This chapter is meant to highlight more changes in Asuka's personality. The joys of actually having a beloved parent in your life, am I right? We also have a quick cameo showing up to clean up some loose ends. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Evangelion, or Anarchy Reigns.
Cruel Angel's Thesis Chapter 9: Living Together
"The capture of one of the artificial Stand users is a great boon to us," Fuyutsuki said, "Now if we can capture the ones that escaped earlier, we can start to put a dent in SEELE's forces." "Unfortunately we can't be on constant patrol for them," Rei pointed out. Fuyutsuki nodded. "Not to worry. We've already made arrangements to have outside sources deal with the issue." Nearby, Kaji sighed, having been forced to shave and dress in appropriate attire. Fuyutsuki did allow him to go without a tie, but that was the extent of it.
He had taken the time to have a good, long talk with Misato about a lot of things. It wasn't enough to restart their relationship, but at least now she wouldn't walk around the headquarters mad at him all the time. "Now then," Fuyutsuki said, "We need to discuss Asuka's living conditions." "Yeah, I gotta ask something about that," Asuka said, "Why is Shinji living with someone other than his parents?" "Director Ikari and his wife Doctor Ikari are constantly working here at NERV," Fuyutsuki explained, "The living conditions with Misato are temporary until the paperwork to have him live in a full-time dorm on his own are complete."
He nodded to Asuka. "As for you, since you spent some time being monitored by Misato, you'll be living with her as well. Unfortunately, Doctor Soryu is also busy fulfilling her duties. Rest assured this was taken into account. You should be having your own dorm, with a roommate, in as little as a week." Asuka shrugged. "Cool, I guess. I mean, I could do worse for roommates then my own teammates." She gave a chuckle. "I don't suppose co-eds are on the table." Fuyutsuki sighed. "Teenagers... I'll see what can be arranged." Misato could easily tell Asuka's thought process. She was starting to develop a crush on the First Child.
The next day at school, the four pilots were hanging out on the roof. "Say Rei," Asuka said, "I noticed that your facial profile is similar to Doctor Ikari." "There are some similarities," Rei admitted, "Though my jawline is sharper, and my eye color is identical to my father." Asuka raised an eyebrow. "How do Gigan even reproduce? I mean, we're talking about a species with total control over their entire cellular structure." "To be honest, the way they reproduce is no different from humans," Rei explained, "Mom pointed that out. Of course, given the average Gigan life span extends into the tens of thousands of years, they don't reproduce often."
"So now you're living with us," Shinji noted as he and Asuka started moving boxes into the smaller room. Shinji had earned the larger room because of all the work he did around the place. Once they were finished, Asuka headed off to take a bath. "So," Misato said, "What do you think of her?" "Well, she's lively," Shinji admitted, "And very attractive. She's competitive without being egotistical. I think I really like her." "I'm told her mom was pulled from the experiment into improving the EVAs' efficiency," Misato said, "After the incident where your mom got absorbed into the Unit-01, the NERV branch in Germany tried tweaking the systems."
"And Doctor Soryu was the first to test it?," Shinji asked. Misato nodded. "But Joseph Joestar was there that day, and discovered someone had tampered with the machines. The EVA would have left Kyoko's body alone all right... By ripping the soul right out of it." Shinji cringed. He couldn't bear to imagine how Asuka would have wound up if something like that happened. He then looked around. "Say... Where did Pen Pen go?" Misato looked back at him. "Oh, he's in the... Uh-oh..." Before she could get up, Asuka gave an ear-piercing scream. Shinji quickly covered his eyes as Asuka ran out of the bathroom buck naked, though he did catch enough of a glimpse to confirm she was a natural red-head.
"WAS ZUR HOLLE IST DAS!?," Asuka shrieked in her native German, pointing at Pen Pen coming out of the bathroom. "That's Pen Pen, my pet penguin," Misato explained, "By the way, I didn't know you and Shinji were far enough along for you to start showing off to him." Asuka looked down and realized she wasn't covered. She a quick shriek before grabbing the nearest towel. "I am so sorry...," she said, her face bright red. She hurried back into the bath as Pen Pen left. "You know," Shinji said to him, "There are better ways of being a wingman." Pen Pen made something like a smirk with his eyes.
"I'm surprised you didn't slap me for the free show," Shinji noted as Asuka headed for her room. "Mom always says it's not polite to slap people for exposure when it's your own fault. Or an accident." She bent back in such a way that her ample chest stuck out in just the right way. "Don't get me wrong, you're likely as horny as the next teenage boy, but I doubt you're the sort of pervert who gets his jollies off trying to sneak a peek any chance you get." "You are making it really hard to keep control right now," Shinji admitted.
Asuka chuckled. "Don't get the wrong idea, Shinji Ikari. I only let the absolute best get near me." She stuck her hand out. "This is the unbreakable wall of Jericho." And with that she closed the door. But as she turned around, she heard the door bang open, Shinji having used his Stand to knock it open. "I've read the Bible, Asuka, and I know Jericho fell. So let me ask, were you secretly giving me an invite?" As if in response, Asuka grabbed him and locked lips. "Just get in here, First Child." And with that, she dragged Shinji into her room.
Meanwhile, in a nearby bar, several of the Artificial Stand users were hanging around with some drinks. Mostly it was just Big Bull and Baron, Mathilda being behind the bar cleaning up some glasses. "You ever see that stereotype in movies where the bartender is just always cleaning glasses?," Baron asked, "By the way, where's Leo?" "He's back in the training center," Big Bull replied, "Said he needed to improve himself after his defeat earlier." "Shit, we all lost to those punk-ass kids," Baron reminded him, "Ain't no reason to be ashamed."
Just then, the door opened, and a green-haired young woman entered the bar. She sat down a few seats from Baron and ordered a drink. "So who are you supposed to be?," Baron asked, "This spot was meant to be reserved for just us." "Name's Nemesis Sudo," the woman replied, "I was sent here to apprehend a few... Dangerous individuals." After being released from Honami's control, mastering her Stand, and being reunited with her boyfriend, Nemesis had taken up a job as a bounty hunter, tracking down dangerous criminals and turning over any information on their whereabouts to the police, sometimes even bringing them in personally.
Big Bull snorted. "Say, aren't you that new bounty hunter on the block? I don't know who you're looking for, but you'd better move on before you get nailed!" "Too late," Nemesis said, "Me and my boyfriend were doing it earlier before I came here." Big Bull dropped his pointing finger while Baron and Mathilda just laughed. "You definitely got a sense of humor, girl!," Baron said as he tried to put a hand on Nemesis' shoulder, only to feel it get grabbed by something unseen. "I should probably mention," she said as she turned to them, "You guys are the criminals I'm seeking. One Step Closer!"
Her extra arms, one of which was already active, emerged, the lower right one slamming Big Bull in the knee. Mathilda hopped over the bar to attack with her Iron Maiden, only for Nemesis to block with two of her arms. She then proceeded to push them all off. "You're pretty good, girl," Baron admitted, "But it's still three on one." Nemesis smirked. "In that case... I'll just have to go a little further beyond." She titled her head down. "One Step Closer... Reanimation!" In an instant, her whole body seemed to burn red hot as she leaned back with a guttural scream, her eye patch bursting off, revealing her blind eye healing itself.
She then began to spin in place, creating a tornado that sucked the trio of cyborgs in. "Ah hell nah!," Baron called out as he tried to keep his hat on while getting sucked into the tornado. The massive winds knocked the trio into the nearby walls hard enough to knock each of them out. Nemesis took a few deep breathes, returning to normal after a while. With another deep breath, she picked up her eye patch and put it back on. "It's too bad my eye can only see again in that state." She got out her phone and dialed a number. "Hey. I got three of them, couldn't find the fourth. Can I get a pick up? Cool."
Yep, I brought back Nemesis for this. There are a few reasons. One, I wanted to show the seven Evillious characters were starting to adjust to the modern era. Two, I wanted to clean up the AR characters who ran but didn't have any more battles in the story mode of said game. Three, I realized up until this point that I hadn't done a secondary power for a Stand yet.
So yeah, One Step Closer has an advanced mode similar to Killer Queen's Sheer Heart Attack or White Album's Gently Weeps. Naturally Reanimation is an album by Linkin Park, which was a compilation of remixes for the songs from Hybrid Theory. Since One Step Closer basically makes Nemesis similar to Asura from Asura's Wrath, this would be the equivalent of some of his super forms.
The idea is that Reanimation pushes Nemesis' wrath so far that it comes full circle, putting her in state of tranquil fury that improves her senses and strength. Essentially the perfect combination of wrath and patience. As you might expect, this form came about when Nemesis found this balance within herself and unlocked the full force of her Stand. Your next line is, "But what about Requiem or Heaven Stands?" Well for Requiem, see Phantom Thief Joker. As for Heaven, I have another plan in mind for that. Read and review.