THE STORY SO FAR

What was once two become one. In ancient times, two worlds merged, and the lost gods of space became the first ancestors who seeded the universe with life in a grand, sweeping experiment beyond the ken of men.

On one such world, they left behind two of their seeds- two opposites, two equals, two who must not be one, and along with them a set of instructions- secret scrolls containing forbidden knowledge, abandoned on Earth. Long ago, a sect of mystics uncovered this relic and began the work of deciphering it. Their work ended in a bloody Roman assault. Only one member survived, and secreted the wisdom of his order in the deep desert.

Centuries later, a shepherd stumbled on the cave during the greatest conflict humanity had ever known. In his mad quest for arcane power, the leader of the Third Reich was convinced to dispatch a man named Lorenz Kihl to investigate and recover the ancient wisdom, in hopes of winning the war.

As with most of these projects, all was for naught, at least until the end of the war. After the Nazis fell, the Red Skull sought out and found Kihl, and forcibly recruited him into his nascent network of spies, superpowered criminals and assassins, planning to use alien technology to subvert the new world order, to work in the shadows of proxy wars and black ops and secure real power independent of the constantly shifting ideological and political landscape of the latter half of the twentieth century.

It was not to be.

The Red Skull went too far in abusing Kihl, the man with the keys to the kingdom. When his beloved wife Madalena left this world, Kihl used the contacts he'd established at the Red Skull's request to overthrow him and lock him in a steel casket, to slowly suffocate until his superhuman physique went into hibernation, never to return.

As heroes and villains warred in the foreground, Kihl worked in the background, building up an international cabal of villains- industrialists like Norman Osborn and science-mages like Victor von Doom, all working independently on various parts of a grand, secret project that promised to uplift humanity and free mankind from suffering, disease, and death- so long as mankind could pay for it.

The true scope of Kihl's plans only became clear when he excavated a massive alien structure beneath Japan while simultaneously seeking out alien ruins in the Savage Land, deep in the interior of Antarctica. Something went wrong -or right- and after a desperate battle between the conspiracy, the international fraternities of lesser criminals, and the vigilante networks such as the Avengers and X-Men, long since driven underground after vigilantism was harshly outlawed, a massive explosion destroyed most of the continent, raised sea levels worldwide, and devastated the Americas.

In the new power structure, the far East and Europe reigned supreme. Prepared for the devastation, Victor von Doom quickly picked up the pieces and swept into power, using the established international governing bodies of the continent to forge an ironclad dictatorship with himself as king in all but name, while Kihl ruled the Eastern half of the world directly through the United Nations. America, formerly the bastion of world economic and military power, became a lawless wasteland ruled by roving gangs, mutants and mutates, and rogue artificial intelligences.

With one final, ringing stroke, the conspiracy ended the age of heroes forever, and darkness fell on the world.

And then along came a spider.

In Tokyo-3, the hub of the conspiracy, Hikari Horaki was bitten by a genetically engineered spider at a science fair, and overnight developed a superhuman physique, senses, and agility mirroring the Spider-Man of old, with new gifts all her own. In nearby Russia Ritsuko Akagi was captured by a militant group and rekindled the power of the Invincible Iron Man to secure her escape. The children of the Second Impact began to develop powers far beyond their parents, beginning with a core group of children in Tokyo-3.

All of this was foreseen and manipulated by a certain Natalie Summers- in reality the genetically engineered scientist Nathaniel Essex, called Mister Sinister, having abandoned his original body to take over that of a clone- his genetic daughter, whom he effectively murdered to steal her form. Using vast telepathic and shape shifting powers, Essex manipulated Nerv to further his own goal of creating a super-mutant from the bloodlines of Kyoko Soryu and Shinji Ikari, for some unknown end.

Along with their mysterious ally, Erik Lawson, the Norse god Loki in disguise, Hikari, Ritsuko and the others managed to defeat Summers, but not without cost. Mari Makinami was subjected to a cruel experiment that bonded the metal adamantium to her bones, and Summers left the shattered pieces of lives in her wake. Gendo Ikari was driven insane by her psychic torture, and confined in Nerv's brig in secret, while Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki lead in his name, and Summers' henchman Mana Kirishima was left a wreck, a girl without a name or history to call her own, only vague hints of parents lost in nuclear fire.

In the end, they were all changed- shy Maya Ibuki gained terrifying power when exposed to a burst of gamma radiation, while the clone pilot Rei Ayanami's sisters experienced new and intense mutations, becoming a seemingly invulnerable metallic girl and a red-skinned demon. Now empowered, Ritsuko immediately began restructuring Nerv and working to make the Evas more combat effective…

…because while the world believes otherwise, the Evas sorely lost their last engagement, and the world was saved only by the mysterious and timely intervention of an ancient weapon that can't exist, the fist of the heavens come down from legend. The hammer of Thor. Mjolnir.

The worst is yet to come- Doctor Doom is coming to investigate the problems at Nerv.

EVANGELION: AGE OF MARVELS

Volume II: The Days of Doom

"GIRL'S NIGHT OUT"

Part One

Ritsuko wore her armor when she went into Summers' lab.

In the three weeks since Mister Sinister was rooted out of his stronghold in the Nerv complex and imprisoned by Shinji, she'd already disarmed several traps, some of which it took Hikari's danger-sense to discover. What she assumed was the main lab was only a superficial part of what amounted to a fortress built inside the base, all in secret. Between her powers and superhuman strength, Summers-Essex had been busy digging into the strange, porous black rock of the Geofront's foundations- and discovering samples of the material in one of the labs, geared for geological work, was one of the things that spurred her curiosity.

Today she wore a lighter variant- with every modification and redesign, she was approaching the lean simplicity and raw power of Tony Stark's suits, the ones that were destroyed along with their schematics and technology when he retired from vigilantism, almost forty years earlier. The suit she wore today was decked in black primer, as she was still testing it, and light enough to be worn under her lab coat, the helm folded up over her upper back like a hood so she could see what she was doing directly. Maya, Hikari, and Sakura were all with her; Maya as muscle, Hikari to ferret out the various traps and Sakura for reasons of her own. She went on and on about sensing something of great importance in the lab, whatever that meant.

Ritsuko was still a little skeptical about the whole magic thing, but she'd seen Sakura in action. Owed her life to her, really.

Then, there was Misato's boyfriend. She saw the tapes herself. Mutants could do amazing thing, but the man was no mutant. She felt a tremble in her stomach whenever she saw him, and it intensified when he dropped sly hints about his tricks the day of the battle being a mere fraction of his capability. She felt outgunned, even in her suit.

Maya ducked through one of the heavy bulkheads. "We found something. You should see this."

Ritsuko put down the mineral sample and headed through the corridor with Maya, glancing at her. When she was calm, she was mostly herself, but… greener, and, well, more endowed. She'd taken to borrowing Ritsuko's clothes, but only the most conservative outfits she had, and even those barely fit her now. When she got angry, she started to grow scales and claws and lost control of herself, raging, laughing and weeping by turns. Ritsuko sighed. It wasn't the danger she posed; Ritsuko knew Maya would never hurt her. It was the other way around. Ritsuko hurt Maya, just by not being what the other woman wanted her to be. She scrubbed her hand through her hair and winced as the now longer, chestnut strands snagged on the joints of her gauntlet. Sometimes, she forgot she was wearing it.

"What is it?"

Sakura looked up. She was in a small chamber, meant to be sealed off from the rest of the corridors by a heavy bulkhead, absurdly wearing a pair of reading glasses. In her hand was a small, aged leather bound volume, one of a set that lined the shelves over the plain desk where she sat.

"They're a journal," said Sakura, running her fingers over the spines.

"Essex' journal?" said Ritsuko.

Hikari was sitting on the wall- she had a funny way of perching on flat surfaces like that, kind of sitting on her own heels. It looked uncomfortable to Ritsuko, but half of what she did looked uncomfortable- besides the strength and agility and sense of danger, her mutation made her joints so elastic she was capable of awe inspiring feats of contortion without the slightest effort. She yawned and scratched her head.

"No," said Hikari. "Somebody else. They're old, though."

"There's no name," said Sakura, closing her eyes. She held the book closed around her finger to mark her place and ran her finger down the spine, visibly concentrating, her jaw set.

"I see a woman," said Sakura, "though she herself cannot see. Beside her I see a woman in white, adorned by skulls. Faces surround her, men and women, but though they are different they are all alike. I see a raven on her shoulder, and blood on her hands, and two shadows before her, a devil with a halo and an angel in white, staring mournfully at her gloved hands."

"What are you doing?" said Ritsuko.

"Psychometry," said Sakura, opening the book. "I can tell something about an object's owner by the psychic imprint they leave. The imprint on these is powerful. I think the woman who wrote them was precognitive."

"She could see the future?" said Maya.

"One possible future," said Hikari.

Ritsuko glanced at her.

She shrugged. "Terminator 2."

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "What do they say?"

Sakura shot the tiniest, most imperceptible glance at Maya, who looked away, and then began to read, her voice trembling as she forced it to stay even.

"I saw a soiled knight upon a white stallion with seven heads. A lance was in his hand, and it was stained with blood and water," she read, "and I saw him tilting at a knight of a crooked cross, clad in iron. Fire burned in his eyes, and hell followed with him. I saw a god in a horned helm leading a host of the slain. Serpents rose from the earth, and it was a time for wolves. I saw the gods of the heavens who locked the sky. I saw fire and death. I saw blood and thunder. In the midst I saw a boy who is like God, who died and lived again as the womb of the world, where all men must go. There were giants in the sky and giants in the Earth, and the king of the monsters held his court in the ashes of the gods."

"Um," said Ritsuko. "Okay, then. That doesn't sound good."

Sakura stuck a sliver of paper in the book. "With your permission, I'd like to read them."

"As long as you can keep up with our homework," said Ritsuko. "Your father will string me up if you fail calculus."

Sakura blew her hair out of her eyes. "I'm learning magic from the Sorcerer Supreme. I don't have time for calculus."

With a groan, she slipped the volume back in with the others. Ritsuko folded her arms over her chest and sighed. "Is this what you were looking for?"

"No," said Sakura, "but it's close. Follow me."

Ritsuko stepped back, and Hikari dropped down from the wall. Sakura closed her eyes and hummed quietly to herself as she walked through the corridor. She raised her hand, and Ritsuko realized she was holding her breath. Maya and Hikari looked at each other. Finally, Sakura stopped at a bulkhead.

"This one. Open it."

Ritsuko took her toolkit from her belt and knelt in front of the panel next to the door. She could open them fairly quickly now, but waited for Hikari to nod.

"There's something dangerous in there, but it's not the door."

The heavy door slid open, clanging loudly when it stopped. The chamber inside was cold, and Ritsuko let out a breath. More relics. She went first, ready to close her helmet if she was attacked. Hikari followed, looking around, until her eyes locked on something set against the wall. There was a columnar containment chamber of some kind, and little waves of fog slipped off of it, signaling cold. Ritsuko leaned closer to it, and saw through the window in the front there was a glass container inside, a canister half filled with black sludge.

"That's it," said Hikari, looking at it. "That stuff is dangerous, whatever it is."

Sakura was brushing past them both. Hikari turned around and looked at something under a glass dome- there was a necklace or amulet resting on a red pillow, heavy links of gold with a gem in the center. Ritsuko moved to lift the glass, until Sakura stopped her.

"Don't touch that. I don't know what it does."

"What do you mean?"

"There's magic in it."

Ritsuko nodded, shuddering. Magic. Hearing someone talk about such a thing seriously made her feel all squirmy for some reason, and her back twinged painfully. Sakura pressed on, until she stopped at the end of the alcove. There was a door set in the wall, with a simple switch to open it. The girl flipped it, and the panel slid upwards, gradually revealing the contents.

Ritsuko's breath caught. It was her.

Natalie Summers stared back at her, and Ritsuko raised her repulsor and aimed it at the frosted glass.

"It must be a spare body," she growled. "Get out of the way."

"No!" Sakura protested, throwing herself against the glass. "She's not a spare."

Ritsuko didn't lower the gauntlet. "What do you mean?"

"Look at her," said Sakura.

Ritsuko lowered her gauntlet and looked at the girl behind the frosty glass, with her milk pale skin and jet black hair. As she looked closer she realized something was off. The form behind the frost was more delicate, and for lack of a better word, smaller. She looked… young. The resemblance to the thing that had tormented them all was mostly superficial. Without heavy makeup and styled hair the creature in the cryo chamber had a kind of unearthly delicateness to her, with her ice pale lips and lidded eyes.

"Is that?"

"She made herself another body," said Sakura. "A backup if her current one was too badly damaged."

"What should we do with it?" said Maya.

"Give it back to its owner," said Sakura.

Before Ritsuko could stop her, the slender girl tapped her hand to her chest and drew something out of her own body, a red orb that shimmered and flickered in the low light of the specimen lab, and pushed it right through the glass. It leapt into the frozen girl, like spark between them, and she started to thrash in the chamber. Sakura tripped the door and she spilled out in a sudden wave of frost, gasping and shivering, and drew up into a tight ball, pale and naked and quaking with terror.

It was Hikari that moved first, gathering the quaking, pale waif up in her arms. They were of an age, Ritsuko realized.

"Where am I?" the girl whispered, her voice thin and reedy. "Where's Elliot?"

"Are you going?"

Kaworu blinked. She stood in the hallway, holding the straps of her backpack in her slender fingers, staring at the poster stuck to the concrete block wall between the rows of lockers. She looked over and saw Kensuke standing next to her, blinking behind his oversized glasses. He coughed and pushed them up his nose, and scuffed his foot against the floor. Kaworu turned back to the poster, advertising a dance.

"I didn't think they had this sort of dance here," said Kaworu.

"It was Mister Lawson's idea," said Kensuke. "That's what I heard."

She heard a soft chittering sound, and a thin mechanical arm reached out of Kensuke's backpack and touched him on the shoulder. Kaworu jumped in surprise, blinking a he stuffed it back inside and closed the zipper.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said, innocently. "So are you going?"

"I don't know. No one has asked me."

Kensuke swallowed, as if he was suddenly quite thirsty. He looked her up and down, turned a shade redder, and coughed into his hand. "I guess I am."

"Oh," said Kaworu.

She folded her arms under her chest and hugged herself. "I suppose I could go with you."

Kensuke lit up, standing to his full height. "Really?"

Kaworu nodded.

"You're in the dorms, right?"

She nodded again.

"Great! I'll pick you up!"

Visibly shaking with excitement, he bounced on his feet and rushed off, his backpack undulating as whatever was inside crawled around. Kaworu stared after him for a moment and drummed her fingers on the poster paper, thinking. It would seem she needed a dress, but Father hadn't seen fit to provide any.

She saw Hikari at her locker and hurried over to her, clutching her books to her chest. Hikari smiled at her.

"Hey, Kaworu. I've got to get to class."

"I need your help," she said, quickly. "I need a dress."

Hikari blinked. "Oh. Uh, um…"

"Where do I get one?"

"You don't know?"

Kaworu shook her head. "I've never worn one before."

Hikari looked at her, slightly amused. "As it so happens, I need one too. Why don't you come to the mall with us tonight?"

"Us?" said Kaworu.

"I'm going shopping with Toji's sister and my, uh, boss."

"So you're going? To the dance."

She nodded. "With Shinji."

Kaworu's stomach did a little loop at the mention of his name. If Hikari noticed, she said nothing, but glanced up at the digital clock on the ceiling. "We need to get to class."

Kaworu nodded and turned, touching her hand to her chest to feel her heart pounding. She hurried along behind Hikari, and was the last to rush into Miss Katsuragi's class.

"Finally got your hair cut," the older woman said, sighing. "You could at least brush it. You're very.. Fluffy."

Hikari yawned as she walked into the gymnasium, despite the chill of the air making her arms and legs prickle with goose pimples. The other girls were all lining up, and Hikari dropped in place, Kaworu taking up the spot next to her. Hikari leaned forward a bit and spied the other end of the line, where the triplets stood together. Rei was at the far end, her tail wagging back and forth as she shifted on her feet. Next to her were her identical sisters Shichi and Hachi, also known as the Gold One and the Red One. None of them bothered to hide their mutations, not that they could. There were a lot of rumors flying around about what they could do- all Hikari knew was that Shichi's golden skin was as hard as the metal that it appeared to be, and Hachi was weird. At first she'd expected them to all be the same, but she'd been disabused by that notion already today.

"Wind sprints," the instructor yelled. "You know the drill. First one on the finish line is done for the-"

There was a heavy bamf and a stink of sulfur on the air, and Rei and Hachi were standing on the finish line.

The instructor blinked. "That doesn't count. No powers, ladies."

With a soft sigh, Rei grabbed Hachi by the hand and pulled her back to the line. Mari was out today, again, and so Hikari had this sewed up. She pitched forward and steeled herself, muscles coiling. When the whistle sounded she bolted, pulling out ahead of the others with a manic grin on her face. It was unfair, but it was fun.

Still, she slowed. It was irresponsible to cheat every single day, so she slowed enough for Asuka to catch up with her, followed by Shichi, the gold triplet. Hikari could feel the other girl's footfalls on the ground. Rei came up behind them, and then the others. When they reached the finish line they were all panting, leaning on their knees except for Hikari. Asuka stood up and chuffed out a breath, putting her hands on her back to stretch.

"You made it, von Doom," the coach yelled. "Hit the showers."

Asuka smirked at her and strutted off, while Hikari led the trotted back to the starting line. She grabbed Kaworu and pulled her along to the sisters. The three Reis stared at her.

"Look," she said, very quietly. "You're going to beat her, and I'm going to help."

Kaworu nodded vigorously, her floofy hair bouncing. She'd cut her silvery locks to shoulder length, which only made them lift up and float around her head. Hikari was afraid to touch her for fear of getting a static shock. The others all looked at each other, and Hikari shuddered, wondering if they could read one another's minds.

"Don't worry about anybody else," said Hikari. "Just keep up with me."

The four girls nodded, and Hikari set herself, and started running. They strained to keep pace with her, and she went a little faster. This sort of exercise was mostly a waste of time- Hikari seemed to get stronger and faster all the time without even trying, and while he appetite had faded a little, she was still ravenously hungry, even now, and looking forward to lunch.

After the third round, Kaworu and Rei and her sisters were all finished, and sitting on the benches by the sidelines as the other girls finished up. Hikari looked at them, wonderingly. Kaworu had a certain funny resemblance to Rei- their facial structures were different, but something about their hair and milk pale skin and red eyes was unnervingly similar. Rei's new sisters looked like her, except that one was apparently made out of metal and the other was bright red in hair and skin both, matching her eyes. Shichi's skin was even a little reflective, like mirrored sunglasses. Her hair was like a kind of soft wire, the color of beaten copper, matching her irises. When she rested her hands on the bench, it made a soft metallic clinking sound. Hachi itched behind her ears and yawned, her sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight.

"So," said Hikari.

They didn't answer her.

"Anybody going to the dance? Besides Kaworu, I mean."

"Toji asked me," Rei said, quietly. "I am not sure."

"What's a dance?" said Hachi.

Hikari leaned into her palms and groaned.

Mana wanted to get up, but they wouldn't let her. She was cuffed to the hospital bed by heavy leather straps, themselves held down by thick chains. She could have cut them, but she was held down so tightly she couldn't reach with her claws. Her ankles were bound the same. The woman that wore the armor was walking into her room, and turned on the soft light by the bed, leaving the fluorescent lights on the ceiling off.

"Hi," she said.

Mana eyed her, sniffing. She could smell oil and alcohol, and fatigue. She hadn't slept in a while, and was visibly weary when she sat down next to the bed. Mana said nothing.

"I wanted to see how you're doing. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"You can let me out," said Mana.

"You know we can't do that yet. We need to make sure you're safe."

"I want to go home."

The woman scrubbed her fingers through her short hair and sighed. "I know that, but you've been sick for a long time. Summers was hurting you, and you're safe now."

"If I'm safe, why am I chained up?"

The woman thought hard about that. "You could hurt people. We have to be sure you can control yourself."

Mana fell back into the bed, and closed her eyes.

"Leave me alone."

Sighing, the woman got up, and clicked out the light.

Ritsuko leaned on the counter and sighed deeply. She hadn't been home, or back to the house, anyway, in almost thirty-six hours. She caught a fitful few hours of sleep in her office chair that did little more than make her groggy and make her back scream at her. She locked the door and turned to the windows that looked out over the technicians, hitting the switch to drop the shutters from the outside. When she was sure no one could see her, she stripped off her lab coat and twisted as best she could, hitching up the back of her shirt.

Ugly black bruises streaked with fine silver threads ran the length of her spinal implants, and radiated out from the socket where the super solenoid powered them, and provided the power for her suit. Gingerly, she twisted to take a small sample, scraping away some of the tender tissue even as he back screamed in protest. Once she had it she dropped it into a petri dish and lowered herself into her seat, wincing, and poured a glass of whiskey from the bottle in her desk. After she down it and winced, she leaned forward and sighed, hard.

The door opened, and Maya came in. Ritsuko jerked to pull her shirt back down, but she was to slow. Maya stared openly at her, fingers twitching.

"It's nothing," said Ritsuko.

"No it isn't," Maya said, moving closer to her. "What is that?"

Ritsuko's voice cracked. "I don't know. It started a few weeks ago, after Sinister, and its' getting worse. It hurts, Maya."

Her vision blurred, and she wiped away the tears.

"You have to get that thing out of your back."

Ritsuko sat up. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"You know why. Doom is coming here. I have to be ready."

Maya sighed, and moved to the desk. "You wanted a progress report on the retrofits," she said, sliding the folder across the top of the desk.

Ritsuko nodded and took it, started flipping through it.

"You're been drinking," said Maya.

"One drink," said Ritsuko.

"Since when?"

"Since just now," Ritsuko snapped. "You're not my mother."

Maya scowled, and Ritsuko felt a little flutter in her stomach.

"Don't look at me like that," Maya said, her voice quavering.

Ritsuko dropped the folder on the desk, moving slowly, like she would with a dangerous animal in the room. "I'm not looking at you like anything, Maya. Calm down."

"I am calm!" Maya shouted, leaning over her. "I… you're killing yourself."

"No, I'm not," said Ritsuko, turning back to the report.

"Yes, you are. That thing in your back-"

"I can't be without it, Maya," said Ritsuko, flatly. "I have to be able to walk, to use my suits. I can't give that up. I already lost…"

"Lost what?" said Maya.

Ritsuko swallowed. "I had some tests done. I just got the lab report back. My injuries…"

Maya stared, her big eyes watering.

Ritsuko looked away. "I can't have children. Ever. The paralysis doesn't matter, the damage is done."

"Oh," Maya said, very quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"I never planned on it anyway. The Evas are enough of a pain in the ass. What about the new tissue samples?"

"The smaller ones are a few weeks out, but the bigger ones are going to take six months at the soonest."

Ritsuko slammed her fist on the table, sending a jolt up her arm. That wasn't fast enough. Three Evas wasn't enough, given how dangerous the angels were proving to be. The last one nearly destroyed two of the three operational units, and Nerv was keeping it a closely guarded secret that the Evas weren't the deciding factor in that battle at all.

There it was. Ritsuko clenched her teeth when she thought about the object, as they were calling it. She had a new facility being built around it right now, to house and conceal it, since they couldn't move it. Everything she'd tried had proved useless- her armor, a freaking crane, even Unit Zero, none of them could budge the hammer from that spot. She refused to believe that it was what the inscription on the side said it was. Sakura she could accept, but not that.

Leaning forward, she scrubbed her hands through her hair. It was growing longer now, and she really was starting to think about dying it again. She snorted, realizing how silly that was.

"I went to see the Kirishima girl," said Ritsuko. "That's not her real name, of course. I can't find anything on her, which makes sense- assuming Sakura's vision is accurate and her parents died in the Tokyo blast, there won't be any. She's down there caged like an animal, and I have no idea what to do with her. Then there's… Natalie," said Ritsuko.

Maya nodded. "We can't send her to school. Does she…"

"Yes," said Ritsuko. "Telekinesis, telepathy, shape shifting, she can do it all, just like her… father. I have her in a hospital room now, but there's nothing stopping her getting up and walking out. I wish Sakura had said something to me before letting her out. That girl, I swear…"

Maya sat down, and leaned on the back of her chair. It creaked a little and she looked down, eyes flicking away, and sat up. "You should go home, and get some rest. I can keep an eye on things for a while."

"And when did you sleep last?"

Maya blushed. At least, Ritsuko thought it was a blush. She got a little greener.

"I don't think I have to sleep anymore."

"You suck," said Ritsuko.

Maya snorted, smiling for the first time in a while. Ritsuko looked at her, sighing. Other than the whole turning green thing, she wasn't that bad off. With a sigh, she got up and shrugged back into her lab coat, tucking her shirt down around her waist where it belonged. Maya slid into her spot, taking up the arduous task of overseeing the work on the Evas, and gave her a weak wave.

When she pulled up at the house, Hikari's sister was already there, puttering around in the kitchen. She yawned as she passed by.

"Hey," said Kodama.

"Off from work?"

"Yeah. It's… not what I expected. Miss Katsuragi is… unique."

Ritsuko laughed quietly to herself. "Yeah, you could say that again."

"You know her?"

Ritsuko fished around the refrigerator and came up with a can of instant coffee and a sandwich in a plastic bag. She gnawed at the soggy bread between gulps of bitter coffee, swaying on her feet.

"You know her?"

Ritsuko nodded. "We roomed together in college, believe it or not."

"That must have been fun," Kodama mused, sipping coffee as she spread open a book on the expansive table in the Ikari's kitchen.

"I'm taking a nap," Ritsuko yawned, "Wake me if the apocalypse comes."

"Will do," said Kodama. "My sister should be home soon."

Gendo leaned against the back of his cell, scrubbing his fingers over the light stubble of his chin. A nurse came in and shaved him under supervision twice a week; he still wasn't allowed any toiletries or sundries, not even a pen or a toothbrush. He quickly sickened of the television, and so ended up lying on the bed with his head to the glass, idly wishing he had a bouncy ball to thump off the wall and pass the time. It would have helped immensely, especially since the ghost of Natalie Summers refused to leave him alone.

He knew, knew that she wasn't there, but as she coiled up, serpentine and seductive, on his stomach and ran her fingers over his chest, she felt real enough, and smelled real to boot. She was dressed in only the black underthings she favored, standing out starkly against her chalk white skin, and she smelled faintly of rosemary and summer flowers, but with something off beneath it, like a hint of formaldehyde. She leaned on him, resting her chin on her folded hands, and stared into his eyes.

"Go away," he whispered.

"I can't, love," she murmured, "I'm stuck with you until you get me back to my body."

"I won't help you. You tried to kill my son."

"Kill is a strong word," she purred, hitching her legs up his side. "I just wanted to make him more obedient."

"You tried to seduce him."

She laughed, high and light, mocking him. "You kept saying he could use it. Man him up a little."

"I didn't say that."

She leaned over him, very close, grinning. "You were thinking it."

He sat up, abruptly, screaming "Leave me alone!"

She shrugged. She was seated now on the floor, across the width of the narrow cell from him, in her lab coat and skirt, her hair drawn up in a thick black ponytail, her reading glasses perched on the tip of her exquisite nose.

"You're mean, Gendo. We had such fun together."

He wanted to throttle her, but he knew it was no good. "I tried to kill myself because of you."

She snorted, and blew her phantom hair out of her eyes. "You men are always so dramatic."

"You're a man!"

"I was," she said, spreading open her lab coat. "This is so much more fun. It's all about the nerve endings, dear."

He realized he was breathing hard, and rolled over on the bed. Of course she was already there, facing him. She draped her arm over him and threw a long pale leg over his hip, and whispered in his ear.

"I was telling you the truth," she said, her voice cracking, "You're the only man I've ever loved, my darling. You can save me. You couldn't save Yui, but you can save me."

"You're not real," Gendo pleaded, clutching the sides of his head. "Leave me alone."

She laughed at him, and laughed, and laughed. "You'll give in eventually. You think they beat me, but it's just a temporary setback, my love. I almost have everything I need to stop them and save us all, but only if you help me."

His eyes opened. "What do you mean, stop them?"

"The gods," she whispered, slipping her hand under his shirt. "The real gods. They're coming for us, to pass judgment. Without me, you're all lost."

He pressed his eyes shut. He couldn't listen to her, didn't dare. It always made sense at first, but then she'd be whispering something insane in his ear and he'd believe it. She made him believe Naoko killed Yui, made him believe his son was conspiring against him. He couldn't listen. He kept his eyes tightly shut, and that only made it worse. No matter how he turned she was there, pressed against his skin, her fever hot flesh slick with sweat.

"Let me tell you about the Celestials," she whispered.

Asuka paced, and paced, and paced.

Ever since Sinister, she had been nearly frantic. Mari was still in bed, sleeping peacefully. She curled on her side and drew her lithe form up into a ball, nipping at her own thumbs in her sleep, her ears twitching. No bandages or treatment were needed, but her body was still adjusting to carrying the weight and dealing with addition of the metal to her skeleton. It made her tired and irritable, and her healing factor would take longer to adjust than normal. It made her sleep a great deal.

She opened her eyes, and Asuka rushed to the beside immediately.

"Hi, Princess," Mari yawned, her jaw working.

Asuka resisted the urge to join her, swallowing the yawn as it flowered in her throat. The effort made her eyes water and she shook her head vigorously. She ran her fingers through Mari's hair, feeling its softness and the frizzy way it gathered static electricity. She made her hand just a little warmer as she cupped Mari's chin, sat on the bed, and leaned down to kiss her.

"Good morning, my love," Asuka whispered, brushing a stray lock of brown hair back from Mari's face. Annoyingly, she had no proper ear to tuck it behind, but the cat ears on her head.

"You should sleep in," said Mari, yawning again. She scanned Asuka's uniform and sighed.

Asuka rolled her eyes. "It's four o'clock in the afternoon."

Mari sat up, groggily, clutching the sides of her head and blinking. Asuka leaned against her, resting her chin on the other girl's shoulder, and held her around the waist.

"Mmm," Mari purred, leaning back into her. "You're upset about something."

"How do you know?"

Mari smirked. "I can smell it. I know your scents better now."

Asuka's cheeks heated -literally- and she sat up, sniffing. "Yes, I…"

"Spill it," said Mari.

Asuka folded her arms around herself, trying to look regal but hugging herself instead. "Someone accused my father of murdering my mother."

Mari blinked a few times, big eyes watery, and then they narrowed. "Who?"

"It doesn't matter," said Asuka.

"If it didn't, you wouldn't be upset about it."

Asuka shrugged and slumped a bit, defeated. She pulled the locket out from under her uniform, and clicked it open. Tucked inside was a single lock of red-gold hair, a shade lighter than her own. She looked at it for a moment, clicked the locket closed, and tucked it back in place, so it was pressed against her heart.

"I don't like thinking about her."

"Why?"

"I can't… I try to remember," Asuka said, her voice flat and even, "her face, her voice, but I just see a blur with hair like mine. My father is strong, my father is wise, my father is powerful, but…"

"But what?" said Mari.

Asuka looked at her. "We almost died. It… I feel… He never smiled at me, or held me. Even Shinji's oaf of a father did that for him, and I saw the Horaki girl with her family, after. I've never had anything like that."

Mari leaned closer. "What am I, chopped liver?"

Asuka stared at her. "I'm not sure if that would be an insult to you or not."

Mari snorted. "Cats are supposed to like fish, silly."

Without warning, Mari was on her, pressing her back into the bed. She was even heavier now and they sank into the mattress, Mari's much larger frame overwhelming Asuka as she pinned her wrists to the bed and nuzzled her lips against Asuka's throat. Feeling Mari's heart hammering so close to her own made her soften, just a little, and she drew in a long, relaxing breath. Mari shifted, resting some of her weight on the bed, and tucked her arms around Asuka.

"So," she said. "Are we going to the dance?"

"Obviously," said Asuka.

"I mean… together."

"Openly," said Asuka.

She was quiet after that, Mari confirming by way of her silence. The sound of their breathing was heavy in the room, and Mari was already dozing off again. Asuka would have kicked the blinds open, but sunlight on her only made her even sleepier. She twined her fingers through Mari's hair without quite realizing it, twisting the thick locks between her fingers. Eventually she found the soft cups of her ears, and the touch of them made Mari purr and hitch her legs around Asuka, making sure she couldn't get away before Mari's newfound itch was scratched. Asuka obliged her.

After the longest time she said, "Yes. Openly."

Mari sat up. "Then we need to go shopping."

Hikari whooped with joy as she careened between buildings, hurling her legs out in front of her to get a little more altitude as she fired the next line, watched it slap against the corner of a roof overhead, and played out just a little extra web to get a nice, deep, fast swing through the bottom of the next arc. Sakura, clinging to her back, was screaming her lungs out.

"We're going to die!" Sakura shrieked, "We're going to die!"

"We're not going to die." Hikari shouted back.

"Yes we are!"

Hikari laughed and ignored her, reveling in the freedom of swinging from rooftop to rooftop, the air whipping through her hair. It wasn't far now, only a few more blocks until they'd drop down and take the rest of the way on foot, with no high buildings to swing from. Her new suit was vastly more comfortable than the one she'd put together herself, even if it was a little clingy. No one was going to mistake her for a boy now.

"Can we stop?" Sakura shouted in her ear. "I'm going to throw up."

"If you throw up, I'll drop you."

"Nevermind!"

A laugh bubbled out of Hikari's lips, but at last it was time to return to earth, and she dropped carefully, using a line to slow her descent. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Sakura danced away from her, wobbling on her feet, leaned on a wall, and puked loudly, her retching sounding painful. Hikari fought the urge to laugh, and rubbed her friend's back.

"You okay?"

"Yeah?" Sakura coughed, "I didn't need that food."

"You asked to go for a ride," said Hikari. "Shinji never pukes."

"Shinji only does it so he can touch your butt."

"He touches it all the time anyway. I need my clothes."

Sakura had all their stuff in their backpack. Hikari didn't bother with the shirt, just hopped into her uniform pants and buttoned up her jacket over the top of her suit, the little fangs of the white spider poking out around her collar. The suit was incredible- besides the abrasion and piercing resistance, it wicked moisture away from her skin and compressed her muscles. She almost felt naked with it next to her skin, and now that she was starting to calm down, she began to shiver.

Fishing a block of cheese out of her pack, Sakura handed it over, and Hikari scarfed it down in three quick bites, swallowing loudly.

"That's disgusting," said Sakura, frowning.

"Cheese is a very convenient source of protein," Hikari burped, "Come on, it's time for dinner."

Now that she was properly dressed, they walked the rest of the way up to the house, flashing their identification cards as the guards waiting outside. Ritsuko hand-picked them all, but it was important to keep up appearances. The foyer of the house was empty, but Hikari heard the pleasant sounds of occupation wafting about. Ritsuko was obviously abed, as it sounded like someone was strangling a chainsaw-pig hybrid in her bedroom. Hikari peeled off from Sakura and headed upstairs, and knocked on Shinji's door.

There was no answer, but it was open. She gave it a little nudge, and he looked up from polishing his helmet.

Hikari snorted a little laugh.

"What?" said Shinji.

He'd smoothed out the dents in the surface, and he'd removed the faded lavender and dark purple paint, making the whole thing a matte gray. He must have put some kind of overcoating on it, as the rag he was using brought it to a mirror shine, and she could see her face distorted in it from across the room. The house rules meant she had to open the door a bit more as she padded across the room, shedding her jacket as she went.

Shinji blinked, visibly tearing his eyes away from her chest, and her cheeks heated as she sat down next to him.

"If you keep playing with that, I'm going to get jealous."

"It saved our lives," said Shinji, resting the helmet on his nightstand.

"You saved our lives," said Hikari, leaning closer to him. She brushed her lips along the curve of his jaw and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, all she could get away with, given the constant threat of Kodama or, God forbid, Ritsuko walking in on them.

After they moved into the house, Ritsuko started to explain how to use what she termed a "love glove" until Kodama snarled at her. Hikari shuddered at the memory.

"Hey," said Shinji, nudging the helmet on the nightstand with his finger, "Um, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Hikari leaned forward.

"Did you see those posters, about the umm, the dance…"

"Yeah," said Hikari, guardedly.

"Do you want to go with me?"

Hikari snorted. "Duh, I'm your girlfriend. Of course I'm going with you."

"I still wanted to ask."

That earned him another kiss on the cheek, followed by Hikari pushing him down onto the bed by the shoulders and lowering herself onto him, until all he could see was her. That lasted about thirty seconds, until there was a knock at the door and Hikari jumped back, nearly hitting the ceiling before she landed in a crouch on the floor.

"What are you doing?" said Kodama, leaning on the doorframe.

"Talking," said Hikari. "Just talking. Dinner plans, the weather, politics, world peace, that kind of thing."

Kodama arched an eyebrow. "Right. Dinner is served, get down to the kitchens."

She was waiting when Hikari came out of Shinji's room. "You're not fooling around with him in there, are you?"

"Nope, not in there," said Hikari.

"I'm serious."

"I know you're serious."

"You can't get pregnant."

"I'm not going to get pregnant. What am I, Ritsuko?"

"I heard that," Ritsuko moaned, stumbling out of her room. "Somebody say dinner?"

Hikari and Kodama both stared at her. She was adorned in a loud ensemble of pajamas and robes, with mismatched socks and a Megadeth band shirt that was at least two sizes too small, and she plucked at the hem when she saw them staring.

"Back off, I'm a scientist."

By the time they made it down to the kitchen, it was packed. Kodama was there, as were Toji, Rei, and Rei's sisters. Sakura sat away from the table on a stool with a book propped on her lap, one leg swinging under her. Toji and Hikari's fathers were both working night shift, which left the boys abandoned in a raging sea of estrogen. Shinji sat next to Toji and would have turned back to back with him if he could.

"Is everybody ready for our special bonding trip?" said Ritsuko, fixing a plate from the veritable buffet Kodama had set up.

"What bonding trip?"

"We are going shopping," said Rei.

Hikari blinked at that.

"I'm skipping it," said Sakura. "I have reading to do."

"Come on, sis," said Toji.

"No boys allowed," said Kodama, and they both let out long sighs.

"Still," said Toji, "You're going to the dance, right?"

"I'd have to go stag," said Sakura. I don't feel like it. Shichi and Hachi and I are going to stay home and watch The Notebook."

"Oh," said Shinji, and then more softly, "Oh, God."

Ritsuko leaned down between the boys. "Learn to pretend to like it. It will serve you well."

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"I'm chaperoning," said Kodama.

Hikari paled at that. "Oh, uh."

"I somehow got talked into that, too," said Ritsuko. "I've decided to take a more active role in the administration of the school."

"You?" said Hikari.

Ritsuko sighed. "Yeah, as if I don't have enough to do. Good thing I have an intern."

Hikari glared at her, and ate sullenly.

"I'd better not catch you slipping booze into the punch," said Kodama.

"If I slip booze anywhere, it'll be into me," said Ritsuko. "Besides, I run this town, I can do what I want."

The meal went on, until Ritsuko ducked out to answer her phone, and then back. "Okay, the car is here."

"What car?" said Hikari.

"It's a surprise. Let's get ready!"

A shower later, after waiting in line of course, Hikari was headed out of the house, to find an immense, block monstrosity sitting on six over-sized wheels parked in front of the driveway, blocking in the usual Nerv staff car. Ritsuko brushed past her and took the key from a scared looking security man, who scurried away as soon as she was in range of the vehicle. Hikari took a slow walk around it, looking at the machine gun turret mounted on top.

"Why are we going to the mall in a tank?"

"It's not a tank," said Ritsuko. "It's an armored personnel carrier. There's a difference."

As soon as she was finally free of… everybody, Sakura shut herself up in her room with the journal. She was sure she was reading it right, but what she read scared her more and more every time she went over the lines, until her finger was trembling. She pulled her lip under her teeth and took a sharp breath.

I saw the beast, the journal read, and the sun rose in the south and was bent, and denied the moon. The beast had a skull of blood and a crown of ashes, and marked on his brow was the sign of the beast. The light had gone from the world, and in the darkness the beast tore down the walls of a high tower, until his hands were bloodied but not broken. When the tower was taken the beast seized the book of death and the book of life, and the gate and the key to the gate. From the rubble he strode forth on air and a third eye opened on his head, and I saw hell within it.

She tapped her pen on her notepad. She had a feeling -more than a feeling- that the beast was the same thing as the "knight of the crooked cross" she read about earlier, and the books and the gate and key were some kind of artifact. She drummed her fingers on the desk, and read on.

With the eye the beast saw all places high and low, near and distant, past and future. What was, what is, what will be, what could be, all were one in the great eye which was of the beast. With the light in his eye he pierced the light of the soul, and laid bare what lay within. No spear could touch him, and he feared neither noose nor fire. Red and black flames walked at his sides, and together they marched in the well of souls, and laid low the hammer bearer and the broken giants.

She sat back from the book and took a drink of water, sighing. Her head was pounding, and the more she touched the book the more she could see what was written, as if she were looking through a window in the pages. She ran her hand lightly over it, not quite touching the aged paper. She could feel the psychometric field much more strongly now, as if the book were reacting to her presence. She had to know more, so she leaned forward, not drawing too close this time, and focused her mind with a simple breathing technique.

The beast found the burden of the well and took her to life, and behold I saw a great red dragon and a woman clothed in the sun, and the beast devoured the woman and took the key and opened the gate, and before him I saw green fields and ancient sands. I saw the end of time and the beginning, as the beast opened the way and after him followed the hosts of hell, and there was no barrier to him. All who stood before him fell, be they they the shining champion of the sun or the boy heavy with the wisdom of a thousand days. The tree of wisdom broken, and the cosmic champion slain, and there was darkness forever.

"Well," she said aloud, "That doesn't sound good."

"No, it doesn't."

She turned, and jumped at the sudden appearance of Stephen Strange's shade in her bedroom.

"If you watch me sleep, I'm calling the police."

"This is no time for jokes, child. The time has come to reveal higher mysteries."

Sakura sighed, and looked at the wizened figure of the old man.

"Were I still among the quick, I would impart the implements of the Sorcerer Supreme to you directly, but that is no longer possible."

"Why?"

His ghostly form moved and sat on her bed. "When the tidal wave from Second Impact hit my home, I had a choice. I could allow it to wash over my Sanctum Sanctorum, or I could expend every ounce of my power to ensure it survived the onslaught. In truth, my choice was no choice at all- my Sanctum is a fortress made of will, a prison and a guardian for powers that could destroy the Earth is fully unleashed."

Sakura nodded. "Your astral form survived."

"Yes, but without a body I have no means of influencing the world of the living. I chose to allow myself to be trapped in between, to find and guide my replacement. I have taught you much over these last weeks, but I fear the time has come for you to prove yourself."

"How?"

He sighed, a strange gesture from a dead man. "You must prove yourself worthy. You must travel to the Sanctum Sanctorum, and breach the spells yourself. There you will find a lifetime's worth of research and collected artifacts. You must destroy them all, save four."

"What four?" said Sakura.

"The most important is an amulet, the Eye of Agamotto. It is tremendously powerful, moreso than you realize. The others are books- the Book of the Vishanti and the Darkhold. Were an enemy to possess both, it would be enough to cover the world in darkness. The fourth is the Siege Perilous, a gateway that allows access to other dimensions, other worlds."

"I understand," said Sakura.

"I don't think you do. The journey will be a great danger, one you cannot face alone. The Sanctum is out of phase with normal reality, but can only be accessed from Greenwich Village."

"You mean New York," said Sakura. "As in, America. How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"You will find a way, child. I know what it is I ask of you- to cross a wasteland of monsters and anarchy. You will find a way."

Sakura nodded.

"I will," she said.

Hikari held onto the seat in front of her with white knuckles as Ritsuko cackled like a madwoman, sharply turning the wheel of the armored personnel carrier. The big tires shrieked on the road, leaving thick trails of smoking rubber on the pavement, and she immediately punched down on the accelerator, pulling up into the parking garage adjacent to the newly reopened mall. She looked around, and saw that Kodama looked a little green.

They'd stopped to pick up Kaworu, who was clinging to the seat in front of her, pressing her eyes tightly shut, and praying in German. Rei, seated next to her, seemed completely calm. Then again, Rei could teleport to safety if Ritsuko rammed the APC through a wall and crashed it into the ground from fifty feet up.

"I love this," Ritsuko chortled, jamming on the brake as the lumbering beast skidded into three parking spaces. She turned around.

"Okay. Gas, grass, or ass. Nobody rides for free."

"Ritsuko!" Kodama shouted, turning bright pink.

"Calm down," said Ritsuko. "Everybody out. Let's do this."

Hikari was very, very glad to put her feet on solid pavement as she dismounted from the angular black vehicle, the others piling out behind her. Kaworu raced to the railing in front of it and dry-heaved, clutching at her stomach. Hikari took her arm-in-arm and led her to follow the others.

"Thank you for bringing me with you," she said, as shyly as ever.

Hikari decided to distract her from the terror of the ride. "Has somebody asked you?"

"Kensuke," said Kaworu.

Hikari nodded, slowly. Kensuke "I Love Boobs" Aida sniffing after the willowy Kaworu wasn't the weirdest thing she'd ever heard, by far. Kaworu was kind of strange- her newly cut hair was in a dandelion-esque floof around her head and she was tall and perilously skinny, but she was one of the better looking girls in school, once one looked past her oddities. Hikari hated that the others were so mean to her, ready to treat her like an outsider because she was a little different.

"I've never bought a dress before," said Kaworu. "I hope I brought enough money."

"How much do you have?"

Kaworu lifted up her purse and opened it, displaying the contents. Inside was a telephone, a… feminine hygiene device, and enough money to buy Luxembourg. Hikari stared openly.

"Where did you get that?"

Ritsuko, who'd been chatting quietly with Kodama -probably to talk her out of suing over the APC thing- glanced back, and even her eyes widened.

"My father wires me an allowance," said Kaworu. "I haven't been spending it."

Hikari's jaw worked soundlessly. "Oh. Okay. Yes, you have enough for the dress, and the shoes, and the hair."

"She needs makeup," said Ritsuko, "You too, Rei. You're both so… plain. You need some style."

"What is makeup?" the albinos said, in unison.

"Great," said Kodama. "Where did you find these girls again?"

"It's complicated," said Ritsuko.

"I'm from Germany," said Kaworu.

Hikari didn't feel the least bit enlightened.

They piled into the elevator together, and Ritsuko hit the button. An awkward half minute later, they stepped out onto the mall's main level atrium, and Hikari breathed in the crisp, refined scent of unlimbered capitalism, already spying their first stops. Her budget was just a tad more modest, but she knew her target better. All she had to do was wear a gown that revealed her arms and shoulders and Shinji would be a puddle on the floor. Her real goal was keeping Ritsuko from dressing Rei and Kaworu up like streetwalkers.

"Come on," said Ritsuko, leading the charge. "I need to wear something professional for this. I'm representing authority and adulthood."

She turned to Kodama. "Are sequins professional?"

Kodama didn't have chance to answer. With a heavy thump, the lights cut off and the too-bright emergency lights came on, and the sound of the shoppers screaming filled the high-ceilinged space. Hikari immediately jumped up and balanced herself on top of the glass partition that surrounded the atrium, clutching it with her hands and feet. She had a vague sense of danger from the floors below, and from above. She closed her eyes, and listened.

When she opened them again, a rather hairy eight-legged specimen lowered herself in front of Hikari's face, dangling on a thin, almost invisible strand of web. Kaworu saw the spider and yelped, while Hikari focused on it, her gaze meeting the tiny button eyes arranged on the spider's head.

"What can you tell me?" she whispered, focusing the thought at the same time.

The spider didn't think in words, or really think at all. What she saw were a succession of images, some of them from other spiders crawling around the mall- there turned out to be a lot of them, particularly in the hot dog place on the third floor, which bothered her for some reason. The mall was in darkness, and there were shapes moving on the first floor, herding people away from the walls and exits. Two of them took up residence in front of each of the doors, long and lithe and sinister. Hikari saw visions of snakes and lizards, and boots. Boots always meant danger.

"I hate this mall," Hikari sighed.

She turned from the spider and dropped to the floor, pulling her hair into a loose ponytail. "We've got company. I don't know what-"

Her neck pulsed and she jumped just in time to avoid something leaping at her. She cartwheeled out of the way as Rei vanished in a flash of acrid smoke and Ritsuko pulled Kodama behind her, shoving her hand in her purse and drawing back a repulsor gauntlet that click-clacked into place around her wrist.

The attacker skidded to a stop on the linoleum, drawing up two thin little curls of floor wax from wicked, knife-like claws. Hikari froze.

There was a dinosaur in the mall.

"Uh," said Hikari.

It screeched and leapt at her, and in the back of her mind she put a name to the turkey-sized little monster, velociraptor.

As it passed through the space she just recently occupied, claws out, she was already out of the way. She jumped and hit the ceiling, planted her feet on the tiles, and fired twin strands of web from either hand, stopping the creature short before it bounded up into Ritsuko's shocked face. She pulled twisted, and slammed the thing into the wall, where it fell and went still.

To her surprise, its rubbery skin burst open, weeping oil and sparking. Ritsuko moved closer as Hikari dismounted, dropping down beside her. A ceiling tile slid open and Rei's blue-coifed head appeared from her refuge in the ceiling.

"It's a robot," said Ritsuko, crouching. "A robot dinosaur. What the hell-"

Every television set in the mall flicked on at once, and Hikari stood up, gaping open-mouthed at what she saw. On the screen was… a fishbowl. There appeared to be someone wearing it as a helmet.

"Attention shoppers!" a booming voice rang out, "This mall now belongs to Lady Mysterio! Cooperate with my techno-beasts, and you shall not be harmed!"

Hikari groaned.

"Shouldn't it be Mysteria?" said Ritsuko.

Everyone looked at her.

"What?"