Alright a new chapter is finally up. Had to pretty much rewrite this from scratch because the file got corrupted. But glad I got it finished finally, been spending pretty much all my time on the laptop on this or the short story I'm publishing, which is almost finished.
Anyway on we go...
Revy sat on the sofa and stroked her stomach, no one could tell she was pregnant but she could feel the small life inside her and part of her was glad that her lovable idiot had knocked her up, if it had been anyone else she would of put a bullet in their dick. "You know you'll have to cut back on the booze and the smokes Revy?" Dutch asked standing in the doorframe, "Don't remind me. I've already got Rock crawling up my ass about it.", "But do you and the kid a favour and cut back before quitting. I've seen to many people try and go cold turkey on smokes and alcohol, not a pretty sight.". Revy pulled out a single cigarette and looked at it.
"So I get to enjoy these a little while longer before I have to stop?", "It would have been easier if Shin was still about, you clearly cut back when he was around.", "I never noticed." the big guy nodded as he pulled out a smoke and lit up, "You know, Balalaika owes me some favours. I could pull a few strings down the road and you could have the kid over there with Shin." Revy just cocked an eyebrow at him and very sceptical about the idea, "I don't know Dutch. I'm not used to this whole mother thing.", "Revy just look at how you helped raise Shinji and go from there." Dutch thought for a moment, "But please don't take him or her on a fishing trip. Shinji told me he still has flashbacks about it.".
Revy smirked as she remembered teaching Shinji how to fish, using a net and a hand grenade but as she was reminded whenever it came up, the blast knocked Shinji out of the boat and into the water just as another three grenades rolled into the water, with the pins missing. Thankfully they were fake ones that she had packed in to teach Shin how to throw, after all what sane person would give a seven year old live grenades to play with. "I had everything under control Dutch he wouldn't of gotten hurt…", "You keep saying that. Just think about what I said Revy." he headed out to the Lagoon to carry out some maintenance and left Revy alone until Rock and Benny got back.
Pulling out one of her cutlass and grabbed a cloth and began polishing the slide, she always got really calm when she cleaned her boys, she paused at the thought. "Boy or a girl?" she echoed what Rock had asked when first found out she was pregnant, she wanted both really 'Either way they'd be able to take care of themselves after I'm through with them' she gave a rare peaceful smile as she stretched herself across the sofa, planting her boots on the table.
Looking down at the cigarette hanging from her mouth she saw it was half finished, sighing to herself at the waste she stubbed it out in the ashtray, "Screw it…I've had worse happen to me. I'm not smoking until after the kids born…I awe it that much." looking down at her stomach again she smiled sadly, "I'm not going to fuck up…if you can get to four kiddo then you'll be fine. I know what I'm doing from there. Sort of.".
"Comrade Sergeant!" Balalaika called from her dimly lit office, having arrived back in the city nearly a week ago she had preoccupied herself with catching up on personal business and had spent a lot of her time in her office and on the phone with various people.
"Yes Captain?" Boris asked standing at attention in front of her desk, she hadn't even heard him enter, "Has the information I requested arrived yet?", "Not yet Captain. Our contacts in Germany and the United States have assured us that they have dispatched the documents you requested.", "They have until tomorrow to arrive. If they have not arrived by then, heads will roll." she gave the sergeant a brief smile before pulling out a cigar.
"The information on this Mari girl that Shinji-kun has taken a keen eye to, is that it?" she asked to the folder tucked under Boris's arm, "Indeed. Everything checks out with our contacts.". Handing his boss the file on the young female pilot he began, "As per your request we have began the hunt for the group known as SEELE, however they are a very secretive group, we have barely been able to touch the surface on their actions. We only know that there are only a small number of people in the group and that they are extremely wealthy, however even with this it isn't easy to track down their locations.".
"Keep trying Sergeant. If you have to rattle some cages, then do what must be done. I want them found." she turned around in her seat and lit her cigar, "Make sure this information doesn't flow to Shinji just yet. I'd like to have something concrete to hand him before I drop this on his lap.". Nodding again Boris took his leave and left her to finish her phone calls and work.
Opening the file on Mari she read the through the highlights. "Born in London…Japanese Mother. British Father…Both died in a car crash. Recruited for Eva from early age from the Marduke Institute... Now that is something that keeps popping up isn't it? Lets see what this Institute actually is?" she grinned as she opened her laptop and began looking through various pages that were publicly available about NERV, the UN and the Marduke Institute.
"Really? People actually believe this?" she questioned as she dialled a number off by heart, "Yes its me. I need some information retrieved. Yes it will have to be a rush job but don't let them know you were there if you can help it. It's a rather challenging task…I need everything you can get on the Marduke Institute." hanging up she knew that her contact wouldn't let her down.
"PTFG!" Shinji screamed over the headset, sadly seeing that he was still in class it made everyone turn to stare at him, "What?" he asked as if wondering why everyone was looking at him like he had grown a spare head, "Mister Ikari? What have I told you about watching sports during class?" the teacher asked, clearly not impressed. "You said not too, but it's the end of the season!" he whined just missing one of the quickest goals he had seen during the ice hockey season this year. Having an extended family from Russia and America had made ice hockey a common bond between them all, he really enjoyed sitting down with Revy, Balalaika and the other members of Hotal Moscow and cheering on during the match.
"The earphones if you please." the teacher said holding out his hand, "You can pick them up at the end of the day." groaning to himself he reluctantly handed them over and slumped back on his chair, only for Mari to cheer him up with a kiss on the cheek, "Cheer up. You asked Benny to record it for you didn't you?", "Yeah…but I just hope he didn't forget…" he inwardly shuddered at the thought of the mans online sessions with his long time girlfriend.
"Are you sick? Your looking a little pale?", "No…just very disturbing memories that no amount of alcohol can remove.", "I wont ask anymore then." she said as they watched the teacher continue his boring speech, however Touji looked like he was about ready to flip out he was so bored. Kensuke was finally back at school after what seemed like months away because of a bad case of the flu. He hadn't exactly been properly introduced to Mari before as she had arrived after the party they were invited to.
Thankfully lunch was soon upon them and they all gathered up on the roof. Where Kensuke found out that Mari and Shinji were now dating.
"What!? When did this happen?", "Few days ago. Mostly after that idiot I told you about tried to get some of my uncles money.", "How did that end?" Touji asked only for Shinji to smile evilly, "My aunts people paid them a visit.", "Okay…I'm guessing they were as scary as she was…", "Still is Touji. But yes…they wont be bothering us ever again.".
"So Mari you're a pilot like Shinji?" Kensuke asked, "Yeah. My unit is still being prepped for transport though so I'm stuck on the sidelines for a little while longer.", "Is it being brought in from the States?" he asked trying to fish for more information, "Can't tell you." she giggled as he slumped forward, "So…speaking of which Touji I've been meaning to bug you on something.", "What?" he asked through a mouthful of food.
"When are you and Hikari going to hook up?" he was expecting a reaction but not to see the contents of his mouth sprayed across the roof, "Chew your food…" Shinji said flicking off a piece of bread from his leg, "I don't know what your talking about!?" he said clearly flustered at the sudden question. "I didn't know you had a thing for Hikari?" Mari asked leaning in close to him, causing him to become beet red and shy away, "I'm… I… Shut up." he stammered choosing not to answer anything else.
Shinji chuckled as he tucked into his Bento, he was amused by Touji's complete denial about his crush on Hikari. He wasn't blind, he could see how they looked at each other when they thought no one was looking, it reminded him of some romantic movie where the two just kept looking away from each other and blushing, part of him just wanted to throw the two in the closet until they confessed.
"I just thought of something…Mari I need your help with something later…" Shinji asked with a sly grin as she quickly put two and two together and started giggling herself, of course Touji and Kensuke were slightly terrified at the sight of their best friend laughing like a madman. In the long run though Kensuke would find out that he had nothing to worry about, it was Touji who had to worry.
"Hey four-eyes!" they heard someone call out and knew exactly who it was, "Asuka what do you want?" Mari groaned, while they were fellow pilots she didn't hide her dislike for the annoying redhead, "Yeah we're trying to eat." Shinji added, "That's why I'm here Baka, you were meant to make me my lunch this morning.", "Oh did I? Because I remember some ungrateful person using up all the hot water last night so I had to have a cold shower." no one noticed Mari's eyes briefly glaze over before she shook her thoughts clean.
"Is that it? You didn't make me lunch because I had a shower?", "You used more water then I do all week! If you don't like it make your bloody own!" he turned his back on her as she let out an angry scream and stomped off. "You know you'll be paying for this later, right?" Kensuke asked, "Oh yeah. But at least I know it'll be coming. This time…" he sighed as Mari rubbed his back, "Tell you what…" leaning in she whispered something into his ear which perked him up straight away.
Kensuke was about to ask what she had said but then decided against it, there were some things that just weren't meant to be known. Touji however went a shade of pink when they heard the door to the roof open again. "Shinji…why is Asuka so angry now?", "Because I didn't make her lunch because she used up all the hot water last night.", "I see…" she briefly glanced over at Touji who gave her a little wave when no one was looking at him, "I'll leave you to your lunches. But please don't try to goad her Shinji, you know how she is.", "All too well Hikari…Touji isn't that nice of Hikari to look out for Asuka?" Shinji asked. He knew it was a cheap shot but the temptation was just too much.
"Y-yeah…I'll kill you for this." he whispered giving Shinji something akin to a lethal glare but Shinji didn't so much as bat an eyelid, "You can try…" he teased holding back the laughter as Hikari head back downstairs. The moment they heard the door close Touji was rolling with Shinji across the rooftop demanding 'why he was doing this to him?', "Ah…Boys bonding. Aren't you going to join in Kensuke?" Mari asked calmly, "No I think I'll sit this out. Wrestling is more Touji's hobby.".
After lunch was over they walked back into the classroom with Shinji's clothes covered in dirt, his hair a mess and his arms had a number of grazes along them but no one worried when they all saw the massive smirk on his face.
"Are you sure that was a smart thing to do?" Mari asked as she and Shinji walked back to the apartment building, "What thing? Watching Ice Hockey in class? Wrestling Touji on the roof? Or sliding down the stairwell handrail?", "Any of the above…" she chuckled as they looked behind them and saw Asuka stomping along behind him, "She still in a foul mood?" he asked.
"Yup. Looks like she's still pissed about you not making her lunch.", "What am I? Her personal butler?", "I wouldn't mind that…" Mari said bumping into Shinji softly, "Well it will have to wait until after all this Angel crap is finished.", "There hasn't been an attack in a while do you think they have given up?", "No…I reckon they are still coming. If I learnt one thing above all else while living in Roanapur is if your being attacked by someone then you keep fighting back until they're dead.".
"Well that's one way of looking at it I guess.", "Most of the time though it comes down to who has the bigger gun. But since our guns are pretty much useless against them, I'm not sure how it works…I don't know…" he shrugged as he entered the lift with Mari, just in time to see her shut the doors on Asuka before she reached them. "What are we going to do now?", "Well have a quiet ride up to our floor would be must first guess.", "That's true…" Shinji said before leaning over and giving Mari a tender kiss, "And its true you are the most awesome girlfriend a guy could ask for.", "And you'd better believe it." she said smugly.
Of course just as they arrived in their apartment they found a message waiting for them saying that Mari's unit would be arriving within the next few weeks, which made her scream in joy. She had yet to see the unit after it had been finally finished so she was really looking forward to seeing it at last and finally being able to pilot alongside Shinji.
"Hang on…its Unit-05? What happened to Unit-04?" Shinji asked wondering if they had missed one on purpose, "I think it was damaged in an accident or something. I'm not sure about many of the details of it myself.", "Well I just don't want to see you get hurt or something. I'm not going to get rid of you that easily.".
Asuka soon arrived, glared at the pair and stormed off to her room in a huff. Both wondered just why she was acting all high and mighty in the first place, he would have to ask Misato what her problem was, since she was the person who knew more about her. He really didn't want to ask Kaji at the moment, even though she was technically under his guardianship.
"That girl really needs to have a sit down with Revy.", "Why's that?" Mari asked only to see Shinji shudder, "She wasn't afraid to punish me if I stepped over the line.", "What did she do? Spank you or something?", "Yes…and she doesn't hold back either.", "That's…harsh." she admitted not really a big fan of punishments herself being inflicted on a child.
"Don't get me wrong, I understand why she did it. I knew what I was doing, and she wasn't exactly knowledgeable on being a mother. So she did what she had to do to keep me from doing something amazingly stupid that could end up hurting me or someone else." Shinji could never be mad at Revy for punishing him, he wasn't exactly an easy to handle child.
There was silence between them for a moment before he said something that made Mari burst out in laughter, "Did you what to spank me?" he enjoyed hearing her laugh, it was like music to his ears.
"Maybe later." Shinji had to double check if he had heard it correctly but smiled to himself, even with the Angel threat looming more and more, he was happy with what he had at the moment. Something that he wouldn't change for anything.
It didn't take too much time for another Angel to show itself, this time floating in space. Looking like an eyeball with wide wings. However the bizarre appearance of the Angel matched the sheer insanity of Misato's plan to deal with it.
"You want us to what?" Shinji asked, actually hoping that he had gone deaf or something else had messed up his hearing. "You want us to catch it with our hands?" Asuka cried as she heard the rest of the plan, "That's right." Misato said slowly, "That's insane. And why is it just the three of us?" she said looking to Mari who wasn't wearing her plug suit.
"Her Eva is yet to arrive. With the detection of the Angel the transport plane meant to be carrying it had to be grounded until it is dealt with.". Mari looked off to one side not wanting to look at anyone directly, "I'm sorry you'll have to sit this one out as well Mari." Misato said trying to sound official, "Yeah…" she sniffed before excusing herself, 'She still feels like she's letting everyone down…' Misato thought wishing there was someway to help her.
"But still. Catching it seems pretty farfetched. Do we even know where its going to land?" pressing a button a map of Tokyo-3 appeared showing three starting points, "Is this a guess Major?" Rei asked, "It's a woman's intuition!" she defended herself as she turned back to the three pilots, who looked less then thrilled about her reasoning. "You'll be in your Eva's on standby until it enters the upper atmosphere. You'll have about two minutes to move into position, so be ready.", "And on that note I wonder if I'll buy a lottery ticket after this?" Shinji wondered.
He had come up with a variety of insane plans over the years but the one that Misato had just laid out had just been crowned champion of all time. It would take all the luck in the world to pull it off in his opinion.
Sitting in his Eva he hummed softly to himself as he waited for the Angel to arrive in the atmosphere. "Rei…how have you been? I haven't had the chance to talk to you in a while." he asked over the commlink, "I have been fine pilot Ikari. I should be asking you how you are however after your kidnapping.", "I'm fine Rei, thanks for asking. Mari and I are going for a walk around town later if you'd like to join us?" she was silent for a moment before answering, "I will consider it.".
It was a very odd time to try and be friendly but there was just something about Rei that told him that he should be trying to be more friendly to her, besides it wasn't a hard choice between her and Asuka.
But before they could say anything further the Angel entered the atmosphere, and the trajectory appeared on his screen. At first glance it looked as if he was closest but he didn't take the time to have a better look as he pushed off like a sprinter going off the starting blocks.
With every step he took he urged his Eva to go faster and faster, each step tore up chunks of earth and tarmac as he crossed over roads, highways and fields, until he saw the large Angel in free fall.
Skidding to slow down he expanded his A.T field to its maximum as the Angel's one clashed with it, the sudden mass hitting him made his arms burn with the extreme effort it was taking him to hold it up. "Anytime today ladies!" he shouted out as he felt the ground below him start to give way under the enormous strain, "Expand your field Unit Two!" Rei called out still sounding strangely calm, as his fellow pilots raced up the hill to support him. "I'm already doing it!" Asuka called back before they all merged their fields and began to actually push the Angel back up into the sky slightly before it pushed back down with renewed force.
However the centre of the Angel's eye soon opened and a black humanoid figure with a white skull like mask appeared and begun reaching down, glasping onto Shinji's hands before suddenly impaling them when they suddenly became spears.
It took a moment for the pain to register in his mind, when it did his screams echoed through the other cockpits and the command bridge. "Fucking… kill it already!" he screamed using every bit of willpower at his control to keep his AT field up, "I'm trying!" Asuka shouted back, trying to stab the red orb which was darting around much like a fly, she wasn't expecting Rei to grab the orb with her hands, "Hurry…do it now." she cried, feeling the orb burn her Eva's hands as she gave Asuka an opening.
"Shut up wondergirl!" letting out a scream of rage she slammed her Prog Knife into the orb and twisted, easily shattering the orb now that it had stopped zipping around, as the Angel's lifeless form drifted down like a blanket over them before bursting like a piece of ripe fruit.
Though the pain was fading now that the Eva had run out of power it was still burning through his hands, it was so strong in fact that he wouldn't be surprised if his hands were scarred.
"Misato…can you hear me?" he said weakly, it felt like he had just run seven marathons straight he was so exhausted, "I can hear you Shinji…nice to know your alright.", "I wouldn't go that far Misato…that thing pieced my hands, and guess what?", "Alright Shinji. Once the recovery crews get there we'll get you something for the pain.", "Get something for Rei, she had to grab the core with her hands. She might be in as much pain as I am.".
Misato smiled to herself as Shinji said he was going to take a nap while he waited, but it was the fact that he was in pain and he still showed concern about other, 'Mari is a very lucky girl.' she thought, "Right everyone. Let's get those kids back. Job well done." Misato said as she let out a sigh of relief.
Well with this Angel I decided to try and do it using aspects from both the original and the remake of the series, won't do it all the time I just wanted to give it a go. But hope you enjoy it and thanks to all the people who have added this to their favourites since the last chapter went up.