now, and that thing was Rei.
-Z-
And so training continued…
The days rolled over and the pilots found themselves increasing their pace on an upward tangent, the movements of the pair increasing in complexity and the sync indicator increasing more and more as each night passed
Finally, after 5 days, both indicators finally hit their holy grail of a target:
100.00
-Z-
And so, the night of the tenth rolled over, the night before what was classified warmly as 'D-day'. It had been seven days of early mornings and very late nights, but the pilots turned in relatively sure they were ready for what lay ahead.
It was by this evening that Shinji had dared let his mind progress onto further matters beyond the up and coming rematch with Israphel, and onto what he knew or at least suspected about Unit-01. It basically left the Third Child in silence. He didn't even bother to reach for his SDAT that night; he had no intention of drowning out his thoughts, no matter how painful they may be.
Shinji's distraction was also why he barely even paid attention to Asuka's statement about how they were sleeping separately that night, and also how any violation of this rule could cost the pilot his life. Shinji replied to pretty much all of Asuka's words and warnings with disinterested 'uh-huh's.
By the time night had fallen Shinji's mind had become totally exhausted, and combined with a lack of music to keep him awake, he had fallen into a deep and silent sleep.
It was a sleep so heavy that he didn't even stir when the silent form of the Second child collapsed into bed beside him, her quiet cry going unheard; her tears unseen.
-Z-
Next morning…
Asuka was the first to stir as the dawn light filtered through the thin curtains, drawing her back to consciousness. Her sapphire blue eyes fluttered open as she moved to stretch, however her brain stopped her from doing so as she registered the presence in front of her.
She processed straight away Shinji's presence in her bed, and immediately resorted to her first instinct and raised her hand back, clenching it into a fist. However, she then paused, suddenly realizing that something was amiss.
This wasn't her bed.
Asuka's hand lowered slowly as it finally dawned on her what had happened 'oh God, I did it again…' she thought, her eyes falling.
This wasn't the first time she had sleepwalked. However she hadn't done it for years and had at least hoped she was over it, 'And why did I come to you?' her mind asked silently as she regarded the silent and peaceful form of Shinji Ikari. Slowly, and very carefully, she pulled back, raising the blanket behind her to slip out. She moved her leg back to push out, almost home free…
Only to knee the Third Child in the gut accidentally.
Asuka froze. She waited for a moment, watching as his body made no movement and so she let out a sigh of relief and looked down.
Again she froze.
A shocked pair of storm blue eyes was staring back at her, right back into her own terrified sapphire ones…
Asuka's breath caught in her throat.
Shinji blinked once.
"Umm…" mumbled Asuka, glancing off to the side.
Shinji blinked twice…
Asuka tried laughing as innocently as possible.
Shinji blinked a third time…
"Shin-"
"YAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Shinji, catapulting himself out from under the covers and scrambling back until he felt the wall behind him.
He stabbed a shaking finger at the redhead as his body tried to assimilate the released adrenaline without causing a heart attack.
"Wh-What are you doing here!" He shouted, "In my be-" he was abruptly cut off as a red and yellow blur shot out from under the covers. An instant later Shinji suddenly found a hand clamped over his mouth and a knee planted firmly in his gut, knocking the wind out of him as the Second Child pinned him down with all her strength.
"Put a sock in it, Third Child or I'll knock your block off!" she hissed as Shinji mumbled a protest into her hand, the girl hoping to God Shinji's outburst hadn't alerted their guardian, assuming she was actually in residence.
Shinji realized his choices were either shut the hell up, or asphyxiation and a beating, and though he hated to admit it, he knew Asuka held the physical advantage over him in strength and a fight was something could neither do with, nor win in his opinion.
"Well?" She whispered, emphasizing by pressing her hand down harder and forcing her knee deeper.
Shinji rolled his eyes and gave a muffled, "Mph huh,", nodding his head.
Asuka exhaled a breath, disengaging herself from the pilot and giving Shinji a chance to breathe and massage his chest.
The Second Child crawled back and slumped down against the wall next to Shinji as he brushed off several beads of cold sweat.
Shinji took a calm breath, "…An explanation would be nice," He asked, mopping his watering eyes and frowning a bit.
Asuka's head fell as she averted her eyes from the boy, "It's… a personal thing."
Shinji cocked his head, "I grasped that much," replied Shinji, laughing with slight incredulousness.
"You don't understand, Shinji," she mumbled, keeping her voice low.
"Try me," offered Shinji.
"So what!" she snapped, causing Shinji to flinch slightly, "I sleepwalked and ended up somewhere I shouldn't have been, big deal!"
"Alright then…" replied Shinji calmly, knowing she was just throwing up her defenses again, but he decided to leave her be. Forcing it would only do more damage than good.
"Just…" she began, trailing off, "I would appreciate it if you…"she continued, stopping again.
Shinji turned to look at her, smiling reassuringly, "I won't tell anyone, you have my word."
Asuka managed to smile weakly in reply, "Thanks…"
"Well," said Shinji, stretching widely as he pulled himself up, Asuka's eyes following him, "I guess we'd better get ready. We've got an appointment with an Angel."
"Right!" affirmed Asuka, jumping up to go and prepare herself for the upcoming event.
-Z-
The Angel's feet crashed through the last of the remaining tanks, simultaneously shaking off the last missile strike as it marched onwards towards Tokyo-3 and its ultimate goal. As far as the Angel was concerned it had already proven itself against the Lillim's creations once and, if necessary, it would do so again…
-Z-
"The target just broke through the final defensive line at Gora," said Aoba as he read the current updates from the front line.
"Here it comes…" said Misato as she eyed the regenerated Angel, "We won't fail this time."
The Captain turned the monitor feed to the waiting Units 01 and 02 and began issuing her orders, "Right, spread you're AT fields the second the music starts, then follow the operation's choreography. Are you two ready?"
"Ready!" The waiting pilots chorused.
"The target has just entered the mountains," said Maya over the intercom.
"Just remember the moves, Shinji: full power; maximum performance," said Asuka, a predatory grin on her face as she gripped the controls and eyed the Angel.
"I know; we'll be finished in exactly sixty-two seconds... as will the Angel," replied Shinji, lowering his head to regard the target.
Vegeta stood on a nearby mountaintop with his arms folded. He had one of Bulma's reproduced scouters on his ear tuned into the NERV communications channels as he watched the Angel's approach.
"Well then," said Vegeta, a smirk spreading across his face as he clicked his scouter, "Let's just see what you can do." He watched as the device on his eye brought up two circles indicating the EVAs below.
He heard Misato's order to detach external power supplies and the following launch order. The scouter immediately brought up a timer set to one minute two seconds, at the end of which the Angel would either be dead, or he would be readying himself to enter combat.
The Saiyan staggered, cursing as music abruptly blasted down his right ear, the depth indicator for the two power levels representing the EVAs rapidly decreasing as they approached the surface…
-Z-
"Well, here goes nothing," Misato mumbled as the two EVAs broke free onto the surface, catapulted into mid-air by the platforms.
Both pulled themselves up to full height in mid-air above the angel, drawing out their twin lances and hurtling them down at the enemy, who effortlessly them blocked both as expected.
As the Angel recovered from its defense, a gigantic blade shot out of the ground under its feet, cleaving it cleanly into its two component parts.
Unit-01 and 02 landed simultaneously, grabbing the revealed pallet rifle and positron cannon respectively and firing off perfectly timed volleys into the first Angel's core, disorientating it for a second.
Both EVAs immediately discarded their weapons, sliding closer together and jumping into synchronous back flips as the second half of the Angel fired off its particle beam repeatedly, missing as the EVAs dropped onto a platform, activating a pr-prepared armor plate, which in turn shot up and took the force of the Angel's volleys.
Both EVAs grabbed their pallet rifles and fired off directly at each angel. The Angels retaliated, leaping up into the air and dropping down onto where the EVAs had been standing a second earlier, missing their intended targets and slicing the remains of the armour plate into ribbons.
Misato immediately ordered the firing of the inner defensive line which immediately began bombarding the Angels directly through their neutralized AT fields.
Vegeta didn't flinch as the mountain he was standing on was leveled around him by NERV's attack on the Angel. Unfazed, the warrior took flight straight upwards to watch as the staggered Angel halves recoiled. With perfect timing, Units 01 and 02 swung round and kicked each Angel with equal parts ferocity and grace, forcing the two segments to fold back into each other and knocking them back into the mountainside, exposing both of its red cores in the process.
The two EVAs crouched low and leapt up into the skies, spinning round in perfect form and thrusting their AT fields backwards, propelling themselves downwards at the enemy, their giant feet crashing into the cores of the Angel at the exact same time, shattering them clean open.
Everyone on the command bridge gasped in awe as the EVAs finished their form, the Angel convulsing for a second before resorting to its usual final act and self-destructing.
The area lit up in an eruption of blinding light as the twin cores went critical, expanding into a mushroom blast that rose upwards for miles, vaporizing the Angel and decimating the surrounding landscape.
Vegeta covered his eyes with one arm as the upward blast engulfed him. It seethed around his invisible aura like a demon desperate to devour him whole before dissipating a moment later.
Slowly, the smoke cleared.
All that remained was two twin glowing crosses in the air, a pair of collapsed EVAs, and one really big hole in the ground.
"Hmph, not bad," admitted the Saiyan, "for a couple of brats, "he said swinging quickly about and shooting off, completely oblivious to the fact that the back of his shirt was on fire…
-Z-
"We blew the landing, didn't we…" mumbled Shinji in a hollow voice from his upside down position in the entry plug, his EVA currently sprawled out on top of Asuka's.
"Well I'm not taking the blame for this one," grumbled Asuka in a similar tone.
"Me neither,"
"Then we're agreed."
"Yes."
"Good."
"Are you as tired as I am?"
"Hells yes."
"Want to just go back to sleep?"
"I am so there…"
Both pilots didn't bother reporting back in. Instead, in one final act of synchronization, they reached out and cut off their links to NERV central, curling up contentedly in their respective entry plugs and choosing to catch up on a weeks' worth of lost sleep until the rescue teams arrived.
-Z-
Kaji blinked at the screen, "Umm, what just happened?"
"How the hell should I know?" moaned Misato, giving up on working out how the teens' minds worked, "I'm just the one in charge."
"Kids…" groaned Fuyutski, massaging his brow as he looked at the EVAs collapsed in a heap, "Why god do we have to use kids?" and, sighing tiredly, he spun around and walked off the command deck, ready to go inform the supreme commander of their staggering victory.
-Z-
To be continued…
[A/N] Well it's been fun catching up on this one, hope you had fun reading. I do recall these past couple of chapters were more NERV than Saiyan orientated, though I recall one of the tricky things about writing this fic was keeping the two sides of the story in balance without one out shadowing the other too badly, but I assure you, be you NERV or DBZ fan, both sides will get their chances to shine. I'll hope to get the next chapter up ASAP, in which all the progressive knives will be digitally replaced with giant walkie-talkies, ciao!
See you in Chapter 12: Revelation's Consequence.
